Cruz Ramirez directs Lightning McQueen’s training in Pixar’s Cars 3.
Cruz is a high-performance trainer at the Rust-eze Racing Center. She uses modern technology, simulators, and data-driven methods to prepare racers, but she initially has little experience working with a veteran like McQueen.
After McQueen crashes while trying to compete with the newer generation of racers, his sponsor gives him one final chance to return to winning form. Cruz becomes his assigned trainer, and their relationship changes as both characters confront assumptions about age, talent, and racing identity.
Cruz is not merely McQueen’s technical assistant. Her own racing ability becomes central to the film’s climax, while McQueen learns that passing knowledge to a new racer can be another form of success.