Who is the primary new racing rival for Lightning McQueen in Pixar’s Cars 3?

Jackson Storm is Lightning McQueen’s primary new racing rival in Pixar’s Cars 3.

Storm belongs to a new generation of high-performance racers who use advanced engineering, training data, and modern simulation technology. His speed and confidence quickly make him the dominant competitor on the Piston Cup circuit. McQueen struggles to keep pace, beginning the film’s central conflict about aging champions and technological change.

Storm’s sleek black design and blue accents contrast with McQueen’s familiar red racing body. He is voiced by Armie Hammer, while Owen Wilson returns as Lightning McQueen. The rivalry is less personal than Chick Hicks’s conflict in the first film; it is primarily a contest between established experience and emerging technology.

Francesco Bernoulli is McQueen’s major rival in Cars 2, not Cars 3. Cal Weathers is another racer in the third film, but he is not the primary antagonist or the central new threat to McQueen’s career.