"And we'll be right back to our Hank Williams marathon after a quick Piston¹ Cup update," a voice announced over the radio on Lizzie's porch.

 

Lightning looked up. Piston Cup update? Had anyone even noticed he was gone yet? He wondered. Maybe they'd send a search party!

 

"Still no sign of Lightning McQueen," the announcer said.

 

Lightning's engine raced. They were looking for him! Maybe that minivan couple would tell someone they had seen him.

 

"Meanwhile, Chick Hicks arrived in California and today became the first car to spend practice time on the track," the voice went on.

 

"Yeah, well, it's just nice to get out here before the other competitors," Chick's voice boomed over the radio's speakers. "You know, get a head start."

 

Lightning glowered³, imagining Chick and Tex laughing together at the Dinoco tent. He imagined Chick winning the Piston Cup, getting the big endorsement⁴ deals, starring in a Hollywood movie—getting everything Lightning wanted for himself.

 

Well, this race car isn't about to quit now, Lightning thought, snapping out of his vision. "Mater," he said to the rusty⁵ old tow truck, "let me get this straight. I can go when this road is done. That's the deal, right?"

 

"That's what they done did said," Mater agreed. That was all Lightning needed to hear. "Okay. Out of my way," he growled⁶. "I've got a road to finish." Lightning focused, the way he did before a race. Then, in a moment, he was off! He put the hammer down and zipped through his work. Bessie wobbled and splashed tar² across the road, groaning⁷ as the race car pulled her far faster than she was built to go.

 

A short while later, Mater burst into Doc's office. "He's done!"

 

"Done?" Doc grumbled⁸. He wasn't sure whether to be impressed or suspicious. "It's only been an hour." He followed Mater out toward the street, where the rest of the town was gathered. They looked at their newly "fixed⁹" road. It was a disaster.

 

"I'm done." Lightning panted heavily. "Look, I'm finished. Just say thank you," he said to Sally, "and I'll be on my way. That's all you gotta say."

 

"Whee-hoo!" Mater called as he drove to the opposite end of the road. "I'm the first one on the new road!" He drove over the bumpy¹⁰ splattered asphalt. "A-h-h-a-h!" he said as he was jostled back and forth¹¹. "It rides pre-etty smo-ooo-ooth!"

 

Sally cut to the chase. "It looks awful."

 

Lightning glared at her. "Now it matches the rest of the town," he shot back.

 

Red, the shy fire truck, was so hurt by Lightning's comment that he drove off into the woods, knocking over Luigi's tower of tires. The whole town could hear Red sobbing¹².

 

Furious, Sally wheeled to face Lightning. "Who do you think you are?" she demanded.

 

"Look, Doc said when I finished, I could go," Lightning said in frustration¹³. "That was the deal."

 

"The deal was you fix the road, not make it worse," Doc snapped as he drove up. "Now, scrape it off; start over again."

 

"Hey, look, grandpa," Lightning said rudely. "I'm not a bulldozer, I'm a race car."

 

"Is that right?" Doc replied, clearly unimpressed. "Then why don't we just have a little race? Me and you."

 

Lightning cracked up. "Ho, ho, ho. Me and you," he said, unbelieving. "Is that a joke?"

 

"If you win, you go and I fix the road," Doc suggested. "If I win, you do the road my way."

 

Lightning couldn't believe his luck! This car probably does zero to sixty in about threepoint five years, he thought. I'll run the race and be out of here in half an hour. It was an offer he couldn't refuse.

 

"You know what, old-timer?" Lightning said. "That's a wonderful idea. Let's race."

 

荔枝婆门廊的收音机传来解说员的声音：“活塞杯赛事最新快讯后，欢迎回到我们的汉克·威廉姆斯超级马拉松赛。”

 

麦坤仰起头。活塞杯最新快讯？难道没人发现我不见了吗？他想了想。也许他们已经派出了搜寻队！

 

解说员说：“目前仍然没有闪电麦坤的消息。”

 

麦坤发动引擎。他们一直在找我！小货车夫妇也许会跟他们说见过我吧。

 

“此时，路霸已经抵达加州，并成为今天第一个在赛道试车的选手。”解说员继续说。

 

收音机的喇叭里传来路霸洪亮的声音：“太棒了!我比其他对手都先到！我赢在了起跑线。”

 

一想到路霸和老德在岱诺可帐篷里面笑成一团的场景，麦坤脸都气红了。在他的想象中，路霸拿了活塞杯，签了代言合同，主演了好莱坞电影——得到了麦坤想要的一切。

 

不过，我不会放弃比赛。想到这儿，麦坤把那些幻想从脑子里赶跑：“板牙，我直说吧，只要我把路修完，你们就放我走。 对吧？”

 

“没错，他们是这样说的。”板牙表示同意。麦坤需要的就是这句话。“好了，闪开，我得修路了！”麦坤咆哮着。他集中精力，就像参加比赛一样。开工！麦坤放下锤子，行走在刚修的马路上。麦坤的速度太快，已经超出贝西的极限。贝西呻吟着，摇摇晃晃地把焦油铺到路上。

 

过了一会儿，板牙冲到博士的办公室说：“他把路修好了！”

 

“修好了？”博士嘟囔着。他不知道应该惊讶还是怀疑。“这才一个小时。”他跟着板牙来到路上。小镇上其他居民也都聚集在这里。他们看着新“修好”的路，那路修得简直糟糕透了。

 

麦坤喘着粗气说：“我修好了！看，我搞定了。说个谢谢就行了！”他又对莎莉说：“然后我就要撤了。来，说声‘谢谢’。”

 

板牙朝路的尽头开去：“哈哈！我是第一个在新路上开的车！”板牙行走在凹凸不平的路面上，沥青被溅得到处都是。他结结巴巴地说：“哎呀！这路开起来真……顺……顺啊！”

 

莎莉直截了当地说：“这路看上去糟糕透了！”

 

麦坤瞪着她反驳：“烂镇配烂路!”

 

小红是一辆害羞的消防车，他听到麦坤的话十分伤心，跑去了小树林。他撞倒了卡布的轮胎塔，整个小镇都能听到小红的啜泣声。

 

愤怒的莎莉来到麦坤面前，质问道：“你以为你是谁啊？”

 

麦坤沮丧地说：“听我说，博士说过我修完路就可以走的，你们答应了的。”

 

博士走到麦坤面前，厉声说：“我们答应的前提是你把路修好，而不是把它弄得更糟！把沥青铲起来，重新铺！”

 

麦坤粗鲁地说：“嘿，你这老家伙，我可不是铲土机，我是赛车!”

 

博士不以为然：“是吗？不如我们来比试比试？我和你！”

 

麦坤不敢相信博士的话，他忍不住哈哈大笑起来：“哈哈哈！我和你，你开玩笑吧？”

 

博士提议：“如果你赢了，你可以离开，路我来修。如果我赢了，你就得按我的要求修路。”

 

麦坤不相信自己的运气这样好！他想：这个老家伙，怕是从起步加速到60码都要用3年半吧？我赢定了！过不了半小时，我就可以赢了他然后一走了之。他怎么能拒绝这个提议？

 

麦坤说：“好吧，老家伙，这真是个好主意。比就比！”

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