Cruz Ramirez

Cruz Ramirez is one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Mater) of the Cars franchise, serving as the deuteragonist of Pixar's 18th full-length animated film Cars 3, and a minor character in Cars on the Road.
Before her racing career, Cruz worked as a trainer and racing technician at the Rust-eze Racing Center at Fireball Beach where she prepared Next-Generation racers for the competition.
Briefly in 2017, she became a demolition derby racer.
Since 2017, she competes in the Piston Cup Racing Series for the Dinoco team with the number 51. She debuted in the Piston Cup during the 2017 Florida 500 race as a replacement for Lightning McQueen for the Rust-eze team.
During the off-season, she started a non-profit for the lightly-treaded, started learning French, became a certified referee, and a licensed wedding officiant.
==History==
===Cars 3===
In Cars 3, after Lightning McQueen is forced out of the Piston Cup world following a devastating crash, he is taken to the Rust-eze Racing Center, where he is introduced to Ramirez. Excited to be helping out her idol as a "senior project", the two begin training to help McQueen grow to defeat Jackson Storm and the other next-generation racers at the Florida 500. She uses a voice command assistant named Hamilton, which she uses to track McQueen's speed during training sessions.Cars 3 reveals new details about Kerry Washington, Nathan Fillion and Lewis Hamilton's characters
During their training, McQueen finds himself outclassing Ramirez at times, such as when McQueen tries to go as fast as Jackson Storm, but his treadmill is going very slow, and in a beach race when she spins out and is buried in sand, which she says the beach "ate" her, while McQueen has little trouble. Lightning also sees his former mentor Doc Hudson as an inspiration, and the two visit the Thomasville Speedway, an abandoned Piston Cup raceway that was once the home of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet.
They also meet many of Doc's fellow friends at the Cotter Pin, who also assist McQueen in his training.
Additionally, McQueen and Ramirez go to a demolition derby stadium named the Thunder Hollow Speedway, where they compete in disguise under the aliases Chester Whipplefilter and Frances Beltline, respectively.
When the Florida 500 finally arrives, McQueen continues to struggle to overcome Storm throughout the race. Thinking quickly, he realizes that he can send Cruz into the race in his place, as long as she wears the same sponsor and number as him, which Ramone takes care of. McQueen serves as Cruz's crew chief as she tries her best in order to beat Jackson. Cruz utilizes techniques she learned while training with McQueen, such as weaving through other racers, which she learned by practicing with tractors in Thomasville. She also performs a flip move to pass Storm, allowing her to free herself from Storm's attack and win the race, as Doc Hudson once did."'Cars 3' Disney Pixar Cars 3 the Essential Guide". DK Books.Lead the Way
After her victory, Cruz decides to sign with Dinoco, replacing Cal Weathers as the Dinoco racer and taking Doc's old number, 51. McQueen decides to stay as Cruz's crew chief for the rest of the season, wearing a new paint job inspired by his mentor, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet. With McQueen as her mentor, Cruz continues to win races for the rest season, and won the Piston Cup for the Dinoco 400, at the Copper Canyon Speedway.
===Cars 3: Driven to Win===
In Cars 3: Driven to Win, Cruz, in her Dinoco paint job, is one of the six playable characters who are available from the start. She appears in most of the cutscenes with Lightning McQueen.
===Miss Fritter's Racing Skoool===
In Miss Fritter's Racing Skoool, Cruz is celebrating the achievement of her Florida 500 trophy with McQueen, when they both see a commercial starring Miss Fritter. However, the loud volume causes Cruz's Crazy Eight trophy to smash, much to her shock.
===Cars on the Road===
===="Gettin' Hitched"====
In the final episode of the first season of Cars on the Road, Gettin' Hitched, Cruz is revealed to be attending the wedding, happily reuniting with McQueen and Mater. The groom is revealed to be Mateo, one of her cousins. When Mater says the bride is his sister, she's ecstatic at the prospect of having a family connection to Mater due to the marriage. Throughout the course of the episode, she reveals that she's done a lot of things during the off season, including, opened a racing school, formed a non-profit organization that provides snow tires to the “lightly treaded,” and is learning French. She also confirms that she is a licensed wedding officiant after Justice Stern left and pronounces Mato and Mateo as married. 
==General information==
=== Personality and traits===
Cruz Ramirez is described as optimistic, sunny, kind and fierce.Cars 3 first look: Meet Pixar's new millennials As a racing trainer, she enjoys assisting other cars in improving their racing abilities, including Lightning McQueen, whom she greatly admires. She believes ones can use anger as motivation. She also wanted to become a racer forever because of Lightning McQueen, and in the end, she got her chance. She is also very sweet, and even became close as a family to Mater, which he became her cousin in law.
===Physical description===
Cruz Ramirez is painted yellow and has brown eyes.
She is a 2017 CRS Sports Coupe with an aerodynamic venturi channeled chassis. Her High Performance DOHC V6 engine correlates with her ability to go from 0-60 in only 3.8 seconds, as well as her top speed of 210 miles per hour. Her license plate reads '"C01-06A"."Meet Cruz Ramirez - Disney/Pixar's Cars 3" on YouTube According to Jay Shuster, her design is based on an American muscle car proportion with European sports car elegance. This explains her resemblance with cars such as the Jaguar F-Type, Chevrolet Corvette C7, and the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. 
While training with McQueen, Cruz has a yellow livery with the Rust-eze Racing Center emblem on her doors. When she competes in the Florida 500, she is given a yellow spoiler, and Ramone paints Rust-eze decals and the number 95 on her. Following her signing with Dinoco, Cruz has the Dinoco logo on her doors and hood, as well as the number 51, the same number as the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, Ruby "Easy" Oaks, and Aikens. While racing at Thomasville and Thunder Hollow, Cruz has the number 20 painted on her doors."Cars 3 - Official US Trailer" on YouTube
==Appearances==
*Cars 3
*Cars 3: Driven to Win
*Miss Fritter's Racing Skoool
*Cars on the Road; "Gettin' Hitched"
==Bios==
*Cruz may be on Jackson's side of the age gap, but she is on Lightning's side of the conflict. As a lifelong fan of McQueen, she is optimistic, sunny, fierce, and friendly — and now, she is his new, younger coach, coming to Lightning's aid with stars in her eyes when he shows up at the Rust-eze Racing Center.
=== Meet the Cars ===
*Cruz Ramirez is a top-notch trainer at the Rust-eze Racing Center, where she's assigned to train the team's talented rookies. Her unconventional training methods have helped many young Piston Cup racers meet their goals on the track. Cruz once had racing dreams of her own, but it isn't until she meets Lightning McQueen that she realizes that her passion to compete is still there. Now she'll finally get the chance to see if she's got what it takes to win.Meet the Cars (2017)
*Specifications
** Vehicle model: 2017 CRS Sports Coupe
**Top speed: 210 mph
**0-60 mph: 3.8 seconds
**Engine Type: High Performance DOHC V6
**Chassis: Aerodynamic Venturi Channeled
**Body: Lightweight aluminum
=== Cars 3 Diecast Collection ===
* Cruz Ramirez is a top notch technician at the Rusteze Racing Center where she's assigned to train the team's talented rookies. Her unconventional training methods have helped many young Piston Cup racers meet their goals on the track. Cruz actually had racing dreams of her own, but gave it all up till she met Lightning McQueen and realized her passion to compete is still there. Now she'll finally get the chance to see if she's got what it takes to win.
==Portrayals==
*Cristela Alonzo - Cars 3
==Gallery==
==Names in other languages==
===Cruz Ramirez===
*Bulgarian: Крус Рамирес (transcription: Krus Ramires)
*Chinese (simplified): 克鲁兹·拉米雷斯 (pinyin: Kèlǔzī Lāmǐléisī)
*Chinese (traditional): 克魯茲·拉米雷斯 (pinyin: Kèlǔzī Lāmǐléisī)
*Croatian: Klara Ramirez
*Czech: Cruz Ramirezová
*Greek: Κρουζ Ραμιρεζ (transcription: Krouz Ramirez)
*Japanese: クルーズ・ラミレス (romanization: Kurūzu Ramiresu)
*Korean: 크루즈 라미레즈 (romanization: Keulujeu Lamilejeu)
*Lithuanian: Kruz Ramirez
*Russian: Крус Рамирес (transcription: Krus Ramires)
*Spanish: Cruz Ramírez
*Ukrainian:
**Круз Рамірес (transcription: Kruz Ramires)
**Круз Рамиріс (transcription: Kruz Ramyris)
===Frances Beltline===
*Czech: Zorka Zbrklá
*French: Martine Laturbine
*
*Greek: Φρανσις Mπελτλαιν (transcription: Fransis Mpeltlain)
*Polish: Alina Spalina
*Russian: Фрэнсиса Конвейера (transcription: Frensisa Konveyyera)
*Spanish (Latin America): Pancha Veredas
*Ukrainian: Френсіс Підвіска (transcription: Frensis Pidviska)
==Trivia==
*Fun fact: Cruz was originally intended to have been a male alongside a rookie racer similar to McQueen in the original film, further bringing parallels between Lightning and Doc. These ideas were scrapped and she became a female because the writers were worried that this was retreading too much of a familiar ground.
*Her license plate indicates Cristela Alonzo's initials and birthday.
*She is the only female Next-Gen racer in the Piston Cup. 
**Interestingly, and besides, she is also the only out of all in the Next-Gen series to be equipped with a V6 engine.
**She, Misti Motorkrass, and Louise Nash are the only known female racers in the Piston Cup.
*The engine displacement is currently unknown, but it may be 3.5 liters, which is well-known for a V6 engine, though some leaks claim it as 3.0 liters.
*Mack was shown to be her hauler in the Cars 3 credits, but in 2019, Mattel released a playset featuring "Cruz Ramirez's Hauler". However, it has been revealed in the former's appearance in Cars on the Road that his trailer is back to his Rust-eze paint job which likely meant that Mack was Cruz's hauler for a brief time before at one point getting replaced by this next-gen type.
*Cruz Ramirez's model is a 2017 CRS Sports Coupe, an original Pixar design based on an American muscle car proportion with European sports car elegance.
*Despite Cruz having named her tires (the left rear one is named María, the left front one is named Juanita, the right rear one is named Ronaldo, and the right front one is named Debbie Richardson, the latter of which she says is a long story), they are later removed by Guido when she is modified to help McQueen with his training.
*The Polish name for Frances Beltline, Alina Spalina, may be a reference to Louise Nash's Polish name, Alina Lina.
== Quotes==
* "I am so excited that I get to train you. I grew up watching you on TV!" - Cars 3
*"These young guys are great and all, but I like a challenge." - Cars 3
* "In fact, I call you: my senior project." - Cars 3
*"I'll be back in a few." - Cars 3
* "We'll work up to the higher speeds right after you take your nap." - Cars 3
*"The beach ate me." - Cars 3
* "I used to watch you on TV, flying through the air. You seemed so.. fearless!" - Cars 3
*"You won't talk me out of this, Mr. McQueen. I'm going back! I resigned as your trainer." - Cars 3'
*"Hey, isn't that your old crew chief?" - Cars 3
*"Oh, right. Uhh... Too tight! I'm a fluffy cloud.. I'm a fluffy cloud.." - Cars 3
*"Are you sure you have time for this?" - Cars 3
*"Doc would be proud of me." - From the alpha version of Cars 3: Driven to Win
*"Hey, do you have an invitation?" - "Gettin' Hitched"
*"Ok, Lightning! No, I'm sorry, that just sounds weird." - "Gettin' Hitched"
*"Oh, it's my cousin Mateo's wedding. He's getting hitched to some "eccentric socialite"." - "Gettin' Hitched"
*"Great! I started a racing school, formed a non-profit that provides snow tires for the lightly-treaded, and I'm learning French!" - "Gettin' Hitched"'
* "Uh, did I mention I dabble in family therapy?" - "Gettin' Hitched"
*"Well, I think we had a very transformative conversation." - "Gettin' Hitched"
*"Not to worry! I'm also a licensed wedding officiant." - "Gettin' Hitched"
*"I now pronounce you: MARRIED!" - "Gettin' Hitched"
*"It was really great seeing you guys. Have a safe flight back!" - "Gettin' Hitched"
*"Aw, you got it, Lightning. Ew, no, still sounds weird!" - "Gettin' Hitched"
== References==
Category:Featured articles
Category:Cars 3 characters
Category:Cars on the Road characters
Category:Comic characters
Category:Playable characters
Category:Cars 3: Driven to Win characters
Category:Team members
Category:Racers
Category:Demolition derby racers
Category:Next-Gen racers
Category:Piston Cup racers
Category:Piston Cup champions
Category:Radiator Springs townies
Category:Race Fans
Category:Lightning McQueen fans
Category:Rust-eze
Category:Dinoco
Category:Magazine models
de:Cruz Ramirez
es:Cruz Ramírez
nl:Cruz Ramirez
pl:Cruz Ramirez
pt-br:Cruz Ramirez
ru:Круз Рамирез
Category:Celebrities
Category:Miss Fritter's Racing Skoool
Category:Characters with brown eyes
Category:Cruz Ramirez's family
Category:Characters with Lightyear tires
Category:Female characters
Category:Mater's family
Category:Modern cars