The King

*"This ain’t a one-man deal, kid. You need to wise up, get yourself a good crew chief and a good team."*
―The King to Lightning McQueen[src]
**Strip Weathers** is a former Dinoco racer, a seven-time Piston Cup champion, and a veteran Piston Cup racer. He is the husband of Lynda Weathers and uncle of Cal Weathers.

In 2005, he is racing royalty and the ultimate driving legend. He is easily the most successful race car of all time on the track and is also the perfect professional and gentleman off the track.

Weathers' winning streak has been fueled by his long and successful sponsorship deal with Dinoco, getting his nickname, **The King**. Tex and The King have struck up a powerful partnership and the two are close friends. Of course, The King enjoys the attention and the free helicopter rides, but it's winning all those races in Dinoco Blue that leaves everybody else green with envy.

The King wouldn't have won seven Piston Cups without having a fabulous crew around him. From the crew chief to the pitties to the Dinoco sponsors, they offer The King the loyalty and friendship he values above all else. Surrounding himself with regulars, The King is a regular guy who regularly wins everything. He's built up a dynamic Dinoco team and they give a dynamite performance.

There is one car who is more important to The King than winning races, and that is Lynda Weathers, The King's wife. Also painted in Dinoco Blue, Mrs. The King is The King's No. 1 fan and supports him at all his races. The strength of their marriage gives The King the strength to win every race, but also keeps his wheels firmly on the ground.

In 2017, he is Cal Weathers' crew chief, until the next-generation racers took over stock cars.

## Personality

The King is kind, caring about others, and quite the gentlemen unlike Lightning McQueen was at the start of the film. He is a veteran of many races, but is also a devoted husband and enjoys the thought of retirement. He is also an honorable racer and would never resort to cheating. The King was at first in the Cars film competing with McQueen to finish as well as giving him advice that it's not about winning, but in the end of Cars, the King became friends with McQueen after he chose to concede and saved him from his crash in the Los Angeles International Speedway. As a result, his nephew and successor, Cal Weathers would later become one of McQueen's new close friends and rivals during the events of Cars 3.

## Trivia

* Strip is based on a 1970 Plymouth Superbird with a 426 cubic inch hemi (about seven liters) engine, the same model Richard Petty drove. The Superbird was a heavily modified version of the Plymouth Road Runner, specifically designed for stock car racing. Its radical design was later banned by NASCAR. The King features slightly bigger wheels and a shortened wheelbase - an edit only for the film to make the car more visually appealing.
* The King's crash seems to be a re-creation of Petty's real-life Daytona 500 accident in 1988 with the exception that it was not caused by a collision with another driver as in the movie. The bit which Lightning assists him to the finish line seems to be based on the 1976 incident, albeit by the pit crew.
* In *Cars 3*, as the crew chief, he sounds a lot older with his voice. This is completely justified as Richard Petty himself is older and the events in *Cars 3* took place 11 years after *Cars*.