The King (Cars)

### Likes

Racing, winning in first place, his championship, Lightning McQueen, Cal Weathers

### Dislikes

Chick Hicks and his cheating, McQueen's arrogance, McQueen's crash, Doc's death, Jackson Storm.

### Family

Lynda Weathers (wife)
Cal Weathers (nephew)

### Friends/Allies

Lightning McQueen
His pit crew
Tex Dinoco
Doc Hudson
Mater
Doc Hudson
Sally Carrera
Mater
Cruz Ramirez
Mack
Sheriff
Luigi
Guido
Fillmore
Sarge
Ramone
Flo
Lizzie
Red

### Type of Deuteragonist

Legendary Racer

**Strip "The King" Weathers** is a recurring deuteragonistic character in the Disney/Pixar *Cars* franchise. He is a major character in *Cars* and a cameo character in *Cars 3*. He is a veteran racer who possessed the Dinoco sponsorship for over twenty years and was planning to retire after the Piston Cup.

He was voiced by Richard Petty.

## Personality

The King is shown to be kind and caring and a devoted husband to his wife Lynda. He is also an honorable racer and would never resort to cheating. He is also shown to be a good mentor to Lightning McQueen as he taught him not to think about himself and get a good crew to help him.

## History

### *Cars*

The King is first seen racing in Motor Speedway of the South with Lightning McQueen and Chick Hicks and finishes the race in a tie between McQueen and Chick. As a result of the 3 way tie, the Tie Breaker race is scheduled to be held in California between the 3 racers. The King says to McQueen that he's got great racing talent but he's stupid and also advises him not to be selfish and get himself a good team to support him.

Later on, he shows up to California to finish the tie-breaker race, along with McQueen and Chick. On the final lap, he gets sideswiped by Chick who refused to come behind him again and it causes him to fly and crash and roll a few times before coming to a hault which shocks his fans, his wife, Tex Dinoco, Doc Hudson, and eventually McQueen who sees this, comes to a hault, inches away from the finish line, which causes Chick to win. McQueen reverses and pushes the King to help him finish his last race, coming in second place. He told Lightning that he gave up the Piston Cup not until Mcqueen revealed to the King that this grumpy old race car told him that it's just an empty cup. He is then taken to the pit-stop area where his wife Lynda kisses McQueen, thanking him for his selfless act.

The King (now repaired) and Lynda later visit Radiator Springs and tour the museum where Mater shows them the Doc Hudson wing.

### *Cars 3*

He reappears in the third film where he is now serving as his nephew, Cal Weathers' crew chief who later retires from racing.

## Trivia

* In the Danish version, The King was voiced by nine-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen.
* In the Finnish version, he was voiced by Finnish two-time Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen.
* In the German version, he was voiced by Austrian three-time Formula One World Champion Niki Lauda.
* His record of seven Piston Cups won was reached by Lightning in *Cars 3*.
* The King only has one line in *Cars 3*.
* According to a concept art for *Cars 2* he would be repainted yellow.
* If The King would've been left behind following his crash, an alternative reality would've been that he would've decided to not retire and participate in the next racing season only to be replaced by a rookie, Chick Hicks, or possibly McQueen himself in a similar fate to Doc. However, McQueen helped The King instead after learning that helping others is more important than fame.
* The King could've won his 8th title early if McQueen never stuck out his tongue to trigger a tiebreaker race after losing both of his tires. But when race officials try to determine who won the Dinoco 400, the order is that it is basically The King, Lightning McQueen sticking his tongue in a attempt to win, and Chick Hicks crossing the finish line side by side. So basically, if McQueen never stuck out his tongue, it would feel like The King and Chick Hicks either could've won or did the tiebreaker race instead if both of them crossed the finish line. This is coincidental because the viewer could see a slight view of The King and Chick Hicks both crossing the finish line side by side, making it complicated who could've won the race due to the length of the front of each car crossing the finish line if McQueen never stuck his tongue out.
* Strip Weather's number, 43, is a reference to former racer Richard Petty's racing number, 43.
* Despite being a racing veteran, The King, along with Chick Hicks, are the only Piston Cup racers to be based on older vehicles, as the rest of the Piston Cup racers are based on the current NASCAR stock car type vehicles.

## External Links

* The King (Cars) on the Protagonists Wiki
* The King (Cars) on the Heroes Wiki
* The King (Cars) on the Disney Wiki
* The King (Cars) on the Pixar Wiki
* The King (Cars) on the Pixar Cars Wiki

## Navigation

*Radiator Springs*
Cruz Ramirez

*Racers*
Francesco Bernoulli

*Propwash Junction*
Skipper Riley

*Piston Peak National Park*
Blade Ranger

*Others*
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