"I'm as fast as a shadow… no, this really isn't for me, I'm just too lazy to move today."
This is the declaration of a car, more specifically, a completely black Chevrolet with the number 27 in gold on both sides of the door. You can also notice green eyes on the windshield.
"Hey Shadow, you can come out, the competitors need to get on the track," says a male voice.
"Ahhhh, lazy."
The Chevrolet, named Shadow, sighed as he saw the door in front of him slowly begin to open.
Click Click Click Click Click.
"Really, really lazy," declared Shadow as numerous flashes came from outside the truck.
A screen lit up inside the truck while a black truck was seen talking.
"Come on, Shadow, the crowd's waiting," said the truck with a smile.
"Shut up, Tom," replied Shadow as he got out of the truck.
Vroooom' Vroooom.
Shadow's engine purred as he began to leave the truck, moving so slowly that it seemed like the only thing making noise was his engine.
Click Click Click Click Click.
"Mr. Shadow!" said a journalist, taking photos.
"Over here!"
"Over here!"
Shadow walked away, ignoring the journalist, and headed towards the track where all the competitors were except one.
He took the last position because of the last race he couldn't make it to... because his alarm clock didn't go off.
"Honestly, it's always the same one missing, they could hurry up," Shadow said aloud, squinting his eyes in both directions.
"Flash McQueen, the fastest newcomer, has entered the competition, but he's already tied with the two strongest competitors in the Piston Cup, Dinoco's representative The King and Chick Hicks," said a yellow car next to Shadow.
Shadow looked at him for a few seconds before focusing on the people in front of him, especially those placed at the front of the pack.
"You're strong too, they call you Shadow because you're as fast as the shadow of your rivals. My manager told me that if you weren't so lazy, you'd be leading this competition," continued the yellow car.
"I don't care what you're saying," said Shadow, cutting off the conversation.
A red car then arrived on the track amid the cheers of the fans... Flash McQueen headed towards the center of the field to take his position, finally allowing the race to begin.
Vroom, Vroom, Vroom.
The sound of engines echoed on the track as the cars overtook each other.
But despite all the cars racing at full speed, only one car stayed in last place—he wasn't trying to overtake or even speed up.
"Hello everyone, I'm Bob and here's Darell. So, what do you think of this final race for the Piston Cup title?" asked Bob, looking at Darell.
"I'm not really sure, because we have three competitors tied in points," explained Darell passionately.
"That's true, Darell. We have The King who's trying to win his final title before retiring, then we have the eternal runner-up Chick Hicks who's trying to win his first title, and finally, we have the super rookie Flash McQueen who's shattered all expectations since his arrival to rank among the top three," said Bob with a lot of passion.
"Yeah, but I think you forgot one, Bob," said Darell.
"Oh really, who did I forget?" asked Bob, looking at Darell.
"Shadow, of course. He's also an extremely fast rookie, and if he hadn't fallen asleep before last weekend's race, he'd probably be tied for points too," said Darell with a big smile.
"That's true, and according to the points table, if he wins this race, he'll be tied with the others, which will give us a final race with only 4 competitors!" explained Bob, amazed.
"Yeah, but he's also going to have to decide to speed up, because he's currently in last place with only 10 laps to go!" said Darell.
"I'd say he's checked out of the race since the accidents on the track," continued Bob.
On the track, we see Shadow still in last place.
"Shadow, aren't you going to decide to speed up?" asked one of the people speaking to Shadow through the microphone.
"It's pointless, Steve. McQueen isn't far behind me and I've... got the laziness," explained Shadow.
Boom!
"Huh, what's that?" asked Shadow, looking around.
"McQueen has a flat tire, Shadow! McQueen has a flat, you can catch up, go for it!" shouted Steve.
Shadow then looked at the big screen in the middle of the stadium to see what was going on. He saw that McQueen had a flat rear tire, and at that moment, images from his past appeared in his mind.
VROOM!
Shadow immediately accelerated, overtaking 5 cars in a millisecond, then continued to speed up, passing several cars at a dizzying pace.
"Look, Darell, look at Shadow accelerating at an incredible speed!" shouted Bob as Shadow kept accelerating faster and faster, overtaking most of the competition.
Shadow kept speeding up until only The King and Chick remained ahead of him, racing at full speed to catch up to McQueen.
"Shadow, with your speed, I'm sure you can pass them, but you'll need to find the same passion you had on the European tracks," said Steve to Shadow.
Shadow thought about what Steve was saying as his eyes began to shine with passion, remembering the races he had done before.
"Vrooooooommmmmm."
Shadow accelerated even faster as he started catching up to The King and Chick. Then, when he was behind them, he saw the two of them begin to move to the inside as they turned. Shadow accelerated again, taking the outside line in the turn—something never seen before in the Piston Cup.
As King and Chick focused on catching McQueen, they heard the sound of an engine coming from their right before seeing Shadow zoom past them.
"Oh incredible, Shadow passed King and Chick! Now all he needs to do is pass McQueen to win this race and tie with the others in points," exclaimed Darell with passion.
Shadow kept accelerating, leaving no time for anyone to see his shadow.
"Come on, Shadow, you're almost there," said Steve confidently.
McQueen was jumping quickly, trying to reach the finish line as fast as possible, but what happened next would stay etched in his memory forever: an incredibly fast shadow passed him at astronomical speed, not even allowing him to see which car had overtaken him to claim the victory.
"OH MY GOD, it's incredible, Shadow wins the race, SHADOW WINS THE RACE!" shouted Darell, jumping up and down.
"This is incredible, he went from last to first place in just one lap," shouted Bob, in shock.
Shadow then slowed down after crossing the finish line as journalists began taking photos and asking him questions, to which Shadow did not respond, preferring to walk away and hide in his sponsor's tent, which was related to fuel.
"You did it, Shadow," said Steve to Shadow through the headset.
"I know, Steve, I know," replied Shadow.
"Now, let's focus on the final race to see who will win between the four of us," thought Shadow as he disappeared into the shadow of his sponsor's tent.