Strip 'The King' Weathers

Strip "The King" Weathers is a fictional race car in the 2006 feature-length film "Cars". He is voiced by former NASCAR racing champion Richard Petty.

In the film

In the film, The King is a veteran racing champion sponsored by Dinoco who is about to retire from racing. In the final race of the Piston Cup racing season, he finishes in a tie breaker with dirty fighter Chick Hicks and rookie racecar Lightning McQueen. After McQueen's pit crew quit, The King told him that he would be nothing without his team, but McQueen was daydreaming about taking over Dinoco once he had retired. Later, in the tie-breaker race, he was in the lead for nearly all of the race. On the final lap, just as McQueen was about to win the Piston Cup, Chick sideswiped him, sending him flying into the air flipping over, bouncing and rolling over repeatdely. Lightning saw the wreck on the big screen and gave up his chance of winning the Piston Cup to make sure that The King's racing career didn't end like Doc Hudson's had done. The King was pushed to the finish line and Lightning was praised for his excellent display of sportsmanship. Strip Weathers was last seen fully repaired and still in his racing colours at the Radiator Springs racing museum with his wife, Lynda, and another NASCAR racecar, Dale Jr.

Other information

The King is based on exactly the same car that Richard Petty drove, the 1970 Plymouth Superbird number 43. This car is on display at the Richard Petty Museum.

The King's crash at the end is based on a crash that occurred in 1993 at Talladega. Petty also crashed in his last race, although it wasn't as severe as The King's crash.

The King's wife, Lynda Weathers, is actually voiced by Petty's real wife, Lynda Petty.

External links

* [http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/cars/ Official "Cars" Disney DVD website]
* [http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/cars/ Official Pixar webpage for Cars]
* [http://www.disney.com/cars/ Official Disney webpage for Cars]
* [http://www.carsdriveingallery.com/King.hmtl/ Cars Drive In Gallery page on The King]