Piston Cup Racing Series

The Piston Cup Racing Series (renamed as the Hudson Hornet Piston Cup series in 2010) is an American auto racing series championship in (most of the time) of stock cars. From 2016 to the present day, high-tech next-gen racers started dominating the circuit.

It started in the late 1940s with dirt track circuits, and from 1960s to the present day, consists of asphalt racing.

Late 1940s seasons
The Piston Cup was founded in the late 1940's, races were originally held on the dirt tracks, the only racer from that era, who is known is Slide Powers.

1951-1954 seasons
In the 1950s seasons, the cars were production vehicles with no modifications allowed. The term stock car implied that the vehicles racing were unmodified street cars. In 1951, Hudson Hornet started racing and won in 1951, 1952 and 1953 season. He achieved thirteen victories in 1951, twenty-seven victories in 1952, and twenty-two victories in 1953 and sixteen victories in 1954. In one of those seasons, Louise Nash started racing, being the first and only one woman to race in the time of the 1950s. She won three races in a row in her first season against Hudson Hornet. Because of discrimination, she had to steal her racing number to get her first chance on the track. But Louise's fearless driving style soon won her the respect of every car she raced. In a race in one of those seasons on the Thomasville Speedway, Hornet was pushed against the wall by Leroy Heming. But with quick thinking, Hudson performed a flip maneuver over him and crossed the finish line. In 1954, on a race on Fireball Beach Hudson Hornet lost control while powersliding and rolled several times, receiving serious damage, and after that, he was hospitalized. His injuries rendered him unable to compete for the rest of the season. Hudson Hornet made a healthy recovery, however he was forced to retire.

1960s-1970's seasons
In 1960s, dirt tracks became asphalt tracks. Mario Andretti debuted in 1960's and Darrell Cartrip with Chick Hicks debuted in 1970's. In 1970s Kraig Shiftright won 2 Piston Cups.

1980's-2000s seasons
In 1980's debuted drivers as Claude Scruggs and James Cleanair. In 1990s Klint Shiftright won 3 Piston Cups, Haul Inngas won once in that era and Strip Weathers won 7 Piston Cups between 1970s and 2000s

2005 season
The 2005 season saw seven-time Piston Cup champion Strip Weathers, constant runner-up Chick Hicks, and popular new rookie Lightning McQueen, who debuted at Glen Ellen, as the leading competitors. The final race of the season, called the Dinoco 400, was held at the Motor Speedway of the South. The three leading racers all had a score of 5013 points, meaning whichever of the three placed first would take home the Piston Cup and the coveted Dinoco sponsorship.

Towards the start of the race, a large incident was caused by Chick Hicks with the intention of separating himself from the gaining McQueen. The accident involved every racer except for Weathers, Hicks, and McQueen, as the latter skillfully managed to make his way through the crash without taking any damage. The other racers received damage, however, such as Chuck Armstrong, who was taken out of the race by a tow truck.

Subsequently, Lightning McQueen arrogantly refused pit stops, which allowed him to gain an entire lap advantage on the other racers, which continued into the final lap of the race. However, as McQueen rounded the final turn, his tires blew out, leaving him crawling to the finish line. The other racers caught up to him, and McQueen, Hicks, and Weathers all crossed the finish line at the same time, making it the first three-way tie in Piston Cup history. A tie-breaker race between the three was set to be held at the Los Angeles International Speedway.

However, during Lightning's journey there, he fell out of his trailer and ended up in the small town of Radiator Springs, where he accidentally ripped up the road and was sentenced to community service. Once Lightning served his time, he was taken to the race, where he found it difficult to concentrate due to missing the friends he made while there. However, Lightning was joyful when he discovered that Hudson and the other townspeople had come to serve as his pit crew.

Lightning, who had learned new abilities from his friends, utilized them during the race, which allowed him to hold up well against his two competitors, eventually taking the lead. Hicks, frustrated with constantly placing behind Weathers, performed a pit maneuver on him, causing the seven-time champion to spin out of control and take heavy damage. McQueen, noticing similarities between Weathers' and Hudson's accidents, stopped just before the finish line and reversed up to Weathers, and helped him to the finish line, believing the old-timer should finish his last race. Despite being the victor, Hicks was booed for his actions, while McQueen was congratulated for his good sportsmanship.

2006-2015 seasons
In 2006, Lightning McQueen won his first Piston Cup as seen in Cars: The Video Game. He also won other two Cups between 2007 and 2009. After Doc Hudson's death in 2009, the Piston Cup was renamed Hudson Hornet Piston Cup for one year, as a tribute. McQueen captured his fourth Piston Cup in 2010 and the veteran racer became a 4 time Piston Cup champion. Between 2011 and 2015, Lightning won another three Piston Cups and he became a 7 time Piston Cup winner and also the oldest racer, since others retired between those years. Also during the 2015 season, Brick Yardley won twice.

2016 season
In the 2016 season the Piston Cup logo recieved an update. At the Dinoco Light 350 in the Motor Speedway of the South, Lightning won the race. In the next race at Rocker Arms International, McQueen and Cal both went for first place at last lap with Cal being the winner. The Georgia Motor Speedway race was won by McQueen. At the Dinoco 400 at Copper Canyon Speedway, McQueen was in the lead with Bobby second and Cal third, but suddenly all three were beaten by the rookie Jackson Storm, who was the one of several next-generation cars, they've had faster engines and aerodynamic bodies. Storm also won the next races at the Motor Speedway of the South, Grandol Oil Co. Raceway, BnL Raceway, and Rustbelt Raceway. After the last one, Cal Weathers retired from the sport by the tip of his uncle, many other veteran racers have left the sport too, the companies were firing them in favor of the new generation.At the race at Los Angeles International Speedway, the grid consisted of mostly of high-tech rookies. After the race's start, McQueen started to overtake others and even catch Storm on last laps. When they both came in to pit, McQueen's pit stop was faster than Storm's, and Lightning took the lead. Jackson quickly caught up with Lightning and took the lead after insulting McQueen for being too old. Following the Storm's words, McQueen start slowing down and was overtaken by Daniel Swervez and Chase Racelott, losing two positions.

McQueen then tried to catch Storm and the others, but his right-rear tire blew out, his overworked engine failed, lost control, hit the wall, and was sent into a roll, getting serious injuries. The race was delayed and Lightning was hospitalized, while Storm proceeded to win the race and become the 2016 Piston Cup champion.

2017 season
Four months later, McQueen was practicing and getting into shape to beat Storm at the Florida 500 on the Florida International Super Speedway alongside his personal trainer Cruz Ramirez, former Doc's crew chief Smokey and several Piston Cup veterans. Lightning missed all qualification sessions, and because of this, he would start dead last. At the race Smokey replaced Mater as the team's crew chief. After the race's start, McQueen quickly began overtaking others and made steady progress through the ranks.In the middle of the race, the new owner of Rust-eze, Sterling, said to Cruz that she should train racers instead of watching the race. Lightning heard that on the team radio and remembered that Cruz dreamed to be a racer. McQueen forgot about the race and did not notice a big accident in front of him. After that he got out of it and continued the race.

When all racers were called back to the pits, McQueen rejected the pit stop and said, that Cruz Ramirez should come back. He asked Guido to change her tires, Fillmore to refuel and Ramone to repaint her. After that, he had a surprised Cruz take his place. Smokey deided, that Lightning should become her crew chief and gave him a headphones. Using tactics she learned while practicing with Lightning, Ramirez was able to overcome other racers, and even caught up with Jackson Storm. He attempted to distract her from winning, same as with Lightning and when she also began to slow down same as him, Lightning cheered her up so she caught Storm again. Being angry, he pushed her against the wall when she tried to pass him, but Cruz performed a flip over Storm, as Doc Hudson done in the 1950s, and won the race.

Officially, Cruz won the race with McQueen, because they both used number 95. After the race, Tex Dinoco asked her to join his team, that was sill seeking the new driver after Cal's retirement, and bought Rust-eze. McQueen decided to pull out from racing to mentor her, getting a new paint job, designed in honor of Hudson Hornet, while Ramirez, also the next generation racer from now, chose number 51, also paying him tribute. With McQueen as the mentor Cruz continued to win races for the rest of the season and even won the 2017 season Piston Cup.

Races
The Piston Cup races are big events sponsored by lots of trademarks and covered by the Racing Sports Network (RSN), which creates live televised broadcasts, in addition to providing other media coverage. Modern races take place at huge racing stadiums, which traditionally have oval-shaped tracks, although the shape may slightly vary from track to track, such as at the Los Angeles International Speedway.

A Piston Cup championship consists of various races where the competitors earn points in relation to their placement in the final rankings of the event. At the end of the season, the car with the most points wins the championship and receives a Piston Cup trophy.

Races can vary from seven to 500 laps. Each competitor has a team of pitties, a crew chief and a hauler, which are sponsored, and may help the racer by giving advice via headsets, and by providing fuel and tire changes during pit stops.