Rev your engines! The Honda Center was electric on Saturday night during the Disney Experiences Showcase at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. Rock icon Sheryl Crow took to the stage, surprising thousands of fans with the announcement that she is back in the driver’s seat for Disney and Pixar’s “Cars” franchise and has written and performed new original music — including the high-octane theme song “Built to Last” — for the upcoming Disney Jr. series “Cars: Lightning Racers.”
As part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the original “Cars” movie, Crow treated the crowd to a live performance of the new song, followed by her iconic hit “Real Gone.” The performance brought the spirit of Radiator Springs to life, celebrating two decades of racing history while looking forward to a brand-new generation of adventures.
Sheryl Crow, a nine-time GRAMMY Award winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, is bringing her signature sound with new original music featured throughout “Cars: Lightning Racers.” In addition to the theme song, Crow wrote 10 additional songs for the series, which will debut on Disney Jr. and stream on Disney+ in 2027.
Inspired by Disney and Pixar’s award-winning “Cars” franchise, “Cars: Lightning Racers” is a new series geared towards preschoolers and their families that follows Lightning McQueen, Mater and new teammates on all-new racing adventures in Radiator Springs. Fans looking to revisit the franchise can stream the “Cars” Collection on Disney+. The Disney Experiences Showcase, including Crow’s live performance at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, is also now streaming on Disney+.
As previously announced, many of the original “Cars” voice cast members will reprise their roles, including Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, Larry the Cable Guy as Mater, Bonnie Hunt as Sally, Jenifer Lewis as Flo, Guido Quaroni as Guido, Lloyd Sherr as Fillmore, Michael Wallis as Sheriff, Paul Dooley as Sarge, Tony Shalhoub as Luigi, Cheech Marin as Ramone, Bob Peterson as Chick Hicks and John Ratzenberger as Mack. Joining the cast as new characters are Leah Lewis as Pipes, Yuri Lowenthal as Miles and Sheryl Lee Ralph as Ms. Blinker.
“Cars: Lightning Racers” is produced by Disney Television Animation in association with Pixar for Disney Kids & Family. Travis Braun and Frank Montagna serve as executive producers, Dana Starfield is story editor, and Nathan Chew is supervising director for the series.
