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Ernie Gearson races for the "Spare-O-Mint" team in the movies Cars and Cars 3.

Official Bio[]

"Ernie Gearson recalls the day when high dollar sponsorships and squealing fans were still a thing of the future. He may be one of the oldest racers on the grids these days, but he's been around the track once or twice. He's still got plenty of fire in his chambers. His friends call him "Giddyup," alluding to the humble 300 horsepower engine he started his career with all those years ago."[1]

Cars[]

In Cars, Ernie competes in the Dinoco 400, the final race of the season, which takes place at the Motor Speedway of the South. He spends most of the race near the front of the pack somewhere in the top 10. Ernie took part in the accident caused by Chick Hicks that involved almost all of the racers on the track. During the accident, he initially tried to avoid it by slowing down but this caused him to drift and hit the safety wall only to soon after hit by Todd Marcus.

Ernie Gearson was T-boned at some point in the wreck as indicated by the post-wreck pit where he is driving down pit lane bent up and out of shape. He receives some minor damage, but he was able to continue racing. He somehow was the first racer to make it off pit road as seen in the following scene where he is side by side with Lightning McQueen restarting in 2nd. Lightning had managed to get a better run however as he already broke away from Ernie and the pack as soon as the green flag came out. Ernie had lost a lot of positions during the rest of the race as he had taken a lot of damage in the crash. By the time of the final lap, he was near the back, only in front of James Cleanair, Kevin Racingtire and Slider Petrolski as scene in a shot on the last lap, though Gearson and Cleanair were not seen when the final lap was announced. He finished in 22nd place.

Cars 3[]

In Cars 3, Ernie is still competing in the Piston Cup. However when Jackson Storm made his debut, interest in Next-Gen race cars rose. Ernie retires and was replaced by a next generation racer named Nick Shift.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • His surname is a pun to Daniel Gerson.
  • Despite the die-cast of the Spare Mint racer of Cars 3 is released with the name "Ernie Gearson", the racer resembles a fourth generation NASCAR, while Ernie Gearson resembles a third generation NASCAR.
  • In Cars, Ernie Gearson is a Husker Morroco stock car. But in Cars 3, Ernie has a drastic redesign as he is now a Capitol Motors Mark II.

References[]

  1. "Car Finder" (supplementary material on Blu Ray Disc release of Cars). 2007. Blu Ray Disc. Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2007.
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