What happened to The Hudson Hornet in Cars

Doc Hudson (voiced by Paul Newman in his last non-documentary film role) is Radiator Springs' local physician. His license plate read 51HHMD, which is a reference to his year and track number (51), model (Hudson Hornet) and profession (medical doctor). A racer-turned-mechanic, the character has Newman's blue eyes.

Doc's stickers say "twin H power", which was an optional dealer-installed dual carburetor intake manifold, with twin 1-barrel carburetors and air filters. It was standard on 1952 model Hornets. Doc was once known as the Fabulous Hudson Hornet (#51), one of the most famous race cars to have ever lived; he won three consecutive Piston Cups (1951/52/53), and he still held the record for most wins in a single season (27, also the number of NASCAR Grand National races won by Hudson Hornets in 1952. All that changed for the famous Hornet when a terrible crash on the track during the final lap of the 1954 Piston Cup championship race saw him put out for the season in a career-ending injury which closely parallels the fate of Herb Thomas, NASCAR's 1951 and 1953 champion. Upon his return, he was received with a complete absence of fanfare and told that he was a has-been who had been passed up for the next rookie in line. He kept a newspaper article on the career-ending crash as a reminder never to return to the life that nearly killed him.

Jaded by the racing scene, he left that world, apparently taking out time to study medicine. The famous No. 51 disappeared into obscurity, leaving many wondering where he had gone. He instead opted for a simple navy blue paint job and the life of a physician in the tiny town of Radiator Springs, the "shining Gemstone" of the Mother Road – Route 66. He runs Doc's Clinic as a "doctor of internal combustion". As times changed and the town was bypassed by Interstate 40, Doc stayed on, even when the population had dwindled to a meager dozen or so residents. He is respected, well-loved, and served not only as the town's physician, but as its judge. Nobody in the town has any idea of his past as a racer, knowing him merely as an ordinary Hudson Hornet, and he uses his Piston Cup trophies to hold his tools instead of putting them on display.

How did he die

So how did he die. Try explaining to a 6 year old where The Hudson Hornet is. Disney you do not explain what happened to him, we know Paul Newman died from lung cancer in 2008 and he was the voice, BUT YOU COULD STILL EXPLAIN
How hard is it to actually have a conversation between Lightning and the gang, not pussy foot around it. It would of been more fitting to actually paid some respect to both Paul Newman and to his character Hudson Hornet.