In a flashback, it is shown that Speed Racer's older brother, Rex, died while racing the "Casa Cristo 5000", a big race that goes across two continents. It is very dangerous and the drivers are very bad. The drivers try to get other racers out of the race by hitting their cars or using tools to get them out of the race. Rex was said to be cheating in the race. This gave people a bad opinion of the racing world.