The mysterious car is following another car on the highway, when the hood flashes a giant X-3 on it's hood. The driver of the car it's following sees the X-3 through his rear-view mirror. But the X-3 is not reversed as it should be in the mirror. The same mistake happens later, during the race, as the car follows Speed. It has just the number 3 on it's hood, but again, the number is not reversed in Speed's mirror.