Who is lightning mcqueen in cars

While he helps out the residents of Radiator Springs, he gets a new paint job, which is a darker red, with a half of a long oval shape painted in wheat and with a thin bolt shape inside.

His racing number, name inscription, bolt stickers, and sponsor are absent along with his spoiler, and he gets his racing tires replaced with whitewalls. However, when he gets taken to the Los Angeles International Speedway by Mack and the press, he gets his Rust-eze customization and racing tires back.

After finishing the Piston Cup season, he gets another repaint, which regains the oval shape and thin bolt, but slightly shorter, with his racing number in black inside a white circle that has black borders.

Additionally, his bolt stickers are again absent. He also regains his spoiler and has less Piston Cup decals, which are all located on the bottom of his sides. He uses this when he is not racing, as he has his original paint job in Cars: The Video Game.

In his first appearance in Cars 2 , Lightning regains his original red shade, his bolt stickers, and the original Rust-eze appearance of his racing number, and has a dark red bolt that is the same size as his original bolt shape, along with a thin yellow bolt across. The Rust-eze logo is absent at the back of his sides, and he has the "Hudson Hornet Piston Cup" logo beside his front fenders.

When Lightning takes part in the World Grand Prix, he uses a new paint, which removes the Rust-eze logo and bolt stickers, and has the "Hudson Hornet Piston Cup" logo on his hood. His Piston Cup decals, which were all still on the bottom of his sides, are replaced by the World Grand Prix and allinol logos. His ducktail spoiler is replaced by a raised one, which has the name of Rust-eze replaced by the World Grand Prix logo.

He also uses different sets of tires outside races and has a large bolt shape that is again orange and yellow in the same locations, but with green borders, and the back of the bolt is styled after flames, which there is also a dark red flame behind the bolt. The borders of his racing number are also changed from white to green.

Beside his front fenders, he has an idol that is almost shaped like a crest, which the World Grand Prix logo and symbol inside it on the top, with the United States flag and his racing number beneath. Additionally, he gets his headlight stickers replaced with actual headlights. He regains the same number of decals from his original Rust-eze paint job, put in the exact same locations. On his spoiler, he has an inscription of Radiator Springs' name as well as a symbol of Radiator Cap Mountain.

In his first appearance in Cars 3 , he has a new design which is a large bolt but with his sponsor's name Rust-eze at the back of the bolt. He has a bolt on his hood with the same Rust-eze word, retaining his actual working headlights from the second film and ducktail spoiler from the first film.

Four months after his crash in the Los Angeles International Speedway race, he is seen in his primer colors while still sporting the 95 decals on his sides before being repainted in his original paint job by Ramone.

Once in the Rust-eze Racing center, he receives his electronic suit in which enables Cruz Ramirez to track his top speed through her agent Hamilton only at close range. With the help of Mack and Luigi, he covers himself in mud under the alias Chester Whipplefilter in order to keep himself low profile in Thunder Hollow before Cruz Ramirez accidentally exposes him to the public after her victory.

He finally accidentally loses his electronic suit in Thomasville during his training with Cruz, Smokey, and the retired veteran racers at night. After his indirect and Cruz's victory in the Florida race, he gets a new paint job as the Fabulous Lightning McQueen , sporting Doc Hudson's colors, the Rust-eze logo on his hood and 95 on his backsides, his lightning bolt stickers on his front sides, and the Fabulous Lightning McQueen logo on his sides.

Lightning is running in the race to win the Piston Cup , with the incentive that the winner would be the replacement for Dinoco's old mascot, Strip Weathers, who was retiring.

However, during the race, he denies tire changes from his pit crew, requesting only gas. But about yards from his Piston Cup, his back tires blow out. Rather than winning the race, he barely manages a tie with Strip Weathers and Chick Hicks. His pit crew abandon him after he tells "Not Chuck", one of his members, to get out of the camera shot. Strip Weathers also known as "The King" admonishes him for his overconfidence and lack of teamwork, but Lightning does not listen because he is lost in thought about the joys of working for Dinoco.

He then has a talk with his agent Harv, who explains how he got tickets for Lightning to give to his friends, but Lightning is unable to respond to this due to the fact that he has no friends. Now on his way to the tie-breaker race in Los Angeles , Lightning orders his driver Mack to drive all night in order to get the sponsorship, but he inevitably falls asleep.

Lightning ends up lost in a little ghost-town called Radiator Springs and after tearing up their main road, he is sentenced to community service to repair the road. While he is in town, he meets a selection of cars, most notably being Doc Hudson and Sally Carrera. Although at first rude to Doc, McQueen does find out about his past as a Hudson Hornet who won 3 Piston Cups until a devastating crash put him out of season which caused him to be replaced by a rookie.

With Sally, the two take a drive and McQueen begins to learn about Radiator Springs past and how it used to become a landmark until the interstate highways took over.

As a result, he soon comes to realize how arrogant and selfish he has been and that there is more to racing than just winning and what people in the real world have gone through in their lives. He also makes friends with every car in town, especially Mater , a rusty tow truck who chooses him as his best friend, even going Tractor Tipping with him and showing his signature backwards move.

During the race, he thinks about his new friends which cause him to spin out off the track, but regains confidence when he finds out that Mater, Luigi, Guido, Fillmore, Sarge, Sheriff, Ramone, along with Doc Hudson who has acted as McQueen's new crew chief arrived to support him.

McQueen even tried the new tricks his friends taught him in the race when Chick Hicks plays dirty such as driving backwards and doing Doc Hudson's signature move when he goes out on the grass once more. Lightning is about to win the race by several car lengths when The King is wrecked badly by Hicks.

Lightning is reminded of Doc Hudson's horrible crash that brought an end to his career and unable to bear the thought of something similar happening again, he abruptly skids to a stop just in front of the finish line, allowing Chick to win the title.

Humbly accepting his loss, Lightning heads back down the track to save The King and help him across the finish line to give him a respectable finish for his final race, coming in third place, a best finish for him much to the crowd's amazement.

The King points out to Lightning that he sacrificed his Piston Cup win to save him, only for Lightning to say that "a grumpy old car" once told him that "it's just an empty cup. Impressed by his good sportsmanship, Tex Dinoco offers the contract to be their mascot to Lightning rather than the now unpopular Chick Hicks, but Lightning turns it down, saying he needs to complete his contract with Rust-eze, the company who gave him his big break, first.

He then sets up headquarters in Radiator Springs, drawing attention back to the little town and making it popular again and simultaneously returning it to the map. In the process, Route 66 forevermore once again becomes a historical tourist attraction. Seeing a tow hook behind some cans, he starts to think that it belongs to Mater, and hopes that he would not be planning to scare him.

However, Mater then jumps out of nowhere and freaks Lightning out, causing him to jump and knock down the rest of the cans, revealing that it was only one of Mater's signs. Mater tells Lightning that he looked like he had seen the ghostlight, to which Sheriff then tells the townsfolk a story about a couple who disappeared after coming across the ghostlight.

He then informs the residents to keep their eye out for the ghostlight, before everyone, except Mater, quickly leave and say goodnight. Shortly after arriving at his home, Mater notices a blue light behind him, believing it to be the ghostlight, and drives away in fright. It then turns out to be a prank, as Lightning and Guido have actually put a lantern on Mater's tow hook.

Lightning and the townsfolk all watch as Mater continues driving around the town until he gets tired and eventually realizes what it actually was. Lightning and the others then laugh, to which Mater sarcastically says that he knew it was a prank all along.

After Sheriff and Doc tell Mater to only be scared of his imagination and the Screamin' Banshee , McQueen and everyone else quickly leave Mater and drive back to their homes to sleep.

In each episode, a random thing makes Mater mention to Lightning about things he did years ago. Lightning listens to each of Mater's stories, and always makes a comment of disbelief about them. Lightning's comments often make Mater say that Lightning was also there. Sometimes, Lightning gets into trouble depending on the story's subject, such as being trapped in a burning building in Rescue Squad Mater , unable to reach the end of Carburetor Canyon in Mater the Greater , and being chased by bulldozers in El Materdor.

However, Lightning never believes that these stories ever happened, due to the fact that he knows he would not have been present, but he would then usually see someone or something that comes from Mater's stories, leaving him either shocked or confused. However, there are a couple of times where he fails to see these, such as when he fails to see Mater fly at the end of Unidentified Flying Mater due to trying to get away from the noises Mater was making , and does not see his biggest fans, Mia and Tia , cheering for Mater like how they did in Mater's story in El Materdor due to that he himself was being chased by a herd of bulldozers.

After he won his fourth Piston Cup, Lightning comes back to Radiator Springs, where the townsfolk are happy to see him return, including Mater. Lightning intervenes and accepts the deal to be one of the racers, along with bringing Mater along following advice from Sally.

On the journey, Lightning and Mater are enjoying their time together: watching a game show on their plane's television, amazed by Tokyo's neon signs, and attending a karate show. At the opening ceremony, Lightning meets up with fellow racers Lewis Hamilton and Jeff Gorvette, but he soon notices that Mater has been acting the same since living in Radiator Springs, and tries to explain that he should change his behavior so to get used to all the different things outside Radiator Springs.

However, Mater does not completely understand, deciding to help Lightning by introducing him to Italian racer Francesco Bernoulli. Although reluctant by this, Lightning is forced to mention to Francesco that it is an honor for them to meet. They both agree to have a toast, but both of them make the same dedication of their own win in the initial race to Sally. Additionally, Lightning turns against Francesco, determined to beat him in the race the following day.

To make matters worse, Lightning's interview with Axlerod in front of the press is disrupted by Mater rushing to the fountain after taking a huge amount of wasabi. McQueen gets even more worried when he sees what appears to be Mater leaking oil in public which is actually Miles who did it , and orders him to go and sort himself out right away.

Lightning trying to take the lead from Francesco in Tokyo, thanks to a miscommunication from Mater. Moments before the first race begins, Lightning makes his usual preparations, closing his eyes and talking to himself about keeping focus, only for Francesco to immediately mock him by making the same preparations.

Annoyed, Lightning once again comments about his goal to beat Francesco. As the race begins, Lightning makes his way up the field, getting up to second place and behind Francesco. However, Lightning is not able to get past Francesco until they come up to the dirt section, where Mater, who is working as Lightning's crew chief, gives him the advice of using the same trick Doc had taught him.

With Francesco struggling to drive on the dirt, Lightning makes an easy pass at the following chicane and takes the lead. However, drama occurs as a couple of the racecars flame out, leaving fans wondering if Allinol is responsible for the accidents.

Next, Lightning begins hearing random words from Mater through his team radio, unaware that Mater is actually talking to someone else who tampered with his radio, even asking her if she likes flowers. Still being confused by Mater's words, Lightning moves to the outside of the loop up to Rainbow Bridge, enabling Francesco to snatch the lead.

Shocked by what happened, Lightning goes after Francesco and goes side-by-side with him as they head towards the finish line. However, Francesco is able to cross the finish line first, while Lightning finishes second. Feeling dissatisfied, Lightning is left wondering why this all happened, as Francesco brags during the podium interview about making a move whenever someone makes a mistake. Just then, Lightning notices Mater driving to the pits, and when no one is looking, he sneaks out of the podium interview and confronts Mater in their pit, asking him why he was talking nonsense throughout the race.

Mater explains that he had been away from the track because he heard a woman's voice talking to him out of nowhere and directing him through the streets, where he had seen a couple of cars involved in a fight and using flame-throwers. Lightning is still enraged and doesn't believe those words, reprimanding Mater for his actions, telling him that it is all his fault for making him lose the race and that he should not have brought him along so he could spend time "imagining" a girlfriend and watching people using flame-throwers in fights.

Realizing what Lightning meant, Mater tries to make up by suggesting to talk to someone about what happened and that he can help, but Lightning, still too angry, berates Mater, declaring that he does not need, rather want any help from him at all, and he storms off, leaving Mater heartbroken and guilty for what he has done.

The next day, Lightning finds a note from Mater saying that he has decided to head back home following the confrontation, not wanting to be responsible ever again for making him losing any future races.

However, Lightning becomes completely ashamed of himself, as he did not mean for Mater to leave. Despite being relieved that he would know Mater would be safe being in Radiator Springs, Lightning still regrets his outburst, thinking that he should not have been too hard on him. Arriving in Italy, Lightning and his team come across Luigi and Guido's old hometown, Carsoli, where the latter two are proud to be reunited with Uncle and Mama Topolino.

After sending Mater off to get his usual drink which Mater did not know , the couple notice a crowd gather inside the bar.

Deciding to find out what's going on, they spot Francesco Bernoulli on TV, insulting both him and Mater over the phone. Lightning pulls Mater away from the phone before he could embarrass himself and anyone else further, making snug comebacks at Francesco that rile him and make him leave the stage.

Miles Axlerod suggests that the two racers settle their dispute in the World Grand Prix , a high profile, three-part exhibition race that Axlerod previously extended an invitation to Lightning. As Luigi, Guido, Sarge, and Fillmore volunteer to fill in as his pit crew once more, Lightning gladly accepted the challenge. Sally then suggested bringing Mater along, as Lightning had never brought him to any of his races.

Despite his reluctance, Lightning gives in to Sally's reasoning and invites Mater along. With a fresh custom paint job and real working headlights, Lightning sets off to Japan , Italy , and England with Mater in tow for the adventure of a lifetime. But competing against the fastest cars in the world tests more than his racing skills when Lightning realizes his wide-eyed best friend may not be the pit chief nor ambassador he needs to navigate the unfamiliar international terrain.

During a race against several other competitors including an Italian car named Francesco Bernoulli , Lightning unexpectedly loses the race in Tokyo after Mater is unexpectedly mistaken for a spy and therefore abandoning his position as crew chief, unintentionally giving him bad advice in the process. McQueen gets mad at Mater and claims that he doesn't need or want his help anymore, causing the tow truck to feel dejected.

The next morning, Lightning and the others discover a farewell note from Mater, apologizing for what he had done. Lightning then reassured himself and his friends that at least Mater will be safe back home. Little that he knew that Mater had been mistaken from a spy and was caught up in a plot involving Lemon cars and the race. Luigi's Uncle Topolino tells him that he has been too harsh on Mater and should accept him for who he is.

In Porto Corsa for the second race, Lightning manages to win one over on Francesco. However, they then spot most of the other racecars having suffered engine damage from the Allinol fuel in their tanks exploding. Though Axlerod is forced to suspend Allinol's use from the final race in London, Lightning announced that he would continue to use Allinol, stating that Fillmore said it was safe, and that "he didn't stand by Mater recently, he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice".

Unknown to him, the Lemons decided to target and kill him during the final race to fully discredit Allinol. Lightning later called Radiator Springs to talk to Mater, only to learn that he didn't return home. In response, Sally and the others joined him in London , Sheriff and Sarge departing their company to consult respectively with Scotland Yard and the British Military to find Mater.

He was then personally approached by Axlerod, who thanked him for giving Allinol another chance. When Sally reminded him that Mater would want him to race, Lightning resolved to race in his best friend's name.

In the middle of the race, Lightning spotted Mater in the pits, only for the latter to desperately drive away from him. He chases Mater through the streets, trying to apologize, not knowing that he had a bomb in his engine. After the chase, they hear from Professor Z that it's voice activated and can only be deactivated by the one who activated it in the first place.

Mater soon realizes that Miles Axlerod is the criminal behind the World Grand Prix, but is worried that nobody will believe him. Then, Lightning tells him what he learned, and Mater goes to the palace and forces Miles to deactivate the bomb. For that, Lightning decides to bring Mater to all his races from now on.

Lightning then questioned why the Lemons' EMP camera didn't ignite the Allinol in his tank, to which the spycars had no answer. They all turn to Fillmore, who admitted that Sarge switched his Allinol with Fillmore's organic fuel, hence why Lightning didn't explode.

As all the WGP racers are invited for the Radiator Springs Grand Prix, Lightning and Francesco's rivalry had toned down, as they both agreed that the race is better off without cameras or press. As he turned to introduce the Italian to Sally, Francesco quickly addressed her and stated that Lightning is the luckiest car to have her as his girlfriend, before adding that he'll need luck to beat him. Lightning then sported off his new stickers saying, "Ka-Ciao Francesco", which amused his rival.

In the middle of the race, Mater joins the racers on his rocket jets and races Lightning for first place as the film ends. During the credits, Lightning and Mater are seen visiting many places around the world before returning home. Suddenly, he finds himself faced with a new generation of racers who threaten not only his dominance in the sport but the confidence that got him there. Determined to get back to the pole position, the 95 must decide if his love for racing is enough to fuel the comeback of his life.

Lightning returns in Cars 3 for the second time as the protagonist. He has struck up friendships with fellow racers Cal Weathers - who is now racing for Dinoco with his uncle Strip "The King" Weathers as his crew chief - and Bobby Swift. Tex Dinoco would still like Lightning to race for him, even courting him within earshot of Cal.

During the season, a newcomer named Jackson Storm seemingly comes out of nowhere and wins. Lightning later congratulates him only for Jackson Storm to state it was an honor to "finally beat him", later telling his crew that he "struck a nerve", showing that he likes to use emotional manipulation to get into his opponents' heads. Also, Storm uses the latest technology to train, making him a highly-skilled precision racer.

The season goes on with Storm continuing to rack up wins, and more advanced, rookie racers begin supplanting the older generation. Cal chooses to retire, telling Lightning how much he valued their friendship. Bobby is fired by his sponsor and replaced with Danny Swervez. On the next race, Lightning gets increasingly desperate to win, but fortunately Guido is still fast at pit stops and gets him back out, with his girlfriend Sally Carrera and best friend Mater cheering him on.

Jackson Storm continues to mock him on the track, passing him. Daniel Swervez and Chase Racelott - another next-gen racer - also pass Lightning. Lightning pushes himself as hard as he can, but both of his rear tires burn out and he suffers a violent rollover crash. Sally, Mater, Guido and Luigi go out to see if he's okay while emergency responders check on him.

Four months later, Lightning has recovered and is back in Radiator Springs. He's in Doc's old garage watching footage of the crash that ended his career. Sally then checks on him. Lightning doesn't want to end up like Doc who was forced to retire.

Sally tells him not to fear failure, reminding him that he has a chance. She resorts to some reverse psychology to get him going. Lightning tells all his friends he intends to keep racing. He's surprised to learn that Dusty and Rusty sold Rust-eze to billionaire Sterling , who appears to be a big fan.

He has Lightning fitted with a new suit which tracks his speed and vital signs. Sterling shows off all the high-tech training equipment, including the most advanced simulator available. Lightning is introduced to Cruz Ramirez , a friendly and enthusiastic trainer who first riles Lightning up by saying he's an imposter, but this was quickly shown as a motivational tactic.

Cruz trains Lightning, who's itching to try the simulator. Unfortunately, it goes badly when Lightning rams into various objects, catches on fire, flies off the restraints and crashes into the screen. Sterling then calls him into his office, showing him lots of merchandise with his likeness. McQueen realizes that Sterling doesn't want him racing anymore, so he makes a wager: if McQueen wins his next race, he retires whenever he wants; if not, he'll sell all the merchandise he can.

Cruz will run alongside him using her digital assistant Hamilton to gauge his top speed, but will have to stay very close. This proves easier said than done since Cruz doesn't know how to race on sand. It takes until sunset to get it right. McQueen's top speed is gauged at mph, which is still slower than Storm.

He decides to head to Thunder Hollow which has a dirt track, but when Luigi gets worried about the press finding him there, Mack assures him he can give Lightning a disguise. When they get there, Lightning is covered in mud to mask his appearance, going by the name Chester Whipplefilter. They realize too late that it's a Demolition Derby, and Cruz now has to take part too.

The champion is a monster school bus named Miss Fritter. Cruz wins the derby, but accidentally trips a water truck over, inadvertently washing Lightning off and blowing his cover. A furious Lightning lashes out at Cruz in Mack's trailer, complaining that he spent the entire day having to take care of her. He states that he has to win his next race to continue in the sport, saying she wouldn't understand since she's not a racer.

And in the process, Lightning breaks Cruz's trophy. Angry, Cruz orders Mack to pull over and snaps back at Lightning. She never wanted to be a trainer, but a racer like him. She got to her first race, but felt she didn't belong and left. Lightning admits at Cruz's urging that he never felt he didn't belong.

She wishes she knew what that felt like. Cruz drives off on her own. Lightning felt bad as Cruz began driving off. He did not mean to hurt her feelings. Mack spends the night sleeping under a bridge while Lightning watches TV. Footage of the demolition derby plays. Also, analyst Natalie Certain reports that Jackson Storm has set a new record for fastest lap, making him the heavy favorite at Lightning calls Mater who fortunately was still awake. Mater initially can't come up with good advice until McQueen says he wishes he could talk to Doc again.

Mater makes an off-handed comment that the car who taught Doc would know more about racing than him. With that, Lightning catches up to Cruz and convinces her to come with him to Doc's hometown of Thomasville. Once arriving, Lightning and Cruz get a look at the dirt track where Doc used to race. Lightning tells Smokey that he wishes he could've seen Doc during his racing days when he was at his happiest.

Smokey tells Lightning that he never heard from Doc after he moved to Radiator Springs, but one day he started getting letters from him. Smokey shows Lightning a wall with pictures of Lightning and Doc, revealing that coaching Lightning was the happiest time of his life. Smokey tells him he can't be faster than Storm, but he can be smarter than him, as evidenced by making it through the derby without a scratch.

Since Lightning missed the qualifiers, he'll have to start from behind and Jackson Storm will start in front. Cruz has a spoiler installed and black tape is used to make her resemble Jackson Storm so she can be a "sparring partner" for Lightning. The two will race on the speedway with the latter only having three laps to overtake her, but he can't.

They use other techniques to train: dodging thrown bales of hay and other obstacles, maneuvering through a tractor stampede, and driving through a forest at night without their headlights on. The two get the hang of the exercises. While night driving, Lightning's suit gets torn off by the trees, giving him back his original racing colors. During this, Lightning and Cruz watch old footage of Doc's races. They see that he used the drafting technique to gain speed and see him use the barricade to flip over another car who tried to ram him into the wall.

On their final day of training, Lightning manages to pull ahead on the speedway, but Cruz still wins. They have to head to Florida for the race. Johnny Suppicich. Kaya Leijenhorst. Standard Monster. Evan Bishop. Alex Thompson. Ushay Nixon. Karl Long. David Pickles. Post sponsored by. Tim Rodie All Polls. Hammond's Workshop brought to you by By. This is what Richard Hammond does on his lunch break.

Mike Fernie Hammond's Workshop. Richard Hammond is in trouble Rachael Hogg Home cooking. Happy birthday to me!