In Pixar’s Cars, Lightning McQueen leaves Interstate 40 before reaching Radiator Springs.
Lightning is being transported toward California for the tiebreaker race when he falls out of his team’s transport truck, Mack. After becoming separated from Mack, he follows a road and ends up in the forgotten town of Radiator Springs. The route references the real American highway system and the historic Route 66 corridor.
Interstate 40 is a major east-west highway crossing the southern United States. It passes through or near several places associated with Route 66, including parts of Arizona and New Mexico. Cars uses that setting to contrast modern high-speed travel with the older roadside communities bypassed by newer highways.
The fact is easy to confuse with Route 66, because Radiator Springs is located on the historic road. However, the highway Lightning leaves in the film is Interstate 40; Route 66 is the older road connected with the town’s decline.