In Pixar’s Cars, Lightning McQueen competes for the Piston Cup.
The Piston Cup is the fictional stock-car racing championship at the center of the first film’s plot. McQueen finishes a three-way tie with The King and Chick Hicks, leading to a deciding race in California. His ambition to win the trophy drives the early part of the story and helps explain why he initially treats his team and rivals poorly.
The championship is a fictional counterpart to American stock-car racing, especially the visual language of NASCAR. The name also supplies the title of the series’ racing events within the Cars universe. Dinoco is a major sponsor, but Dinoco is not the name of the championship itself.
Cars 2 shifts attention to the World Grand Prix, an international competition. That separate event should not be confused with the Piston Cup, which is most closely associated with McQueen’s original racing career.