In Pixar’s Cars, what town does Lightning McQueen enter after taking a wrong turn?

Lightning McQueen enters Radiator Springs after taking a wrong turn in Pixar’s Cars.

While being transported to California for the Piston Cup tiebreaker, McQueen escapes his trailer and becomes lost. He damages the road in the small desert town of Radiator Springs and is ordered to repair it before leaving.

Radiator Springs is the film’s central setting. Its residents include Mater, Sally Carrera, Doc Hudson, Luigi, Guido, Ramone, Flo, and Fillmore. The town’s decline is connected to the construction of Interstate 40, which bypassed the old highway route.

The setting draws heavily on the history and visual character of U.S. Route 66. It is sometimes confused with Ornament Valley, the broader landscape associated with Radiator Springs in the films and Cars Land at Disney California Adventure.