In Pixar’s Cars, Lightning McQueen competes to win the Piston Cup. The championship trophy is the most important prize in the film’s stock-car racing world and is awarded after the season-ending race.
Lightning is one of three cars tied for the championship before the final event. The other contenders are veteran racer Strip Weathers, known as The King, and his aggressive rival Chick Hicks. Because the first final race ends in a three-way tie, a new race is scheduled at the Los Angeles International Speedway.
The Piston Cup is a fictional competition, but its presentation draws from American stock-car racing, especially NASCAR. The trophy’s name also echoes the piston imagery used throughout the Cars universe. Lightning’s pursuit of it begins as a quest for fame, yet his experiences in Radiator Springs make the final outcome more complicated than simply winning.