The fictional championship Lightning McQueen races in during Pixar’s Cars is the Piston Cup.
The Piston Cup is the main stock-car racing competition in the first film. Lightning McQueen is a rookie contender who enters the season finale tied with veteran racer The King and aggressive rival Chick Hicks. A three-way tiebreaker race is arranged after a crash prevents the original championship result from settling the title.
The Piston Cup is a fictional counterpart to American stock-car racing. Its name is a playful reference to engine pistons and also echoes the naming style of real motorsport trophies. The Dinoco 400 is a race, not the championship itself, and the World Grand Prix belongs to Cars 2.
The championship remains important in later films, although Cars 3 places greater emphasis on changing technology, training methods, and the relationship between established racers and newcomers.