What is the name of the race series at the center of Pixar's Cars?

The Piston Cup is the race series at the center of Pixar's Cars.

Lightning McQueen begins the film as a rookie competitor in the Piston Cup season. His ambition is to win the championship and replace the retiring veteran Strip Weathers, known as The King, on the Dinoco racing team. The story's opening and closing races are both tied to the competition.

The Piston Cup is a fictional championship created for the Cars universe. Its name echoes the language of real motorsport trophies while fitting Pixar's mechanical setting. The series is not the same as the World Grand Prix, which is introduced in Cars 2 as an international race organized by Miles Axlerod.

The first film ends with a three-way tie involving Lightning McQueen, Chick Hicks, and The King. Because that ending does not identify one uncontested champion, a question asking for the series itself has a single clear answer: the fictional Piston Cup.