Lightning McQueen

Lightning McQueen (or simply "Stickers" as Sally usually calls him) is one of the main characters of the Cars franchise. He is the protagonist of the original Cars film and the deuteragonist of Cars 2. He returns as the protagonist of Cars 3.

Biography
"Lightning McQueen is world champion – a modern-day racing legend who's riding high with 7 Piston-Cup wins under his hood which can only be matched by The King Strip Weathers who also has 7 piston cups. Suddenly, he finds himself faced with a new generation of racers who threaten not only his dominance in the sport but the confidence that got him there. Determined to get back to the pole position, the #95 must decide if his love for racing is enough to fuel the comeback of his life."

Cars
Lightning is a red racecar sponsored by Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment ("With Just a Little Rust-eze, you can look like Lightning McQueen!"). McQueen's model is a 2005-2006 handbuilt stock racing car - one of a kind.

He is number 95 in the movie, and at the beginning of the movie, he is racing his first Piston Cup race in Nashville, Tennessee, and is winning. However, when he foolishly refused a new set of tires, causing his current rear ones to blow out, he narrowly sticks his tongue out, making a three-way tie with Strip 'The King" Weathers  and Chick Hicks.

At first, McQueen is obnoxious, selfish, and rude to everyone, having fired three crew chiefs and got his pit crew to furiously resign. McQueen later talks with Weathers who praises him for his talent and guts, but criticizes him for his "one-man deal" attitude. Weathers advises that he needs a good crew and a good chief behind him. McQueen's attention drifts towards getting the Dinoco sponsorship he craves so he does not pay full attention. On the way to Los Angeles, CA for the tie-breaker race, he selfishly makes his transporter Mack drive all night offering to stay awake with him only to fall asleep shortly after. A quartet of tuner cars harass Mack and bump his trailer, causing the racecar to fall out. When McQueen wakes up he notices that Mack is gone, and tries to follow him only to lose him in the process, and after a turn of events including almost being hit by a train and running into a grumpy Peterbilt, ends up in Radiator Springs where he accidentally tears up the main road and is arrested by Sheriff, who then tells him, "Boy, you're in a heap of trouble."

The next morning, McQueen is put on trial, where the town judge Doc Hudson is ready to throw the book at McQueen. The second he takes one look at him, he instead wants him out of town and dismisses the case. A lawyer named Sally Carrera shows up and Lightning is immediately taken with her. Sally convinces Doc that fixing the road is the best thing for the town, so McQueen is sentenced to fix the road using a road paving machine named Bessie. McQueen attempts to escape, but Sheriff siphoned his fuel while he was in the impound, forcing him to stay.

McQueen is so desperate to leave that he runs Bessie at full speed. This results in a bumpy and uneven road. Doc makes a wager with him: if McQueen can beat him in a one lap race around Willy's Butte, then he wins his freedom; if he loses, he has to scrape off the botched asphalt and start over. McQueen immediately leaves Doc - who does not even move - in the dust. He fails to make a hard left turn in the dirt and winds up in a cactus patch, costing him the race. As he resumes paving, Lightning is so miserable that he refuses the town when they offer him anything. Doc takes pleasure in his suffering for some reason.

On the second day, the town sees that Lightning finished about a third of the road. Doc meets with Sheriff at Willy's Butte to find McQueen trying to make the hard left turn he couldn't do. Doc sends Sheriff away and advises McQueen on making the turn. McQueen does not get the advice and winds up in another cactus patch. Later on, Guido fixes a slow leak in his tires and spins them to get rid of any cacti as a thank you for paving the road so well. Red then hoses him off on Sally's orders. She offers him to stay the night at the Cozy Cone Motel, an offer Lightning is too happy to accept. It seems Sally is taken with him as well. Also, the look of the new road has inspired the townsfolk to repaint and fix up their businesses.

That night, the local tow truck Mater is put in charge of watching Lightning and takes him tractor tipping. Lightning does not think much of it but revs his engine, causing every tractor to tip. The two have a good laugh and barely outrun a bull-like harvester named Frank. On their way back, Mater teases him about his feelings for Sally and then shows off his incredible backwards-driving skills. Mater inquires about McQueen's big race and learns about the Dinoco sponsorship Lightning wants. McQueen mentions that it would come with access to helicopters which gets Mater to ask for a helicopter ride if he gets the deal. McQueen says he would get him a ride which leads Mater to say he made a good choice in picking Lightning as his best friend, a gesture he is touched by. Sally overheard that, telling Lightning that Mater trusts him, implying he should not take that lightly.

The next morning, McQueen is waiting for his daily gas ration only to wander into Doc's garage. To his surprise he finds three Piston Cups and a newspaper article revealing that Doc Hudson is really the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, a three-time Piston Cup champion and record holder for the most wins in a single season. Doc finds him and kicks him out, saying the trophies are "a bunch of empty cups." McQueen tells the rest of the town about Doc but they laugh at the idea. Sally shows up and fills up his tank, asking him to take a drive with her. For a moment, Lightning considers making a run for it, but he follows Sally.

The two drive through a forest and mountains. Lightning is awestruck at the natural beauty of the area. They stop at the now-closed Wheel Well Motel where Sally reveals she was once a lawyer who was unhappy with her life. She broke down near Radiator Springs. Sally was fixed up by Doc and taken in by Flo and the rest of the town. She fell in love with the place and moved there. Sally explains that Route 66 was the main road around there and Radiator Springs was a popular tourist stop. All that changed when Interstate 40 was built forty years prior, bypassing the town and causing both the town and the highway to fall off the map entirely. She hopes that they will get it back on the map one day.

After McQueen returns to the town, multiple tractors come stampeding in. McQueen goes off to round up a stray heading towards Willy's Butte. He unexpectedly finds Doc wearing his racing tires showing off his skills. Doc uses a technique called drifting to make the turn McQueen couldn't do.

McQueen then confronts Doc as to why he would quit at the top of his game. Doc corrects him showing him a newspaper article of a major crash he suffered in 1954 in the final lap of the Piston Cup finals. After missing an entire season he returned only for his sponsors to turn their backs on him in favor of the next rookie in line. Doc vowed never to go back, which explains why he wanted Lightning thrown out. Lightning claims he is not like those who turned their backs on him but when Doc presses him on a time he thought about anyone besides himself, he cannot answer. Doc does not want the townsfolk depending on someone like him, but Lightning retorts that Doc is no better by hiding the truth about his past. Doc only tells him to finish the road so he can leave.

The next day, everyone wakes up to see the road is finished. Except for Doc, they are upset that McQueen seemingly left without saying goodbye, but then he shows up to their delight. Sheriff offers him a police escort to Los Angeles but he declines. McQueen has decided to help the town by being their customer: he buys a set of whitewall tires from Luigi and Guido, Fillmore's organic fuel, a set of night-vision goggles from Sarge, some bumper stickers from Lizzie and finally a custom paint job from Ramone. Also, the townsfolk fixed up their neon signs as a result of the new road. A cruise party breaks out that night. While Lightning and Sally are together, a swarm of press shows up. Mack arrives too and apologizes for losing him. Before he leaves, Sally thanks him for everything, wishing him luck in the race. Lightning gets into Mack's trailer but he is sad to leave, having bonded with everyone in Radiator Springs. Sally is angered to learn that it was Doc who tipped off the press about Lightning. Doc says it is best for everyone, but Sally can clearly see that Doc had done it for himself, proving Lightning right about his selfishness.

The day of the race arrives. McQueen prepares for the race with Mack is his pit crew. McQueen has troubles as he cannot stop thinking about Sally and Radiator Springs, causing him to lose a lap. He then gets a surprise when he hears Doc - who is wearing his old racing colors - acting as his crew chief. Most of the town is there serving as his pit crew while Sally, Red, and Lizzie stayed behind to watch in town. With renewed focus, McQueen starts to make up the lost lap. He makes good use of backwards driving to overcome Hicks' dirty tactics. McQueen suffers a flat tire but Guido makes a record-breaking pit stop to get him back out there in time to beat the pace car. Hicks again plays dirty by knocking him onto the grass but the drifting technique allows McQueen to take the lead in the final lap.

During the final lap, Hicks sideswipes The King causing a violent crash. Lightning sees this happen on a big screen and hits the brakes, basically giving up the Piston Cup to Hicks. He reverses and pushes The King across the finish line so he can end his career with dignity. The crowd erupts in cheers for the two racers. Hicks is condemned by the fans and the media. The King's wife Lynda kisses Lightning in gratitude for what he did for her husband. McQueen is praised for his good sportsmanship so much that Tex Dinoco offers him the Dinoco sponsorship. Though it is everything McQueen ever dreamed of, he politely declines to stay with his Rust-eze sponsors as they had given him his big break. Tex respects his decision and says that he will be willing to do a favor for him. McQueen cashes in that favor by arranging for Mater to have a helicopter ride.

McQueen then decides to establish his racing headquarters in Radiator Springs, putting the town back on the map. Lightning gets a new look, which is Ramone's custom job but with the Rust-eze logo, his racing tires, and a circular black and white 95 logo. He meets with Sally at the Wheel Well, telling her he missed her. They start a relationship as they race back to Flo's. Doc takes him under his wing, showing him some new tricks.