Lightning McQueen

"Ka-Chow!"

- Lightning McQueen's catchphrase.

Lightning McQueen (or "Stickers", as Sally calls him) is the main protagonist of Cars and the deuteragonist of Cars 2.

He is voiced by Owen Wilson.

Personality
At first, McQueen is young, brash, selfish, and arrogant, overconfident that he can win the Piston Cup on his own, without help from any pit crew. Lightning soon comes to realize his hotshot ways will not help him when he ends up stranded in Radiator Springs, a town located on the fabled Route 66, thanks to a prank played on his big rig Mack by the Delinquent Road Hazards while traveling to the Piston Cup Championship tiebreaker in Los Angeles. With help from Mater, Doc Hudson and Sally Carrera, Lightning gets back on track and makes it to the race in time to face defending Piston Cup champion Strip "The King" Weathers and the villainous Chick Hicks.

Cars
 Lightning was seen racing the other racers and due to taking a risky move of not getting new tires he barely made a tie with The King and Chick Hicks. As a result of a 3 way tie the Tie breaker race is scheduled to be held in California between the 3 leaders. He then heads to his sponsor Rust-eze which he hates the rusty old cars and then gets in his trailer to leave to a race to California.

On the way he pushed Mack to drive all night till he gets to California and the Delinquent Road Hazards separated him from Mack result he got lost in Route 66 with the Sheriff chasing him (Lightning mistook the Sheriff backfiring for shooting) till he destroyed the road in Radiator Springs by accident during a chase scene.

The next morning he woke up with a parking boot on his left tire and was taken to traffic court where at first the Judge ordered him to leave town but after Sally gives a speech about how important the road is Doc Hudson sentenced Lightning to community service. When Mater took the boot off he tries to escape Radiator springs but only to found out his gas was siphoned while he was passed out. Lightning then was forced to pull bessie until the road is fixed. When he hears on the radio about Chick Hicks has arrived in California he talks to Mater about when McQueen is done with the road he can go he rushed to get the road fixed quickly but only made it worst and was ordered to scrape it off and start over again. McQueen then told Doc that he is not a bulldozer and is a race car which Doc replies with having a one lap race around Willy's Butte. When Luigi says go Lightning speeds ahead only to mess up on a left turn and land into a cactus patch where Mater pulls him out with his tow cable and Lightning was forced to resume his work on the road.

The next day after making a very good road he asked the Sheriff if he can come down to Wily's Butte just to work on that left turn but he keeps messing up until Doc told him to turn right to go left in which he did but still messes up on the turn, landing in another cactus patch, the impact also causing a tall saguaro to fall on him, and Lightning screams in pain.

During his work on the road again Mater invites him to do tractor-tipping which involves scarring the tractors till they tipped over but when Lightning used his loud engine(Lightning does not have a horn) all the tractors tipped over and Frank overhears it and chases Lightning and Mater away from the Tractors. Sally even offers Lightning to stay at the Cozy Cone hotel instead of staying in the impound and when Lightning was dreaming of losing the race to Frank he woke up from his nightmare and really needs his daily gas ration from the Sheriff only for Doc to tell him to wait at Flo's gas station. When Lightning pushed a can into a Stay out building he went inside and learned Doc Hudson is a 3 time winner race car and tries to get Doc to show him his tricks in which he replies by telling him he already tried to. Lightning went to tell everyone about Doc's past career but nobody believes him and then Sally filled McQueens gas tank to full and ask him to take a drive with her in which he did or the Sheriff will chase him if he tries to escape. He visited Wheel Well Hotel and learned about the history of Radiator Springs and learned that Sally moved out of her rich but miserable life in LA to become the town attorney of Radiator Springs.

Lightning then sees Doc with his old racing tires and after seeing him drive he followed him back to the place where Lightning learned that he is a famous race car and later learned about Docs crash which puts him out of season. Lightning then realized he was being selfish and only cared about himself and after the road is finally finished he decided to help the town out including getting new tires from Luigis, a fresh new paint job, some organic homemade fuel and finally fixed Radiator Springs Neon.

After the media found him Sally thanks Lightning for being a help to the town and told him he should go and wishes him good luck in California. After getting in the truck Mack then transports McQueen to California for the Tie breaker race in which he learned the Twins are Chicks fans now and Lightning was starting to lose to the other racers until Doc Hudson and a couple residents of Radiator Springs became McQueens crew chief in which Lightning got his groove back to race. When Lightning was about to catch up to the other racers Chick sideswiped him but Lightning used Maters technique about driving backwards in which surprised everyone including Mater who told Chicks pit crew he taught him that. Then when Lightning was catching up to The King Chick flattened his tire only for Guido to do a very fast pit stop in which Lightning was able to get back in the race in no time. After Chick does some more dirty deeds including forcing McQueen off the road Lightning finally masters the Turn Right to go Left trick in which he made it in first place. After seeing Chick really injures The King he stopped before he reaches the finish line allowing Chick to win the piston cup. He then pushes The King to the finish line because he thinks the King should finish his last race and told him that Doc Hudson told Lightning that the Piston Cup is just an empty cup.

Because of McQueens good deed Dinoco offers Lightning their contract with him but Lightning turned it down and says that the Rust-eze gave him his big break and said there is one thing he wants with Dinoco which is put the town Radiator Springs on the map amd make the Helicopter give Mater a ride. Lightning McQueen then sets up his racing headquarters in the town and races Sally to Flo's. In the credits it is shown that while McQueen races Doc he claims he know all of Docs tricks but when Doc turns right and looks like he crashed into a cactus he jumped out of it and back on the race track replying "Not all my tricks rookie!". Another scene in the credits involves Lightning helping out the town by reopening Wheel Well Hotel and hanging out with his friends at a drive in theater which was playing Toy Car Story, Monster Trucks Inc and A Bugs life.

Cars 2
Ligthning Returns as a deuteragonist with Mater taking the protagonist role.

his time around, Lightning is racing in the first ever World Grand Prix to determine who's the world's fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours, and hilarious surprises.

After his long racing season, resulting him winning his fourth Piston Cup, Lightning returns home to Radiator Springs to enjoy the summer. All of his friends excitedly greet him, but none so more than Mater, eager to have a fun-filled summer with him. After an entire day involving riding on railway tracks with no tires and tipping over an enormous haul truck, Lightning politely tells Mater that he wants to enjoy the evening with his girlfriend Sally. However, Mater suddenly pretends to be a waiter at Wheel Well Motel as an excuse to hang out with his friends. After sending Mater off to get his usual drink (which Mater did not know), the couple notice a crowd gather inside the bar. Deciding to find out what's going on, they spot Francesco Bernoulli on TV, insulting both him and Mater over the PHONE. Lightning pulls Mater away from the phone before he could embarrass himself and anyone else further, making snug comebacks at Francesco that rile him and make him left the stage. Miles Axlerod suggests that the two racers settle their dispute in the World Grand Prix, a high profile, three-part exhibition race that Axlerod previously extended an invitation to Lighting. As Luigi, Guido, Sarge and Fillmore volunteer to fill in as his pit crew once more, Lightning gladly accepted the challenge. Sally then suggested bringing Mater along, as Lightning had never brought him to any of his races. Despite his reluctance, Lightning gives in to Sally's reasoning and invites Mater along.

During a race against several other competitors including an Italian car named Francesco Bernoulli, Lightning unexpectedly loses the race in Tokyo after Mater is unexpectedly mistaken for a spy and therefore abandoning his position as crew chief, unintentionally give him. McQueen gets mad at Mater and claims that he doesn't need or want his help anymore, causing the tow truck to feel dejected. The next morning, Lightning and the others discover a farewell note from Mater, apologizing for what he had done. Lightning then reassured himself and his friends that at least Mater will be safe back HOME. Little that he knew that Mater had been mistaken from a spy and was caught up in a plot involving Lemon cars and the race.

As Team Lightning McQueen arrive in Luigi and Guido's home town in Italy, a depressed Lightning began to feel guilty over his fight with Mater. Luigi's Uncle Topolino tells him that he has been too harsh on Mater and should accept him for who he is.

In Porto Corsa for the second race, Lightning manages to win one over on Francesco. However, they then spot most of the other racecars having suffered engine damage from the Allinol fuel in their tanks exploding. Though Axlerod is forced to suspend Allinol's use from the final race in London, Lightning announced that he would continue to use Allinol, stating that Fillmore said it was safe. Unknown to him, the Lemons decided to target and kill him during the final race to fully discredit Allinol.

Lightning later called Radiator Springs to talk to Mater, only to learn that he didn't return HOME. In response, Sally and the others joined him in London, Sheriff and Sarge departing their company to consult respectively with Scotland Yard and the British Military to find Mater. He was then personally approached by Axlerod, who thanked him for giving Allinol another chance. When Sally reminded him that Mater would want him to race, Lightning resolved to race in his best friend's name.

In the middle of the race, Lightning spotted Mater in the pits, only for the latter to desperately drive away from him. He chases Mater through the streets, trying to apologize, not knowing that he had a bomb in his engine. After the chase, they hear from Professor Z that it's voice activated and can only be deactivated by the one who activated it in the first place. Mater soon realizes that Miles Axlerod is the criminal behind the World Grand Prix, but is worried that nobody will believe him. Then, Lightning tells him what he learned, and Mater goes to the palace and forces Miles to deactivate the bomb. For that, Lightning decides to bring Mater to all his races from now on.

After Mater is formally knighted by the Queen, everyone returns to Radiator Springs, where they receive a visit from Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell. Lightning then questioned why the Lemons' EMP camera didn't ignite the Allinol in his tank, to which the spycars had no answer. They all turn to Fillmore, who admitted that Sarge switched his Allinol with Fillmore's organic fuel, hence why Lightning didn't explode.

As all the WGP racers are invited for the Radiator Springs Grand Prix, Lightning and Francesco's rivalry had toned down, as they both agreed that the race is better off without cameras or press. As he turned to introduce the Italian to Sally, Francesco quickly addressed her and stated that Lightning is the luckiest car to have her as his girlfriend, before adding that he'll need luck to beat him. Lightning then sported off his new stickers saying, "Ka-Ciao Francesco", which amused his rival.

In the middle of the race, Mater joins the racers on his rocket jets and races Lightning for first place as the film ends.

The end credits show Lightning and Mater visiting many places around the world before returning home.

Cars 3
Lightning will return in Cars 3.

Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales
Lightning now serves as the deuteragonist in Mater's very own show.

The show begins with Mater telling Lightning what he used to be and did in the past. However, Lightning never believes Mater (as he wasn't there), and whenever he asks Mater if the stories really happened, Mater will always say, "Don't you remember? You was there, too!". Then, Mater continues the stories, including Lightning's sudden participation. The episodes end with Mater leaving, often followed by the characters and/or references from Mater's stories, implying that the stories might be real. Here, McQueen is often shown getting hurt or getting some other predicament (such as being chased by bulldozers and being trapped in a burning building) in some of Mater's stories, although not always.

Quotes

 * I'm a precision instrument of speed and aerodynamics.
 * Speed. I am Speed!
 * One Winner. Forty-Two losers. I eat losers for breakfast!
 * I'm a very famous race car!
 * No no no no. No tires just gas!
 * So you're a judge, doctor and a racing expert.
 * Officer, talk to me, babe. How long is this gonna take? I gotta get to California, pronto.
 * One Winner. Two losers. I eat losers for breakfast!
 * Ka-chow!
 * Oh I am so not taking you to dinner!
 * Oh no. Oh wait maybe he could help me. (Sheriff then backfires and McQueen thought he was shooting at him) He's shooting at me! Why is he shooting at me?!!
 * Speed. Speed. Float like a Cardiac sting like a beemer.
 * Mater let me get this straight. I can go when this road is done thats the deal?
 * Look Doc I'm not a bulldozer. I'm a race car.
 * He has a piston cup?
 * Did you know Doc is a very famous race car?
 * Not today old man. I know all your tricks.
 * I'm faster than fast. Quicker than quick I am Lightning!
 * Checkered flag here I come.
 * A rookie has won the piston cup.
 * This old race car once told me something. Its just an empty cup.
 * Look. Doc said when I'm done I could go. That was the deal!
 * First one to California gets Dinoco oh we'll see who gets there first Chick.
 * No. No. No. No. No.
 * Oh I hate rusty old cars. This is not good for my image.
 * Mater I can't. I don't even have a horn.
 * I'm not a baby.
 * I'm not sure these "Tires" can get me all the way to California.
 * Freedom!
 * Out of gas? How could I be out of gas?
 * Radiator Springs a happy place!!
 * Great I'm talking to Bessie now! I'm talking to Bessie.
 * Goodbye Radiator Springs and goodbye Bessie. California here I come!
 * Hey thanks for coming, but we're all set. He's letting me go.
 * Is it getting dark out?
 * Hey big fella. Hey you in the red. I could use a hose down help me wash this off.
 * Thank you Mater!
 * I think the King should finish his last race.
 * Adios Chuck!
 * Come on Doc. I'm a race car and you're an older race car but under the hood we are the same.
 * How could a car like you quit when you are the top of your game?

Trivia

 * The emblem "95" is a reference to the year 1995, when the first Toy Story (and Pixar) movie was released. Originally, though, his number was going to to be "57" (John Lasseter's birth year).
 * Lightning McQueen was named after late supervising Pixar animator Glenn McQueen who died of melanoma in 2002.