Soon, the two are on the road, and McQueen urges Mack to drive through the night, without resting. Desperate to win, McQueen rushes to Mack, who forces him to make an appearance at his sponsor's tent, which McQueen hates. After a three-way tie between him, seven-time champion Strip Weathers and consistent runner-up Chick Hicks, McQueen makes a bet with Chick, where the first one to reach the tie-breaker race at the Los Angeles International Speedway wins the DINOCO sponsorship. In Cars, the film opens at the Motor Speedway of the South, where cocky and self-centred Lightning McQueen is competing in the Dinoco 400 for the title of the Piston Cup champion. McQueen's racing abilities eventually garnered the attention of the Piston Cup Racing Series, and he became a rookie in the championship's 2006 season. Though he was initially hesitant due to the sponsor's humiliating demeanor, McQueen agreed as long as Mack could become his transporter. Upon their arrival in Boston, Rusty and Dusty Rust-eze offered a sponsorship to McQueen.
During their trip, McQueen and Mack became fast friends. Mack, who had overheard McQueen's termination, approached the young hotshot and offered to take him to Boston to meet for a job opportunity with Rust-eze, who had been looking, with little success, for a new spokescar. However, he was dropped from the label in favor of another young racer named Sammy Smelter, whose poor racing fit the image of Smell Swell better, according to the representative who fired McQueen. Towards the start of his racing career, McQueen raced under sponsorship of Smell Swell Deodorizer. Additionally, Michael Jordan was also looked to by the designers, due to his unique style of playing his sport. Originally, Lightning's number was 57, John Lasseter's birthyear.Īthletic figures such as boxer Muhammad Ali and football quarterback Joe Namath were looked to during development of McQueen's personality, as well as popular musician Kid Rock, in order to create a cocky-but-likable character. According to production designer Bob Pauley, Lightning's final design used elements from GT40s and Chargers, among many other models, to reflect his personality and role.
However, changes to the plot resulted in both characters being left as generic stock racers.