Cars: The movie begins with two announcers, Bob Cutlass (voice of Bob Costas) and Darrell Cartrip (Darrell Waltrip) preparing for the opening of the final race in the Piston Cup, the most famous and prestigious race in the entire world. So far this racing season, three racers have emerged as the most likely candidates for the Piston Cup Championship-
* Strip Weathers, AKA "The King" (a 1970 Plymouth Superbird, voiced by Richard Petty), a longtime racing veteran who already has 2 Piston Cups to his credit and is rumored to be retiring at the end of the current season.
*Chick Hicks, another veteran racer (a Buick Regal, voiced by Michael Keaton) and a longtime "second banana;" he's spent his entire racing career coming in second behind The King.
*Lightning McQueen, a rookie (typical stock car, voiced by Owen Wilson) This is his first year in the racing circuit and his performance has been nothing short of incredible.
Now, the final race of the season- to decide the winner of the Piston Cup- is about to begin!
As the race proceeds, Hicks (who is clearly willing to do anything to succeed) sideswipes another car-causing a huge wreck. Lightning is barely able to dart through the wreckage and keep up with the lead cars. Then, to cement his hold on the lead, McQueen refuses to enter the Pit area with the other cars. The commentators mention that McQueen has recently fired his third crew chief, offering the explanation that Lightning prefers to work alone.
Throughout the race, Lightning refuses to make complete pit stops- taking only a few seconds each lap to refuel. The strategy backfires on the last lap when his tires give out. McQueen makes a valiant effort to get across the line first, but the race ends in an absolute dead heat.
Reporters interview Lightning while the judges argue over the result. McQueen repeats again that he is a "one-man show." His pit crew, fed up with Lightning's shoddy treatment, quit in the middle of the interview. Chick and Lightning trade insults until The King comes over to have a word with Lightning. The King tells McQueen that his talent is extraordinary, but his attitude is stupid- Lightning can't win without a good team behind him. Lightning's idea of a good team is Dinoco, the most prestigious sponsor on the racing circuit (and The Kings' current sponsor; Lightning is certain that if he wins the Piston Cup he will be offered the chance at a Dinoco sponsorship.)
An announcement regarding the outcome of the race comes over the loudspeakers. Officials declare that a tiebreaker race (between Chick, Lightning and The King) will be held in California next week to determine the championship.
Lightning meets with his transporter, Mack (a Super-Liner truck, voiced by John Ratzenberger) after the announcement. Mack reminds McQueen that he needs to make a personal appearance for his sponsor, Rust-Eze. Lightning films a commercial for Rust-Eze and talks to a group of rusted out vehicles brought to the personal appearance by Rusty & Dusty, heads of the company (voiced by Tom & Ray Magliozzi respectively). McQueen puts on a good face for the crowd but is obviously unhappy working for a small-time group.
On the road with Mack, Lightning is desperate to be the first competitor to arrive at California. He refuses to let Mack stop off and rest, forcing him to drive on through the night. Mack is confronted by a gang of street racers while he is drowsy, and accidentally releases Lightning from the trucks' cargo hold. Lightning, terrified about being lost, desperately rushes to try and find Mack but ends up driving off the Interstate.
While Lightning is rushing back towards the Interstate, he is confronted by a police car (Michael Wallace) who turns on his siren and intends to bust McQueen for speeding. Lightning runs for it when he hears the Sheriff car backfiring (thinking he is being shot at). Lightning loses control, spinning wildly and becoming entangled in debris. He tears through a small town and ends up shredding a large portion of the main road before finally coming to a stop in front of the Sheriff.
Next morning Mack arrives at the track alone and a huge manhunt begins to try and find Lightning McQueen.
Lightning wakes up in an impound lot strapped with a parking boot and confronted by a rusted tow truck named Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). Mater tells Lightning that the town is called Radiator Springs, a spot just off old Route 66. The Sheriff shows up to take McQueen to court for his actions.
The other members of Radiator Springs- Fillmore (George Carlin), Luigi (Tony Shalhoub), Guido (Guido Quaroni), Ramone (Cheech Marin), Flo (Jenifer Lewis), Sarge (Paul Dooley), Lizzie (Katherine Helmond) and Red (Joe Ranft) have all turned out to demand punishment for McQueens' reckless driving, which caused a large amount of damage to the town.
The judge, Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) arrives to try McQueen's case. At first, Doc is ready to impose serious hard time on the culprit but upon getting a close look at McQueen he orders Lightning thrown out of town. A female interrupts the judge's rulings, and McQueen is immediately smitten. But the newcomer, Sally (Bonnie Hunt) is revealed to be the town attorney. Sally persuades Doc to sentence McQueen to community service and repair the damage to the road. Doc relents, telling McQueen that he will be set free once the road is finished (which Doc estimated will take about five days).
When Mater brings out Bessie, the road-paving machine, Lightning makes a break for it as soon as his parking boot is undone. But Lightning only makes it a few miles out of town before he breaks down. Sally & the Sheriff catch up with him, explaining that they have siphoned Lightning's gas tank.
The townsfolk watch as McQueen begins repaving the road. Lightning tries to convince them of his fame in the hopes of being set free. He almost convinces Luigi by mentioning his status as a racecar, but Luigi loses interest soon after (Luigi only cares about Ferraris, and they don't race in the same circuit as McQueen).
Lightning, remembering the deal (he goes free when the road is done) hauls the paving machine at full throttle, running down the road and creating an uneven and bumpy finish. The townspeople are insulted by his attitude and his work. Doc challenges McQueen to a race- if Lightning wins, he goes off free. If Doc wins, Lightning has to scape off the current layer of pavement and do the road all over again. Lightning accepts, not seeing the Doc as a threat.
Lightning rockets off the starting line, but Doc doesn't even move. As he speeds into the first turn in the course, Lightning's tires fail on the dirt and he crashes. Doc wins by default. Lightning returns to work at scraping up the pavement, grumbling the whole time. Several of the townsfolk offer Lightning their services (Luigi sells tires, Fillmore supplies organic fuel, Ramone offers custom paintjobs, etc.) but Lightning is too frustrated with his situation to accept anything from them.
Next morning, the road is about 1/3 finished. Doc meets with the Sheriff, who confirms that Lightning used up all the asphalt while working and spent the rest of the night trying to make the turn that caused him to wreck the day before. Doc confronts Lightning, suggesting that he "turn right to go left." Lightning, extremely skeptical, tries it but fails again.
Lightning resumes repaving the road when he suffers a slow leak in one tire. Guido begins to fix it, and Luigi explains that Guido dreams of working at a real racetrack pit stop. Sally, impressed by Lightning's work and his effect on the town, offers McQueen a place at the local motel rather than another night at the impound.
The Sheriff places Mater in charge of watching Lightning for the next night. Mater takes McQueen "Tractor Tipping" in a remote field. They are almost caught by Frank, a huge threshing machine and have to speed away.
On the way back to town, Mater shows off his skills as "world's best backwards driver" - a talent that stuns McQueen. Mater proclaims Lightning to be his "best friend," and McQueen seems to be genuinely touched by the affection.
Next day Lightning waits at Docs garage to get his daily gas ration. He goes into a dusty workshop and finds that Doc has 3 Piston Cups. An article on the floor answers McQueen's question- Doc is actually the legendary Hudson Hornet, legendary racecar who still holds the record for most wins in a single season. Doc refuses to talk about his racing career, regarding the Piston trophies as "just a bunch of empty cups."
Sally takes Lightning on a tour of the surrounding landmarks and explains the history of the town. Route 66 used to be the main transportation road, and Radiator Springs was once a famous stop along the roadway. But when the Interstate was built, Radiator Springs was bypassed in favor of saving ten minutes of travel time. Now the once thriving town is floundering; almost nobody comes through there anymore.
The tractors, angry at Lightning and Mater's "tipping" storm through the town. As he helps round them back up, Lightning spots Doc on the race course outside of town. Doc speeds through, easily making the turn Lightning couldn't. McQueen confronts Doc about his racing and why (if he's so talented) Doc didn't continue his racing career.
Doc finally comes clean. He didn't quit, but was forced into retirement after a terrible wreck forced him to sit out an entire season. When he had the chance to return, the sponsors refused and gave his spot to a hotshot rookie just like McQueen.
The next day everyone wakes up to find the road finished. Lightning now has his chance to leave, but chooses to stay behind and accept the services of the townsfolk - including fuel from Fillmore, tires from Luigi and a new paint scheme from Ramone. As the town celebrates into the night over the completion of their new road, a swarm of reporters and media vehicles swarm in to reclaim McQueen. Before he can explain anything or talk to any of the townsfolk, Lightning is loaded back onto Mack and sent off to California. Sally learns that Doc was the one who alerted the media to Lightning's location and is furious at his actions.
Lightning arrives in California and begins preparing for the big race, with Mack serving as his pit crew. The King and Hicks get off to a decent start, but Lightning's memories of Sally & his time in Radiator Springs are interfering with his performance.
As McQueen tries to pull himself together, Doc's voice comes out on McQueen's radio. He and most of the other Radiator Springs residents have come to encourage Lightning and serve as his pit crew (Doc takes the role of Crew Chief). Cameras in the crowd spot Doc and recognize the legendary Hudson Hornet has come out of retirement.
Lightning rockets out of the pit area, desperate to catch up to the others. After several laps, Chick knocks into McQueen hoping to cause another wreck. But Lightning uses Mater's backwards-driving technique to keep his position. Furious, Hicks tries to force McQueen off the road-causing Lightning to blow a tire. Guido prepares for Lightning's arrival, then completes the fastest pit stop in Piston Cup history by changing all 4 tires in under four seconds.
The three racers are down to the last lap as Lightning pulls into first. Chick smashes Lightning once again, sending him careening off the track. Lightning uses Doc's "turn right to go left" technique and takes the lead!
Chick, in a desperate attempt to win, sideswipes The King, causing the famous racer to smash up in a terrible wreck. Lightning squeals to a stop when he sees The King's state, remembering what happened to Doc. Since Lightning stopped just before the finish line, Chick Hicks speeds across for first place. Lightning goes back and pushes The King across the line, letting the famous competitor finish his last race with dignity. Lightning tells The King that the Piston is "Just an empty cup," echoing Doc's sentiments.
Chick Hicks is given the Piston Cup. However, he is jeered and taunted by the crowd for his actions, making it a hollow victory at best.
Meanwhile, Lightning is cheered and congratulated for his act of good sportsmanship. Tex, head of the Dinoco company, offers Lightning a sponsorship because of his fine job. Lightning considers, but decides to stay with Rust-Eze because they gave him his big chance.
Guido and Luigi are dumbfounded when an actual Ferrari shows up at their store, because McQueen said it is the best place in the world to get tires. Lightning McQueen moves back to Radiator Springs and decides to place his headquarters in the town, making the location famous once more and having the maps redrawn as "Historic Route 66."
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