This movie is about a car named Lightning McQueen, a race car, but he is a rookie. But although he is a rookie, he is famous because of the Piston Cup. The Cup ended in a tie so they decided that the three of them would race in California.

One night on the way there he fell out of the truck in his sleep. When he woke up, he drove to a place called Radiator Springs, an old town that was not on the map. So after that he met some friends and fixed the road that he and Doc, a legend who had won 3 Piston Cups, had used.

They found Lightning and took him back to the big race. He started in last place and moved up to the lead. Then a car named King crashed and Lightning started remembering stuff about how Doc had crashed and no one helped him. So he helped King and Chick won the race.