Lightning McQueen

Lightning McQueen (or "Stickers", as Sally calls him) is the main protagonist in the Cars series. He also appeared in Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales as the deuteragonist.

Lightning is partners with Mater, and his girlfriend is Sally Carrera, who is the town attorney.

His catchphrases are "Ka-Chow!" and "I am speed!".

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!").

He is #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. When he races, he always makes his "race face" (in which he makes his eyes look angry while he smiles).

At the end of the film, he lost the race out of good intentions, and got a new paint job, but still sponsored by Rust-eze, although at the beginning of the film, he wanted a Dinoco sponsorship.

"Lightning is built for speed and has just two things on his mind: winning and the perks that come with it. In his fast-paced life, he has little time for anything or anyone, but who needs friends when you've got a stadium full of fans."

"Lightning McQueen's dream is to be sponsored by Dinoco Oil! In his daydreams, he looks great with his new Dinoco blue paint job and his very own brand of Lightning McQueen racing tires complete with customs spinners. Hey, and why decide on either gold or silver when you can have both?"

"Lightning's dream gets interrupted when he finishes the last Piston Cup race in a 3 way tie with The King and Chick Hicks. He will have to drive in a race in California to determine who will be the next Piston Cup champion. Along the way, McQueen gets lost in the small town of Radiator Springs. While stuck in Radiator Springs, Lightning finds new friends and realizes there is more to life than winning races and gaining sponsorship deals. He learns the life lessons of friendship, teamwork, selflessness, and that life is about the journey, not the destination. With all of his new values and friends, McQueen returns to Radiator Springs after the big race to bring the small town back to its once glorious days and makes it his new home."

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

The show begins with Mater telling Lightning what he used to be and did in the past. However, Lightning never believes Mater, and Mater will always remind him by saying, "Don't you remember? You was there, too!", and the story continues, including Lightning's sudden participation. The episodes end with Mater leaves, often followed by the characters and/or references from Mater's stories, implying that the stories might be real.

Cars 2
In the sequel, Lightning returns as the protagonist. This time around, Lightning is racing in the first ever World Grand Prix to determine that he's the world's fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours, and hilarious surprises.

Personality
Though nice and pleasant, Lightning can be a bit selfish and self-centered sometimes.

Trivia

 * His racing number, "95" is a reference to the year 1995, when Pixar's first feature-length film, Toy Story was released, and his last name "McQueen" is a reference to Glenn McQueen, a supervising animator at Pixar who passed away in 2002.