Lightning McQueen

Lightning McQueen is a famous former stock car racer for the Piston Cup Series from 2005 to 2016 for team Rust-eze in the number 95 and a social personality. He is the 2014 Piston Cup champion and is very high on the all-time win count. He was close to winning the 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2013 titles but finished third in 2005, second in 2006, and was injured during 2009 and 2013.

## Career

McQueen started his racing career in 2001 in the Busch Series racing full-time in the number 01, where he won four races but lost out on the title to Davey Apex. His 2002 to 2004 seasons was similar, with fifteen wins, but lost to Kyle Buschtire for the championship each year.

### 2005 season

Lightning was promoted to the Piston Cup Series for 2005 to race for Rust-eze and compete for Rookie Of The Year alongside Floyd Mulvihill and had the historical season, four wins and heading into the Dinoco 400, he had fired three crew chiefs, and he, Strip Weathers, and Chick Hicks were tied with 5013 points. They tied at the finish and in the tiebreaker race, he sacrificed the championship to help Strip cross the finish line, making him third in points.

### 2006 to 2008 seasons

In 2006, Lightning's main challenge was 2003 and 2004 champion, Ponchy Wipeout. He competed with him all season but ultimately lost on the title to him having to settle for second. 2007 saw McQueen win four races but finished fourth in the standings after Cal Weathers and Darren Leadfoot had a mid-season turnaround. 2008 saw McQueen dominate but during his hayday, Floyd Mulvihill, who was having a cinderella season, beat out McQueen for the title, forcing McQueen to settle for ninth in the standings after having three DNFs in the final six races.

### Injury-shortened 2009 season

2009 saw McQueen finish second the first three races and finish fourth in the Rust-eze 500. In the BnL 500 qualifying session, he hit his left rear wheel after spinning and the axle broke causing him to be out the rest of the season while leading the points. He finished a dead-last 39th in points.

### 2010 to 2013 seasons

2010 saw heavy competition from Cal Weathers during his four-win season. He had the record time in the Brickyard 400 with a 46.888 time. He ultimately lost out on the title to Cal Weathers, who had won his third championship. 2011 saw decline, though he had another four wins, he finished fifth in points. 2012 saw heartbreak with McQueen being the highest placed racer ineligible for the championship heading into the finale, leaving him a bitter sixth.

#### 2013 heartbreak

2013 was a dream crash season, after leading the points all season, he was injured in the RPM 350 with seven races left, causing him to fall from 1st to 28th in points.

### 2014 season

McQueen had luck during all of 2014, five wins, thirty top tens and his first championship allowed him the confidence to keep on racing.

### 2015 and 2016 seasons

2015 saw a chance for Lightning to repeat but due to the variety of winners, he finished runner-up to Bruce Miller. During the insane 2016 season, McQueen opted to retire after the season and left after finishing seventh in points.

## Post-racing

McQueen posts regular vlogs on Blinkr and announces Xfinity races regularly.