Lightning McQueen is world champion – a modern-day racing legend who's riding high with 7 Piston-Cup wins under his hood which can only be matched by The King Strip Weathers who also has 7 piston cups. Lightning later talks with Weathers who praises him for his talent and guts, but criticizes him for his "one-man deal" attitude. However, an angry Hicks who refuses to finish behind King again, violently kicks him out, which causes King to suffer a major crash. His first paint job in the film likely wasn't finalized either at the time of the trailer's release.

His racing number, " 95", is a reference to the year 1995, when Pixar's first feature-length film, Toy Story was released.As he resumes paving, Lightning is so miserable that he refuses the town when they offer him anything. As Team Lightning McQueen arrive in Luigi and Guido's home town in Italy, a depressed Lightning began to feel guilty over his fight with Mater.

In the first official teaser trailer of Cars 2, for unknown reasons, Lightning McQueen has on his original Rust-eze customization, which never appeared in the sequel. They stop at the now-closed Wheel Well Motel where Sally reveals she was once a lawyer who was unhappy with her life. A range of t-shirts sold by independent artists featuring a huge variety of original designs in sizes XS-5XL; availability depending on style. However, Mater suddenly pretends to be a waiter at Wheel Well Motel as an excuse to hang out with his friends.Lightning's last name "McQueen" is a reference to Glenn McQueen, a supervising animator at Pixar who died in 2002. Sally explains that Route 66 was the main road around there and Radiator Springs was a popular tourist stop. Mater makes an off-handed comment that the car who taught Doc would know more about racing than him. It's a subtle tribute to the beloved Cars characters that captures the essence of Route 66 adventures. Lightning says he would get him a ride which leads Mater to say he made a good choice in picking Lightning as his best friend, a gesture he is touched by.