Lightning McQueen is a rookie racecar in the Piston Cup series and secretly disdains his sponsor, Rust-eze, hoping to be chosen by the more prestigious Dinoco team. Initially ungrateful, obnoxious, selfish, and sarcastic, Lightning believes that he doesn't need a crew chief or much help from his pit crew to win races. During the final race of the season, he blows his rear tires and finishes in a three-way tie with the soon-to-retire Strip 'The King' Weathers and perennial runner-up Chick Hicks. On the road to Los Angeles for a tie-breaker race, Lightning realizes he has no true friends. After an encounter with a quartet of tuner cars, he becomes separated from his transporter, a Mack truck named Mack, and ends up in Radiator Springs, a forgotten town along U.S. Route 66. He is soon arrested for accidentally destroying the town's main road and impounded there.

In Radiator Springs, Lightning meets a tow truck named Tow Mater, who takes a liking to him immediately. The local judge Doc Hudson, Sally, and the other townsfolk vote to have Lightning repave the road that he destroyed as community service. He rushes and fails to repave the road properly at first before reluctantly starting over. In the process, Lightning learns about the history of Radiator Springs and begins to relate to the town and its inhabitants. He becomes best friends with Mater, falls in love with Sally and becomes less focused on himself. He also learns a move called "turn right-to-go-left" from Doc and how to drive backward from Mater, which he later uses in the tie-breaker race.

During the final lap of the race, Lightning witnesses Chick Hicks perform a PIT maneuver on The King, causing him to suffer a rollover crash. He forfeits the win to help The King finish the race and is praised for his sportsmanship, so much so that Dinoco race team owner Tex Dinoco offers to hire him to succeed Weathers. Lightning declines, choosing instead to stay with Rust-eze out of newfound loyalty and respect for them. Tex instead offers to do him any favor whenever he needs it, which Lightning uses to get Mater a ride on the Dinoco helicopter. He establishes his racing headquarters in Radiator Springs, reunites with Mater and Sally, and becomes Doc Hudson's pupil.
Five years after the events of the first film, Lightning McQueen, now a four-time Piston Cup champion, returns to Radiator Springs to spend his off-season with his friends. His stay is interrupted when Mater inadvertently causes him to participate in the inaugural World Grand Prix, sponsored by former oil tycoon Miles Axlerod, who hopes to promote his new biofuel, Allinol. Lightning is reluctant to bring Mater along, but agrees after being persuaded by Sally.

The night before the first race in

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Lightning McQueen has been widely merchandised as part of the Cars franchise. The character has been reproduced by Mattel as a die-cast toy car amongst hundreds of Cars toy vehicles since 2006. In 2011, Mattel released a Lightning McQueen Alive toy, a three-inch reproduction with moving mouth, shoulders and a voice. To coincide with the release of Cars 3, Mattel released a series of toy cars and toy sets, including a 20-inch Lightning McQueen and a "Movie Moves" version featuring dialogue and light effects. In 2011, a Cars toy range called Appmates was launched by Disney, which featured physical toy cars used with a companion iPad app to explore Radiator Springs. Lightning McQueen was included in 2013 in the first playset expansion of Disney Infinity. In 2017, Sphero released a remote-controlled animatronic Lightning McQueen, which featured a moving mouth and eyes and touch-sensitive surfaces.

Lightning McQueen's debut in Cars received a mixed response from critics. Lisa Schwarzbaum writing for Entertainment Weekly said that McQueen's story arc, in which he learns that loyalty and community are more important than personal advancement, was nothing new and had already been done in numerous films including in Over the Hedge and by Michael J. Fox in Doc Hollywood. Paul Arendt of the BBC also noted the similarity to Doc Hollywood and expressed boredom over an "arrogant racing car" learning a lesson about community and teamwork. Nick Schager of Slant described his story arc as the "maturation of narcissistic stock car rookie" and thought his character development was a simplistic transition from "materialistic, self-involved jerk to noble role model". Philip French of The Guardian described Lightning McQueen as a "cocky, callow, young racing car, a flashy red affair" but noted the many positive lessons that he learns over the course of the film. Mick LaSalle writing for the San Francisco Chronicle opined that the film raises too many questions about the motivations of its protagonist, describing him as an "armless, legless, cumbersome creature, inhabiting a lonely landscape in which no real connection is possible". Conversely, Michael Agger of Slate praised the "heartwarming on-screen bondings" in the film, particularly scenes involving McQueen and Mater, and a dating sequence with Sally. The Washington Post's Stephen Hunter found similarities to Lightning McQueen in the boxing stories of the 1930s as a "champ who's really a chump" who learns lessons in humility and respect. He also likened him to American racing driver Jeff Gordon. Jeff Otto of IGN found Wilson's vocals "a bit irritating" and commented on the lack of chemistry between Wilson and Bonnie Hunt's Sally.

Film critic Roger Ebert noted that in Cars 2, Lightning McQueen is "eclipsed" by the supporting character Mater. Matt Fowler of IGN also commented on this, stating that he is reduced to playing the "straight man", but thought that giving Mater the main role in the film was a positive move because he felt that McQueen is a "dry character". He also opined that Pixar had forced him into additional scenes just because he had been the main character in the first film. Empire's Ian Freer felt that the relationship between McQueen and Mater is too simple and too direct, particularly McQueen's expectations for his friend to change in order to fit into his lifestyle. Simon Reynolds of Digital Spy found their friendship to be lacking in warmth. A.O. Scott writing for The New York Times also criticised Lightning's racing exploits being upstaged by Pixar's "redneck Jar-Jar Binks". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone thought that McQueen's determination to not let his career break his friendship with Mater was one of the film's strengths. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle praised the "recognizable earnestness" in Wilson's vocal performance.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian found the story concept of Cars 3 to be "a bit contrived" by presenting a story arc about a character that is still a champion but also struggling with the idea of being replaced by a younger generation. He noted that Lightning McQueen appears no older than in the first film. IGN's Eric Goldman applauded the depth in McQueen's character, stating that his story arc is "filled with allegory and metaphor" and praising the film for its detailed portrayal of what it means to be an ageing athlete. Jeremiah Vanderhelm writing for The Michigan Daily commented that his story had already been done in other films like Rocky Balboa and Creed and felt that the film should have spent mor…

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