Uh
Did we watch the same movie
McQueen’s motivation to get to California first for the big race is what sets the plot in motion, he WANTS to get there first so he can win the race and rub it in Chick Hicks’ mustache grille that he got the Dinoco sponsorship. He and the other characters mention it several times when he’s in Radiator Springs, such as…
When he first gets to Radiator Springs and wakes up in the impound lot, he says to Mater:
Lightning McQueen: What?! Look, I need to get to California as fast as possible, where am I?
Shortly afterwards in the traffic court:
Lightning McQueen: [to Sheriff] Officer, talk to me, babe. How long is this gonna take? I gotta get to California, pronto.
When he gets hooked up to Bessie:
Lightning McQueen: Whoa, whoa, whoa! How long is this gonna take?!
Doc Hudson: Well, fella does it right, should take him about 5 days.
Lightning McQueen: 5 days!? But I should be in California schmoozing Dinoco right now!
When he gets freed from Bessie by Mater:
Lightning McQueen: WHOO-HOO! Goodbye, Radiator Springs, and goodbye, Bessie! California, here I come! Yeah! Oh, feel that wind! Yes!
When he meets Van and Minny:
Lightning McQueen: Yeah, yeah,yeah. No, not really. But listen. I'm Lightning McQueen, the famous race car. I'm being held here against my will. [Van then grins as Minny smiles at McQueen.] And I need you to call my team, so they can rescue me, and get me to California in time for me to win The Piston Cup. Do you understand?
Shortly after this, he hears on the radio that Chick arrived in California first, which leads to him doing a half-assed job on the broken road so he can get out of Radiator Springs as quickly as possible.
Radio: [through the radio] ...after a Piston Cup update. Still no sign of Lightning McQueen. Meanwhile, Chick Hicks arrived in California and today became the first car to spend practice time on the track.
Lightning McQueen: [Then McQueen's daydream ends as the screen shows the present day. McQueen gasps] Oh! Mater, let me get this straight. I can go when this road is done. That's the deal, right?
Tow Mater: That's what they done did said.
Lightning McQueen: Okay, outta my way. I got a road to finish.
Later in the movie, when it seems that McQueen has left the town after finishing the road properly, Sarge remarks:
Sarge: Well, we wouldn't want him to miss that race of his.
When McQueen shows up, Mater says to him after he asked why Red was crying:
Tow Mater: [not realizing who he's talking to] Oh, he's just sad because you left town, and went to your big race to win the Piston Cup that you've always dreamed about your whole life and get that big ol' sponsor and that fancy helicopter you was talking about.
Plus there’s this:
Lightning McQueen: I'm not sure these tires... [Luigi gasps excitedly] ...can get me all the way to California.
Remember when McQueen failed and failed again while trying to drift on the dirt and got Doc (who was a racing legend unknown to the townsfolk) and his advice to learn from? Remember when all the news people and Mack show up in Radiator Springs to take McQueen to the big race because Doc called them?
Remember when the townsfolk showed up at the race to support McQueen after all he did for them, with Doc as his crew chief?
You say the movie where everyone is a car, with a racecar who is the main character with his main goal to win the big race with the help of a former Piston Cup legend who teaches him valuable lessons about racing and life in general, is not considered a racing movie even though how much it factors into the entire film as a whole?
