You Will NEVER Guess Where We Saw This Iconic Disney Character

The fan-favorite Disney-Pixar movie Cars is turning 20 years old! To celebrate, we were invited to the Daytona International Speedway during the Daytona 500 Race Weekend for an exclusive Disney and Pixar’s Cars pop-up!

Our invitation promised high-octane fun, immersive photo moments, and memorable race-day experiences. And dad-gum, did it deliver!

When we got to the Daytona Speedway, we were so excited to see all of the Cars decorations! Yes, part of the venue got a really cool Cars makeover.

We toured the Daytona 500 garage with a tour guide and saw some awesome race cars! We also saw a ton of NASCAR racers. One thing we loved about being at the Daytona Speedway was that the drivers walked right by us as they were going to their cars. We might have been a little starstruck. We even had a chance to chat with driver Danny Suarez, who drives the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports.

Throughout the day, we watched mechanics working on the cars and saw celebrities in the pit lane (we saw Puka Nacua, Marshawn Lynch, and Bert Kreischer, just to name a few).

Then we met the car, the myth, the legend, Lightning McQueen! Lightning was as charming as ever and missed us while he’s been away from Hollywood Studios.

Before the race started, we got to see the Thunderbirds fly overhead and watched Miranda Lambert perform. There was a parade with Nate Bargatze as the grand marshal, and Bart Simpson was the honorary starter.

From there, we left to go watch the Daytona 500 racers in action! We had some of the best seats in the house. When the race started, we were in the pit lane and got to see a pit stop up close. Name one other sport that lets you be that close to the action.

Plus, we were able to preview some awesome new Cars merch to celebrate the movie’s birthday! We had to try not to take it all home with us. This merchandise is exclusive to Walmart right now, so make a note, Cars fans!

We absolutely loved our day at the Daytona 500. This was such a cool experience for fans, and we loved getting to see things from behind the scenes. This really turned into one of those days that we’ll be telling our grandkids about.

We’re so glad we got to attend the Daytona 500 to celebrate Cars‘ birthday! We’ll be adding more details and photos to this post later, so be sure to check back soon and stay tuned to AllEars for more Disney news.

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Who’s your favorite NASCAR racer? Comment below!

Disclosure: We were invited by Disney to attend the Daytona 500 race weekend. This did not affect our reporting of the event — our opinions are our own.