Ah! Great question! Note that they did have Michael Schumacher come into Luigi's tire shop at the end of the movie. Also, from a historically accurate perspective, Mario Andretti also makes a cameo at the big Piston Cup race. So that's two world champions.
So, I have had no TV for a week, so I've been watching every old DVD and VHS I have banging around the house. So after I watched Cars, yes the animated Disney movie about a tow truck and a race car, out of desperation I continued to watch the special features. The people that made this movie actually did "research" on how the cars move around a NASCAR oval track. Yes, they called it "research".
As you can see if you've ever watched this movie, which I actually find quite cute and with a very good message, they really did some great research which made it's way into the film. Especially the part when the red racecar puts his outside two tires up onto the wall and then uses that to push off and leap over the cars in front of him. I do remember seeing that move used a couple of times when I watch NASCAR oval races. It's a great move.
You have to use caution when executing that move however, because there's thing called "make believe" that most times gets in the way of pulling it off successfully. But then again, not everyone is Lightning McQueen.
