Photos/Video: Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Pixar's "Cars" at This Year's Daytona 500

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the hit Pixar Animation Studios film Cars, a special activation took place at this year's headlining Daytona 500 event. We were invited to be there for the fun, and saw new products and goodies from the world of the Pixar favorite.

Inside the experience, you can see some toys featuring the cast of Cars characters, which have been a familiar sight since the original film debuted back in 2006. While Cars was a box office success, its real financial engine has been merchandise. Over the years, retail sales have generated over $10 billion globally, making it one of Disney’s most lucrative franchises in terms of consumer products. That is on display in full force in the pop-up experience.

Along with plenty of toy and die-cast cars, we also got to see the Cars Tonies. This system allows children (or whoever wants to listen to a story) put a special toy on the Tonies box and hear a tale from the world of that character.

Of course, there are plenty of actual toy cars from the world of Cars, including special playsets and race tracks.

And of course, with all the characters of the Cars universe being, well, cars, there's plenty of car figures of each, including the racers and the residents of Radiator Springs.

Each of the products featured are exclusive to Wal-Mart, and can be purchased in-store or at their website.

And of course, there's plenty of apparel that Cars fans can get their hands on like this zip hoodie featuring Lightning McQueen, and his Rust-Eze Sponsor, and other special iconography. In fact, a lot of that art and imagery was seen throughout the pop-up.

There's also special toys featuring racer Danny Suarez, who lent his voice to the character Danny Swervez in Cars 3. You can listen to what he had to say about the role in our video below.

Outside, fans were getting ready for the big race today, where Disney Legend Kurt Russell was the driver of the ceremonial pace car, reminding everyone that the second season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is on its way to AppleTV+.

Also serving as a friendly reminder, Bart Simpson was on scene waving the green flag at the race today, since the 800th episode of The Simpsons will be airing on Fox tonight after the coverage of the Daytona 500. Bart Simpson appeared with handlers from Universal Studios Florida, as that is where the character makes appearances not far from the Daytona International Speedway.

For more coverage from this year's Daytona 500, be sure to stay tuned to Laughing Place!