According to John Lasseter, more research went into Cars than any other project at Pixar. Field trips ranged from leisurely journeys across Route 66 to the fast lane of the Charlotte Motor Speedway, where a couple of infield fans named Larry and Mater would charm their way into the film. A Pixar team also traveled to the automotive mecca of Detroit to see how cars are designed and assembled from the ground up. Pixar artists used thousands of still photos and hours of car footage to give Cars the level of detail it would need on the big screen.