Down-on-their-luck racers Larry and Deke steal from a supermarket manager to buy a car that will help them advance their racing chances. Their escape does not go as planned when Larry's one-night stand, Mary, tags along for the ride.
Larry Rayder is an aspiring NASCAR driver; Deke Sommers is a mechanic. As they feel they collectively are the best, the only thing that is holding them back is money to build the best vehicle possible. As such, they decide to rob a supermarket's office of the money in its safe to pursue their dream. On the most part, their robbery is successful, although their plan breaks down in its end phase, which doesn't allow them as much getaway time as they wanted. Another problem they face is an unexpected third person in their getaway, Larry's one-night stand Mary Coombs, who doesn't like the fact that Larry ran off on her, although she eventually also says that she doesn't want any of the money. With a police scanner and two-way radio in their souped-up Dodge Charger, they try to outrun the police, who have an identification of their vehicle, and a general description of the three. The police pursuit is led by the tenacious Sheriff Everett Franklin, who knows he and his team can catch them, but also knows that the three may be able to get out of the state to "freedom" through a grove of walnut trees, which Larry, Deke and Mary may or may not know. At every literal and figurative turn, Larry needs to show his superiority as a driver, while trying to ditch Mary, who is a little more resourceful in staying with them than he anticipates.—Huggo
Down-on-their-luck racers Larry Rayder (Fonda) and Deke Sommers (Rourke) steal from a supermarket manager to buy a car that will help them advance their racing chances. Mary (George) invites herself along on the chase from the police that ensues.—Steve W
Larry and Deke are a small-time car racing duo who rob a grocery store, and plan to use the proceeds to buy an expensive race car in order to win more races and break in to the professional NASCAR circuit. Their escape with the loot does not go as smoothly as planned when Larry's one-night stand, Mary, tags along for the ride. One step ahead of an obsessed Sheriff, they manage to evade several police cruisers, a high-performance police interceptor, and even a helicopter, in their 1969 Dodge Charger R/T. Almost.—Larry Rayder
Deke, a race car mechanic, drives to a motel where his partner, Larry, spent the night with a young blonde named Mary. As Larry gets into the driver's seat, he asks Deke about building a faster car, but Deke tells him "speed is expensive." Driving past a supermarket, Larry mentions the increasing price of groceries, then drops Deke off at the home of the store's manager, George Stanton. Deke accosts George's wife Evelyn in the shower and holds the woman and her daughter, Cindy, hostage, while Larry goes back to the market. Meanwhile, Mary, who is displeased at being left at the motel, follows Larry into the market's parking lot. Larry calls Deke from a pay phone to report that an armored truck made its cash delivery to the market and Deke commands Evelyn to call George with their demands. After hearing back from Deke, Larry goes to George's office and complains that the manager failed to open the safe as instructed. When Larry orders Deke to use force against Cindy, George empties the safe into a grocery bag. Larry returns to his car to find Mary lying seductively across the front seat and the keys missing from the ignition. Grabbing the grocery bag, Mary realizes Larry robbed the store and taunts him by throwing keys into a nearby dumpster. As Larry goes after them, she starts the car and explains that she threw away her own keys. Larry invites Mary to accompany him, then speeds over to the house to pick up Deke. In the store, George tries to contact Evelyn and discovers the phone is connected to a threatening tape recording. Meanwhile, as the culprits drive out of town, they listen to a two-way radio for police reports and Mary asks Larry about his career as a race car driver.
When police captain Franklin Everett is briefed about the case, he is frustrated that the getaway car is an undistinguished Chevrolet, but the reporting officer points out that witnesses assumed the vehicle was customized for racing. Back in the car, Mary bickers with Deke and Larry shows off his racing skills by speeding between two oncoming trucks. At the police station, Franklin calls off the roadblocks and orders his officers to "sweep search" the area. Although Franklin is berated by his superior, Donahue, for changing strategy, the getaway car is soon spotted by an officer in a lookout tower. When Mary starts a fight with Larry by suggesting his stunts will attract attention, the vehicle veers off the road into a barn's fence and breaks down. Mary and Larry continue to bicker, but when Larry compels her to leave, Deke tells him that they need her assistance to fix the car. Larry runs after Mary and elicits sympathy by confessing that he stole money so he and Deke could build a race car fast enough to fulfill his dream of becoming a champion driver. Back on the road, Larry stops at a country store and tells Mary to buy medicine for Deke's injured hand, then speeds away without her. Larry and Deke soon realize that Mary stole their map and turn around to retrieve her. After, a police chase ensues with an officer named Hank, but Deke's engineering gives the Chevrolet an advantage and the police car's engine blows up. Meanwhile, Donahue orders Franklin to return to headquarters, but Franklin accuses his superior of wanting the thieves to escape so he can justify his demand for more resources in their district.
Boarding a helicopter, Franklin learns by the pilot it is low on fuel, but Franklin firmly instructs him to continue their mission. Elsewhere, the outlaws pull into a local swap meet where Larry and Deke have a sports car waiting for them. The men transfer their belongings to the new car while Mary robs a swap meet patron and runs into an unsavory gang of former companions. As police officers discover the Chevrolet, the swap meet patron directs them to Mary, but Larry races his car past them. Another police car gives chase but crashes through a billboard. Franklin reestablishes a roadblock, but the outlaws hear his command through their radio and avoid the trap by stopping at a roadside pool hall. Back at the police station, Hanks meets a mechanic furnishing a squad car with racing capabilities for the officer. When the outlaws fail to reach the roadblock, Franklin realizes they have a radio and gives them a warning. In response, Mary impersonates a dispatcher and reports that the suspects are apprehended at a distant location. Franklin suspends the roadblock and changes the course of the helicopter, but a passing squad car notices the outlaws' car at the pool hall's gas station and Larry speeds off, knocking over the attendant and the squad car losing control and crashing into an adjacent house.
Although believing they have eluded the police, Larry continues to race through the countryside and gets a flat tire after sideswiping a farm truck. As they change the tire in a secluded grove, Franklin blackmails Mary over the radio, offering to overlook her parole violation and keep her out of prison. When Larry argues with Mary and pushes her to the ground, Deke defends her, but Larry refers to his partner's impotence and storms away. Mary suggests that she and Deke escape with the money, but Deke explains that his alcoholism caused him to be rejected by the racing world and would not be able to find work as a mechanic for any other driver. When Larry returns, they drive away and are chased by Hank in his customized squad car. Hank keeps up with Larry until another car sideswipes Hank and a telephone pole falls on his vehicle. Franklin pursues the outlaws in the helicopter and orders the pilot to force them off the road, but the aircraft runs out of fuel and are forced to pull away. Furious, Franklin radios police cars to the surrounding roads, setting the outlaws on a difficult course to avoid them. Back at the police station, Donahue realizes that Franklin is trying to make the outlaws run out of gas, but Deke detects there are no police cars on the roads. As the outlaws congratulate themselves for getting away, a distracted Larry speeds toward an oncoming train and the car explodes into flames, upon impact.
