At the Georgia State Finals Truck Rodeo, Big Enos and Little Enos Burdette challenge the legendary driver, “Bandit,” to transport 400 cases of Coors beer from TexArkana, Texas, back to Georgia within twenty-eight hours, promising to pay him $3,000 an hour if he completes the task. Bandit informs the men that transporting Coors beer east of Texas is considered bootlegging and illegal, but they are aware of that fact. At last, Bandit accepts the bet but demands a new Pontiac Trans Am, planning to use it as a diversion while his friend Cledus “Snowman” Snow transports the beer in a large rig. However, Cledus is opposed to the idea of bootlegging and refuses to be involved. Bandit convinces his friend by telling him they will earn $80,000, enough to buy a new rig. Driving a brand-new Pontiac Trans Am out of the rig’s trailer, Bandit explains to Cledus that the Trans Am will serve as a “blocker,” diverting law enforcement away from the rig. Arriving at the Coors plant in TexArkana, Smokey and Cledus easily break into the building, steal 400 cases of beer, and load it onto the rig using a forklift. Soon after, the two vehicles speed down a country road on their way to Georgia. Bandit almost runs into a hitchhiking runaway bride who jumps into his car and orders him to drive away. As vandals drive up to the bride’s car and begin to disassemble it, Sheriff Buford T. Justice and the bridegroom, his son Junior, intervene. Justice bullies the vandals into revealing Bandit’s automobile and license plate information. Meanwhile, Bandit and the bride get to know each other. She tells him her name is Carrie, and he responds that his “handle” is “Bandit” but his real name is Bo. Shortly after Bandit outruns a police car that pursued him for speeding, Justice catches up to the Trans Am in Arkansas and threatens Bandit over the Citizens’ Band (CB) radio. Seeing Justice’s patrol car, Bandit wonders what a Texas policeman is doing across the state line. Cledus runs Justice off the road with his truck. Justice radios to other law enforcement units that he is in pursuit of a black Trans Am, and Sheriff George Branford responds, suggesting that Justice allow local authorities to handle the situation. Bandit and Carrie narrowly avoid a roadblock set up to capture them, and lead the police on a high-speed chase, during which Bandit jumps his car over a broken bridge. Branford’s car crashes into the water, and Justice stops behind him. Bandit and Carrie reluctantly part ways at a bus depot where she plans to board a bus to New York City. At the depot’s food counter, Justice places an order as he stands beside Bandit without recognizing him. Bandit engages the sheriff in conversation, then runs away the moment Justice goes to the bathroom. Outside, Bandit looks for his car and finds Carrie in the driver’s seat. She reveals that she would rather stay with him than get on the bus. Speeding away recklessly, Carrie leads Justice on another chase and manages to drive around a large piece of concrete being transported by a truck. Unable to do the same, Justice and Junior drive under the concrete and the top of their car is ripped off. Ending up at the same truck stop as Carrie and Bandit, Justice misses them again, then puts out an all points advisory, alerting law enforcement that the Trans Am is heading into Alabama. Carrie and Bandit soon encounter another roadblock, which Bandit drives around by heading off-road. After Bandit and Cledus decide to take a break, Bandit and Carrie stop in the woods, where they discuss their compatibility and kiss. At a truck stop restaurant, Cledus gets into a fight with some motorcyclists who claim that his dog bit one of them. The bikers throw Cledus out, prompting him to run over their motorcycles with his rig. Bandit and Cledus reunite over the CB, agreeing that they need to hurry. A prostitute calling herself “Foxy Lady” tells Bandit over the CB that she is diverting the Alabama police who are pursuing him. Justice overhears Bandit’s conversation with Foxy Lady and heads to the prostitute’s recreational vehicle off the highway, thinking he will find Bandit there; instead, he mistakenly arrests an Alabama police captain before the man is identified by one of his troopers. Meanwhile, Bandit coordinates with a truck convoy that provides him cover while an Alabama State Patrol car zooms past. Pulled over by a motorcycle cop, Cledus radios Bandit for help, and Bandit backtracks to rescue his friend. Carrie and Bandit whistle to the motorcycle cop, provoking him to follow them instead of issuing a ticket to Cledus. Bandit leads the motorcycle cop and several Georgia State Patrol officers through Georgia back roads. Over the CB, Bandit asks a local waitress called “Hot Pants” for assistance, and she rallies a group of teenagers to intercept the chase and block Bandit’s pursuers. As a police helicopter flies overhead and a growing number of troopers follow them, Carrie becomes concerned, so Bandit radios Cledus, suggesting they give up. Only four miles from their final destination, Cledus refuses to quit and plows through a line of police cars, clearing a path for the Trans Am. Cledus, Bandit, and Carrie pass cheering crowds as they arrive at the Georgia State Finals Truck Rodeo. Just in time to drop off the beer, Bandit demands a getaway car and the $80,000 they are owed. However, Big Enos wagers “double or nothing,” challenging the group to drive to Boston, Massachusetts, pick up clam chowder, and return within eighteen hours. Jumping into Burdette’s Cadillac convertible, Bandit takes the bet. Bandit radios Buford T. Justice and compliments him on the chase as he passes the sheriff. Justice asks Bandit’s whereabouts, and, leaving Junior behind on the rodeo grounds, races after the Cadillac.