Reporter C.C. Wainwright arrives at the impound lot for the Manila 1000, a three-day, off-road race in the Philippines, to interview Andy “Walkaway” Madden. Race promoter and former stock car driver Bo Cockran introduces C.C. to Doc Pyle, another racer and Walkaway’s former partner. Doc gives C.C. a pink rabbit’s foot for good luck. When C.C. meets Walkaway, she reminds him she will be riding with him during the race because the magazine C.C. works for bought Walkaway his car in exchange for his exclusive story. Walkaway is unable to dissuade her from joining him. In his office, Bo outlines race details to sportscaster Parnelli Jones, who will be covering the race for American television: the competition starts with fifty cars and motorcycles racing abreast until the course narrows to a bottleneck three lanes wide. Any vehicles that emerge on the other side of the bottleneck then race 1000 miles to the end. The winner of the race will receive $50,000 and another $50,000 will be divided among the other racers who cross the finish line. As the race begins, Parnelli gets in a helicopter to report it from above. In a live television interview, Bo explains that the racers have to stop at two checkpoints for fuel and they will also have to spend eight hours of downtime in two villages on the way. The car drivers can use Citizens Band (CB) radios to communicate with each other and with the helicopter. On the race course, Walkaway takes the lead. Parnelli reports that if Doc catches up to Walkaway, the race will turn into a grudge match. Adams, the driver of a dune buggy, tries to get in front of Walkaway but ends up flipping the dune buggy over. He injures his arm but after the race repair team fixes up his vehicle, he gets back into the race. Walkaway and C.C. are the first to arrive at the village for the overnight rest stop. As Walkaway and C.C. have dinner, he scoffs at Doc’s superstitions. C.C. shows Walkaway the rabbit’s foot that Doc gave her, and Walkaway explains that when he and Doc were racing together, Doc always found a way to hide that rabbit foot in the car. C.C. realizes Doc has planted the rabbit’s foot in Walkaway’s car again by giving it to her. C.C. asks Walkaway why he is mad at Doc. Instead of answering, Walkaway suggests C.C. finish the race riding with someone else, but C.C. insists on continuing with him. Elsewhere in the village, Adams realizes he is too injured to complete the race. Adams strikes a deal with Ringer, a fellow racer whose motorcycle is damaged beyond repair: Ringer will drive Adams’ dune buggy for the rest of the race and the two men will split any winnings. Meanwhile, at race headquarters, Bo learns that there is a landslide blocking the next day’s course. Bo will have to reroute the race. On the road the next morning, Walkaway has to stop to fix a tire. C.C. dictates more of her story into a tape recorder, noting Walkaway’s animosity toward Doc since the first Manila 1000 race when Doc wanted to split from Walkaway and race his own vehicle. Before Walkaway can complete his repair, motorcyclist Paco Ramirez passes him and takes the lead. Walkaway races after him as soon as he can. Further back in the pack, Ringer uses Adams’ dune buggy to force every competitor he encounters out of his way. Bo alerts the next fuel checkpoint that all the racers should wait there while he reroutes the course. The race promoter arrives in person to show the drivers the new course. After the racers take off in the order in which they arrived, Paco loses control of his motorcycle and Walkaway regains the lead. Meanwhile, Bo learns there is more bad weather coming. When Walkaway has to stop again to tend to the car, C.C. gets out to take photographs of him working. Meanwhile, Paco rides by and retakes the lead. Walkaway hurries to finish his repair, then drives away, purposely leaving C.C. behind. Walkaway uses the CB radio to tell Bo C.C.’s location. Bo lands the helicopter to pick her up. From up in the helicopter, she can see that the next day’s course is completely flooded. There is no way the race can continue through it. Later, instead of canceling the race, Bo tells C.C. he is going to Manila to talk to the bankers. He borrowed $438,000 from some dangerous people that he will recoup only if the racers cross the finish line. C.C. protests that Bo is endangering the racers’ lives by delaying the cancellation of the competition. Meanwhile, Paco arrives first at the next overnight rest stop, followed by Walkaway. That night, when another racer insults Walkaway, Doc defends his former partner and soon Doc and Walkaway together are fighting all the other racers. Later, Bo arrives and tells the racers the rest of the course has been flooded and there is no way to finish the race that way. There is a small road that is being constructed outside the disaster area but it is not completed yet and cannot withstand the rigors of all the racers’ vehicles. When the competitors insist on knowing the backers' reaction, Bo reluctantly replies that the backers want them to finish the race by risking their lives on the new road for twice the money. The racers agree. Later, Bo admits to Walkaway that in all his years of stock car racing, he never won a race. Walkaway asks Bo if he really spoke with the backers, but Bo sidesteps the question. C.C. asks Doc if she can finish the race riding with him in his jeep. He agrees. The next morning, the drivers resume the race on the incomplete and treacherous road. A motorcycle rider crashes his bike and another racer drives over a cliff. Walkaway’s car ends up perched on the edge of the cliff and Doc and C.C. pass him as he tries to get his car back on course. Elsewhere, Ringer uses dirty tricks to knock a biker out of his way, then crashes and stalls the dune buggy. Doc passes him, taking the lead for the first time. Walkaway catches up and Doc and Walkaway are neck and neck until both cars crash. After each man makes sure the other is unharmed, the two men fight until C.C. reminds them the race is not over yet. The two racers create one working car by putting Walkaway’s gas tank on Doc’s vehicle, even though the jeep’s brakes are ruined. Walkaway and Doc flip a coin to decide who will drive, but Walkway punches Doc out and jumps in the driver’s seat. C.C. distracts Walkaway with a kiss and tosses the pink rabbit’s foot in the car. Meanwhile, Ringer gets his car back in the race. Bo picks up C.C. and Doc in the helicopter. Bo, C.C. and Doc observe Ringer catching up to Walkaway. Bo and Doc contact Walkaway on the CB radio and urge him not to race Ringer in such unsafe conditions; but Walkaway, determined to win the race, pushes the car even harder and succeeds in running Ringer off the road. The helicopter sets down and Doc, Bo and C.C. run to the home stretch in time to see Walkaway cross the finish line. However, Walkaway cannot stop the car and it flips over. C.C., Doc and Bo run to the wreckage to check on Walkaway, who extends a “thumbs up” sign to indicate he is alright.