As several newspaper boys and girls deliver the newspapers on their routes, they practice tricks riding their BMX bicycles. Christopher “Cru” Jones, and his friends, Luke and Becky, fly over fences, do 360-degree spins, and hitch rides with dumpsters in midair that catapult them into neighboring properties. Elsewhere, Duke Best, president of the Federation of American Bicyclists and owner of Mongoose Bicycle Company, addresses a crowd of Cochran citizens, pledging his support to the community with his sponsorship of “Helltrack,” a race intended for the best BMX riders with a cash prize of $100,000 and a brand new Corvette to be broadcast on network television. When audience member, Mrs. Grey, wants to know whether local youths will be invited to the event, Duke assures her he will sponsor a qualifying race, and the best local rider will win a $10,000 prize and a chance to compete in “Helltrack” with professional riders. After school, Cru, Luke and Becky determine that Bart Taylor is the racer to beat at Helltrack. As Cru gives his ten-year-old sister, Wesley, a ride home from school, she insists that Cru is talented enough to beat Bart, but he is skeptical. Soon, he asks his mother for permission to enter the qualifying BMX race, but she reminds him that it conflicts with his makeup Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) exam. She thinks his college education is more important, and tells him to forget about the race. Cru is disappointed, and thinks that if his father were still alive, he would have been more supportive. Later, Cru and his friends practice at a makeshift playground bicycle course. Luke and Becky leave but Cru stays behind in order to perfect a trick. Fatigue sets in and Cru falls flat on his back on a series of mattresses. In town, Cru and his friends watch a parade advertising Helltrack. Cru catches the eye of a BMX athlete, Christian Hollings, and shows off a few of his tricks. At the school dance, Bart Taylor and his fellow teammates, Rex and Rod Reynolds, strut their dance moves. Outside the gymnasium, Cru performs a series of bicycle tricks until Christian Hollings motions him to follow her onto the dance floor with their bicycles. Despite Bart Taylor’s annoyance, Christian and Cru spin and perform an impressive array of tricks to the music. When Cru inches across a balance beam on his bicycle, Duke Best recognizes his skill, and orders his associate, Eliott Dole, to find out who the boy is. Bart determines that Christian and Cru have upstaged him, and orders his entourage to leave. After the song ends, the disc jockey applauds Christian and urges her to continue. Cru is flustered and disappears. The next day, Christian gives Cru some pointers to improve the difficulty factor of his tricks. She is impressed that he is a quick learner, and a natural talent. Afterward, he shows her the sights, and they ride on a waterslide that drops them in the river. Christian plans to go to college, and Cru explains that the qualifying race conflicts with his SAT test. She suggests he postpone college for six months in order to participate in the contest, and promises to watch him compete. Later, Wesley helps Cru forge his mother’s signature on the race entry form. At the qualifying race, Duke explains that the racers will compete in a series of heats that become more difficult. When Mrs. Jones sees her son on television, she is angry. Cru places second and third after two heats. Although he has a stunning victory during his third heat, his mother appears and insists he is throwing away his future. He convinces her that this opportunity is worth risking everything, and promises to take his SAT test in another six months. Meanwhile, the race announcer says Cru, the local newspaper boy, has qualified and will join the other twenty professional racers at Helltrack. Later, Duke Best offers Cru sponsorship to represent his bicycle company in small towns across the country, if he forfeits the race but he refuses. Still later, Duke warns Bart Taylor that Cru has enough raw talent to beat him. When Cru registers for Helltrack, Duke’s associate, Eliott Dole, says that Cru cannot participate because he has no sponsorship. However, when Cru sees the custom racer T-shirt Wesley has sewn for him, he gets the idea to design a racing logo, which his friends silkscreen on T-shirts to sell to the public. As the T-shirt enterprise becomes a de facto sponsorship, Bart admires Cru’s drive, but is not worried about competing against the racer. Soon, Duke Best and Eliott Dole inform Cru of a new competition rule, stating a racer must be sponsored by a company with at least $50 thousand in sales. Since Cru’s T-shirt sales amount to only $480, he is not eligible to race. At home, Cru sulks, and tells Christian that he should have taken Duke’s offer. She accuses him of being a quitter, and urges him not to give up. Meanwhile, at an impromptu meeting between the mayor and townspeople, a decision is made to give Cru the sponsorship he needs. When Duke Best learns Cru is eligible, he orders his team members Rex and Rod to sabotage Cru so that Bart Taylor will win. Duke also threatens local businessman, Burton Timmer, for coming to Cru’s aid, but Burton is not intimidated. At the start of the race, Cru takes an early lead over Bart. Soon, Bart catches up and racer Rex Reynolds causes Cru to fall. However, Cru recovers and continues, settling into fourth position. Further on, Bart knocks his teammate, Rod, out of the race. Soon, Bart stops on the course and waits for Cru to catch up so they can battle one-on-one to the finish line. The racers take turns in first position. At the finish line, Cru performs a 360-degree turn and edges past Bart, winning the race. The town is ecstatic, and Duke Best is furious. He tells Bart that losing has cost him his Mongoose Company sponsorship. Bart shrugs and congratulates Cru on his win. As Cru shakes Bart’s hand, he invites Bart to become part of his team, and he accepts.