Deke, a racecar 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 Evelyn Stanton 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 to the store and yells at him in the parking lot. Ignoring her, 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 to pick up Deke. In the store, George tries to contact Evelyn and discovers the phone is connected to a threatening 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 racecar 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 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 racecar 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 supplies, then speeds away without her. Larry and Deke soon realize that Mary stole their map and turn around to retrieve her. A police chase ensues, but Deke’s engineering gives the Chevrolet an advantage and the police car breaks down. 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 it is low on fuel, but he instructs the pilot to continue their mission. Elsewhere, the outlaws pull into a 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 the police. 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 pool hall. Back at the police station, a mechanic furnishes a squad car with racing capabilities for an officer named Hank. When the outlaws fail to reach the roadblock, Franklin realizes they have a radio and gives them a warning. In response, Mary pretends to be 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 police officers notice the outlaws’ car at a gas station. Although they believe they have eluded the police, Larry continues to race through the countryside and gets a flat tire after side swiping a truck. As they change the tire, 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 defy Larry and escape with the money, but Deke explains that his alcoholism caused him to be rejected by the racing world and he 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 a power line falls on his vehicle. Franklin continues to pursue the outlaws in the helicopter and orders the pilot to force them off the road, but the aircraft runs out of fuel and they 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 mentioned in Franklin’s dispatch. As the outlaws congratulate themselves for getting away, Larry is distracted and speeds toward an oncoming train. Upon impact, the car explodes into flames.