This made-for-TV movie starred Gregg Henry, Grant Goodeve, and Robert Culp. The plot in this one has our hero Brian Addison (Henry) heading to the fictional Munn's Rootbeer Drag Race Nationals held in Lyons, California (the racing scenes were filmed at Fremont, CA). Addison is driving a 1965 Plymouth that is short on looks but is filled with a fire-breathing 426-Hemi. Meanwhile, papa-Munn (Culp) has the drag races fixed so that his kid, Sonny Munn(Goodeve), will win the races and go on to certain fame-and-fortune. How does he do that? Every competitor that doesn't run a Munn's decal on his car gets harassed by the local corrupt cops, that's how. Addison immediately develops an adversarial relationship with Sonny Munn who drives a hopped-up 1969 Olds Cutlass. Their first confrontation in a street race results in Addison's Plymouth being destoyed in a crash. Ouch!

A sympathetic junkyard owner gives Addison a 1941 Willys if he promises to beat the hated Munn's. The speed-shop owner throws in a 6-71 GMC blower just for kicks, and Brian installs the Hemi engine from the Plymouth into the Willys. Well, alright! Sonny Munn, with the cops help, then steals the Willys and blows the Hemi by over-revving it! Damn! Brian's only hope is to steal another Hemi engine out of a local police car so that he can continue to race. Lyons, CA apparently is the only place on the planet with Hemi-engined AMC Matador police cars, but don't get sidetracked with details! Does he eventually defeat Sonny Munn in the Nationals to preserve the honor of good-guys everywhere? Do you have to ask?  this one is a must-see!