Plot

A wide variety of eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross-country road race. However, the eccentric entrants will do anything to win the road race, including low-down, dirty tricks.

This comedy movie brings Burt Reynolds, Sir Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and an all-star cast to the starting line of the ultimate auto race, a madcap cross-country scramble that roars full-speed ahead. This action-comedy was inspired by an actual event: the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, an anything goes, all-stops-out, and very much illegal, competition that has grown to legendary proportions within the last ten years.—Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>

The plot of a cross-country road race was based on an actual event, the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, organized by Brock Yates to protest the 55 mile per hour speed limit then in effect in the United States The Cannonball was named for Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker, who in the roaring 1920s, rode his motorcycle across the country. Many of the characters are based on ruses developed by real Cannonball racers over the several years that the event was run.—Michael F. Hollander, official-unofficial Cannonball photographer

In this comedy, Burt Reynolds is an adventurer who decides to participate in an illegal and popular road race all over the country. There's an all-star cast of racers (Jackie Chan, Farrah Fawcett, Peter Fonda, Dean Martin, Sir Roger Moore, Sammy Davis, Jr. and others) that will do anything to outrun all the difficulties (including the police) and win the race. This action-comedy was based on an actual event: the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, a cross-country outlaw road race that has grown to legendary proportions.—Chris Makrozahopoulos <makzax@hotmail.com>

All across the United States, lovers of high speed driving are making plans to participate in a nationwide cross-country race called the Cannonball Run. Racers will meet at a starting point in New England and race to Los Angeles. Their goal is to make the distance in the shortest amount of time. Exceeding the speed limit is encouraged however being stopped by the police will increase a racer's time. At a betting parlor, a man named Fenderbaum talks to his bookie about placing a bet for himself & his partner, former race driver Jamie Blake that will pay them $1 million. The two plan to race in a Ferrari 308 GT disguised as priests in the belief that the police will be lenient if they're stopped. The Greek takes the bet and Fenderbaum rebuffs the bookie's scoffing by saying God will be their copilot. Meanwhile, famed racer JJ McClure meets with his mechanic partner, Victor Prinzi, about their plans to race in the Cannonball. When Victor arrives late at JJ's garage, the two discuss Victor's superhero alter ego, Captain Chaos, whom JJ has an intense disliking for. JJ and Victor want to race in a vehicle that will disguise their identity as high-speed drivers and yet still be somewhat gimmicky. When JJ gets them both in a boating accident, they are taken to a hospital in an ambulance. They talk to one of the paramedics, who tells them that they'll be at the hospital in no time flat because the ambulance can speed through traffic with little regard for traffic rules. JJ and Victor laugh, realizing they have found the perfect vehicle for the race. On a Japanese television talk show, two Japanese men show off the car they'll be racing: a 1980 Subaru DL that's been outfitted with computer technology and a rocket engine. In another desert area, a sheik drives his souped-up Rolls Royce at high speed and tells his bodyguards they will be going with him, much to their fear. He tells his sister that he will win the race with the power of Islam guiding him. Finally, Seymour Goldfarb Jr. meets with his mother, who disdains his decision to join the race.

The remainder of the racers gather at a hotel in rural Connecticut. Fenderbaum and Blake have dressed in black priests' garb and Victor and JJ are dressed as paramedics. Also present at the hotel is AJ Foyt, a staunch activist who discovers that most of the guests staying at the hotel are part of the race. Desiring to stop them any way he can, Foyt contacts the leader of his activist organization and gets them to begin setting up roadblocks down the racing line. Foyt also befriends a young woman, Pamela, who is a tree lover. In the hotel bar, JJ meets Pamela and begins to come on to her in the hopes that he can use her as a live patient during their run. JJ and Victor also need a doctor to ride with them. Victor finds a man named Nicholas Van Helsing, a creepy, drunken proctologist, who says he will do the run with them for a mere $200. The race opens at night and the participants must obtain a time card and have it punched at the hotel and they speed off into the night. Nearby, Foyt and Pamela are busy taking down license plate numbers to report to the police. As JJ and Victor make their way out they come across Foyt and Pamela, who have already gotten themselves into an accident. Pamela is allowed in the ambulance but Foyt, hanging on to the back doors, is thrown into the pavement. Pamela realizes they have kidnapped her. While speeding through New Jersey, they're stopped by state troopers and have to bluff their way out of a citation. They claim the patient in the back of the ambulance has to be taken to UCLA Medical Center, much to the troopers' confusion. Van Helsing corroborates their story, saying she cannot be flown because of cystic lungs. The ruse works and the troopers let them go on their way.

In the same Lamborghini from the film's opening scene, Marcie and her partner Jill dress in sexy outfits and unzip them in the presence of male troopers to avoid moving violations. In Pennsylvania, the ruse works on a trooper who lets them go. In Ohio, Fenderbaum and Blake catch up with JJ and Victor. While Blake distracts them offering to bless their vehicle and Pamela, Fenderbaum flattens one of the ambulance's tires. In Missouri, JJ and Victor get revenge on Fenderbaum and Blake when they tell a local cop that the two are sex-offenders disguised as priests. A few miles down the road, a state police roadblock has been set up with the help of Foyt. Several of the racers are caught and their vehicles impounded. With the ambulance having transmission trouble, JJ asks a semi-truck driver to help them out: they put the ambulance on the the trucker's trailer and cover it with a large tarpaulin to make it past the roadblock. In a desert state, Marcie and Jill are chased by a trooper who catches them and blocks their path. When Marcie unzips her coverall, it has little effect on the trooper, that turns out to be female. Elsewhere in the desert, the Japanese team in the Subaru use a computer to plot their route. The stealth tech on board their car keeps them from being caught by troopers, as well. The racers are finally halted somewhere in Southern California, as road construction has the highway closed. As they wait for word that the road is clear, a fleet of Hell's Angels show up at a roadside bar, led by their chief biker. Brad and his partner Shakey, who are disguised as a honeymoon couple, are both attacked by the bikers and a huge brawl breaks out. JJ does not want to get involved until Victor appears as Captain Chaos and joins the fray. The fight goes on until the road opens again and everyone speeds off with the bikers left defeated.

JJ and Victor's team are certain to lose until Victor once again becomes Chaos and speeds past everyone. Near the finish line, Mad Dog and Batman crash their pickup and wind up blocking the road. A foot race ensues and JJ hands the ticket off to Chaos, while tackling most of the remaining racers. Chaos, way out in front and chased only by Marcie, is about to punch the winning clock at the pier to win when a woman screams that her dog is drowning and Chaos dives into a nearby harbor to save it. Marcie punches the clock, winning the race, with JJ, furious with Victor, unleashing his rage and tells him that Captain Chaos will never reappear, but Victor says he decided to take on a new superhero persona, Captain USA. Foyt, along with some of the impounded racers in a taxi, arrives on the scene and scolds everyone for their behavior. Goldfarb offers him a cigar and tells him to use the lighter in his Aston-Martin. Knowing that the lighter will activate the ejector seat Foyt is in, everyone waits eagerly. The trick does not work and when Goldfarb tries it, he is launched into the water. With the race over, everyone celebrates with champagne.