Plot
An assortment of people gather at a countryside inn in preparation for the infamous "Cannonball Run," an illegal three-day cross-country race from Washington DC to Santa Monica, where the winner and five runners-up will receive $1 million. However, the hot-headed Washington chief of police Spiro T. Edsel (Peter Boyle), along with his long-suffering sidekick Whitman (Don Lake), arrests all of the drivers to prevent the race from happening. As a result, sponsors must find replacement drivers by the next day.
Gus Gold (Eugene Levy), seeing that his old school rival, Charlie (John Candy), has driving skills while working as a parking valet, bullies him into driving his BMW. Gold also persuades Charlie to bring along Tiffany (Donna Dixon), a dim-witted Marilyn Monroe-esque actress.
Vic (Joe Flaherty) is a hitman-for-hire sent to kill Alec (Matt Frewer), an English deadbeat and compulsive gambler who has squandered money that he borrowed from loan sharks. Alec convinces Vic to ride with him, hoping to win the Cannonball Run and pay off the various mobsters. They team up in a Jaguar XJ-12.
Lee (Melody Anderson) and Margaret (Shari Belafonte) take over a Ferrari Daytona Spyder after the driver they are trying to woo is arrested. MIT graduates into electronics and gadgets, they are tempted by the prize money and the challenge.
When the driver of the Lamborghini is arrested, a skittish Italian porter named Valentino (Brian George) is forced to drive it by Flash (Art Hindle), an ex-cop who wants the money for his own reasons.
Nelson and Randolph Van Sloan (Dick Smothers and Tom Smothers), two millionaires and the only drivers not arrested in the police sweep, enter in a Bentley Corniche convertible. They spend most of their time trying to secretly catch a flight to Los Angeles in order to win by dirty means.
Following all are a pair of TV reporters, Heather (Mimi Kuzyk) and Jack (Tim Matheson), who get so caught up in the action that they decide to race their Ford news van.
In hot pursuit is Spiro T. Edsel, who grows increasingly insane in his unsuccessful efforts to stop the racers. Edsel and his men manage to arrest Vic and Alec, who quickly escape and steal the police car. Edsel and Whitman chase after them in their Jaguar.
By the end, Edsel and Whitman happen to win the Cannonball Run at the end of the Santa Monica Pier, followed by Vic and Alec in their stolen police car. Charlie and Tiffany driving the BMW finish third, Lee and Margaret fourth, Heather and Jack fifth, Flash and Valentino sixth, with the Van Sloan brothers coming in last while riding on roller skis.
The end credits features the cast playfully driving bumper cars.
Read more about this topic: Speed Zone!
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—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
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—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)