- An ex-convict stock-car driver turns to crime to fund his escape from local bigots in rural Georgia.
- Upon being released from prison, Bobby Lee Dixon returns to his hometown in Georgia and requests that his former boss, J. J. "Jumpy" Belk, rehire him as a mechanic. Jumpy agrees, then buys Bobby Lee a beer. When Bobby Lee throws the empty cup at an off-duty police officer, J. W. Workman, the boy gets punched. Later, Bobby Lee visits Arneda Johnson, an African American madame, who helped raise him. She offers Bobby Lee a job smuggling cigarettes, but he declines, explaining that he promised his girl friend, Ruthie Chalmers, who is also Jumpy's daughter, that he would stay out of trouble. That night, Bobby Lee and Ruthie argue. She refuses to divorce her husband because she and Bobby Lee do not make enough money to live on. The next day, while picking up a shipment of sparkplugs in Savannah, Florida, Bobby Lee sees a bank and decides to rob it. After acquiring a pistol and borrowing Jumpy's truck, Bobby Lee convinces a reluctant Ruthie to help him with the heist. Upon arrival, they notice Officers Suggs, a police deputy, sitting across the street, but go into the bank anyway. During the robbery, Angus Wages, the bank's president, informs them that they should have come on a payday, as the bank only has a few thousand dollars in the tills. Suggs is scheduled to enter the bank any minute, so Ruthie pleads for Bobby Lee to hurry. He empties only a few drawers before they run outside and drive away. Suggs sees the speeding pickup truck and a car chase ensues, ending at an old farmhouse. Bobby Lee and Ruthie hide in the woods, and when Suggs enters the house, they flee in his police cruiser. Later, Jumpy berates Bobby Lee for robbing a bank, and then gives him and Ruthie a car so they can escape to Mexico. After a few hours of driving, Bobby Lee and Ruthie hold up a grocery store for supplies, then stop for a picnic and make love. That night, Bobby Lee reads a newspaper story in which Angus Wages brags about his deceit to the robbers; he made them believe the bank lacked money, but he actually had $20,000 in the vault. Infuriated, Bobby Lee insists they go back and teach Wages a lesson. The next day, they return to the bank, shove a gun in Wages' face, and demand all the money. The bank president presses a silent alarm, but the robbers get their loot and escape before Suggs arrives. While driving back to Georgia, they are stopped at a police roadblock and arrested. A U.S. Marshall takes them to the local jail, run by Bobby Lee's nemesis, J. W. Workman. The Marshall informs Workman that the FBI will collect the prisoners in the morning. When Bobby Lee is allowed to call Jumpy, he learns that Arneda is coming to break him out. Meanwhile, Ruthie is tossed into a cell with two other women, Stacy and Peggy. Peggy attempts to rape Ruthie, but Stacy helps fight her off. Upstairs, Workman and another jailer beat Bobby Lee until Arneda arrives with two of her "girls," pretending to look for a friend. Workman orders the jailer to lockup Bobby Lee before helping Arneda. One of the prostitutes offers to keep Workman "company," but he refuses, telling her he has something special in the women's block. Workman then brings Ruthie to his office. Meanwhile, Arneda follows the jailer to the cells, hits him with a blackjack, and frees Bobby Lee. Not finding Ruthie in her cell, they free Stacy, break into Workman's office, and discover him raping Ruthie. Bobby Lee grabs Workman's gun and pistol-whips him until Arneda pulls him away. As they escape, Workman grabs a shotgun and kills Stacy and one of Arneda's girls. The jailer comes running, firing a pistol, but Ruthie grabs a gun and shoots him between the eyes. Bobby Lee, Ruthie, and Arneda jump in a car and speed away. Workman gives chase, but he loses control of his vehicle, drives into quarry, and his car explodes. After out-driving another police cruiser, Bobby Lee speeds through an overgrown field, searching for an old wooden bridge that crosses the river that will get them over the state line. Blinded by the underbrush, Bobby Lee drives off a cliff into the river. Unable to rescue Ruthie and Arneda from drowning, Bobby Lee swims to shore. Days later, Bobby Lee arrives at Jumpy's house in a stolen car. As they sit on the porch, Bobby Lee begs Jumpy for forgiveness and for advice. Jumpy tells him to keep running and gives him money. Bobby Lee drives off, leaving Jumpy sitting on the porch, playing the harmonica. As Bobby Lee turns onto the highway, a police cruiser appears and chases him over the hill.
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