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Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) is a young racer with years of experience in open-wheel racing. He is recruited by car dealership tycoon Tim Daland (Randy Quaid) to race for his team in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Daland also convinces former crew chief Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall) to come out of retirement and lead Cole's pit crew.
During his first few races, Cole has difficulty adjusting to the larger NASCAR stock cars and communicating with his crew while being intimidated on the track by Winston Cup Champion Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker); this results in Cole not finishing the races, mostly due to crashes or engine blowouts.
After discovering that Cole does not understand the common terminology used by NASCAR teams, Harry puts him in a series of rigorous training. This pays off at the Darlington race, when Cole uses a slingshot maneuver from the outside line to overtake Rowdy and win his first race.