And so it begins! On the search for his missing wife, Alex Tully is coerced into heading down to Florida Keys for answers... Wendy Patrakas, desperate to keep her newborn baby away from her unhappy husband, recieves a call to head to Florida Quays... Winston Salazar, just-bailed from prison by an unknown benefactor, recieves a call with the chance to start his life anew. They are just three of the many given the opportunity to take part in The Race, a secret, and illegal, cross-country road race. As The Race starts, the drivers meet their competitors, as well as the mysterious Corinna, a stowaway on Alex's truck who might have answers to the whole thing - or at least, something very important to The Sponsors of The Race, seeing as they've sent someone after her to retrieve it. As the racers head for their first destination, not everything goes to plan - and one Racer finds themselves first at the mercy of the law, and then at the mercy of The Sponsors...

Wendy frets over her Sponsor-given assignment tohug Ivy, but after her attempt goes awry and she tells Ivy what she's been told to do, Ivy has a novel idea to get them both out of the situation... Meanwhile, Alex has been keeping Allan bound and gagged in the bathroom, and is told to question Corinna's motives for being in The Race -and when he confronts her, he realises they aren't as dissimilar as he once thought. Elsewhere in The Race, Ellie continues to hide the truth about his AWOL status from Rob; Ivy is disheartened by Leigh and Susan's unwillingness to play dirty; while Winston and Sean help Violet and John out of a bad situation...

As the racers attempt to get to Rome, Georgia before dark, Alex and Corinna suffer a setback when his truck breaks down - and then their day gets even worse when Alex is arrested on the side of the road. As Alex is questioned by the cop, Corinna heads for the nearest police station attempting to get Alex released -but she discovers the situation isn't as clear-cut as she originally thought... Back in the race, Ivy and Wendy bond in their new partnership, but Ivy isn't quite ready for Wendy's own brand of crazy; Violet teaches her father how to lie, not realising he's been lying to her all along; Winston runs into troubles with a bounty hunter that Sean realises he can help with; and Rob begins to wonder why he hasn't been called back to service, although Ellie will go to any lengths to keep them in the race - and Rob out of the army.

As the drivers await instructions for the next leg of The Race, Alex and Corinna get a head-start when they are awarded the "Jump Start" - the ability to skip ahead a checkpoint, upon completion of a task. Unfortunately, the task hits too close to home for Alex, and they are forced to reconsider - until Corinna realises there are two competitors, with the skills to help complete the task, who would do anything for the opportunity to skip ahead with them... Elsewhere, Wendy gets some bad news that forces her to drop out of The Race - but Ivy doesn't exactly agree with that decision; Rob finally discovers that Ellie has been keeping his AWOL status from him, and makes a decision that will affect their status in The Race; and Susan and Leigh make a valiant attempt to get back into The Race - although The Sponsors, it seems, have other ideas for the New Orleans pair...

All drivers hit the road for the fastest way to the next pit stop. Four participants have to face the consequences for their 'jump start'. Even without Ivy and Susan, Leigh will not stop racing and looks for a new co-pilot, while Wendy's baby gets in danger when his mother is pushed by Ivy to continue the race.

With Winston and Sean in possession of the flash drive, Corinna and Alex take a huge risk in order to get background information on the race - including Kathryn's location. Wendy is in a different race, a race against her husband to be the first to get to baby Sam.