Framed for a murder he did not commit, three-time speedway champ Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) finds himself at Terminal Island, the country's toughest prison, but he gets an unexpected chance at freedom when the warden offers a choice: Compete in the Death Race as a mythical driver called Frankenstein, or rot in a cell forever. Riding in a car equipped with flamethrowers and grenade launchers, Ames must survive a gauntlet of vicious criminals to win his freedom -- or die trying.