Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan) wants to become a NASCAR driver but her overprotective father, Ray Peyton Sr. (Michael Keaton), won't hear of it. A former racer himself, Ray wants Maggie to take a lucrative TV sportscasting job and leave the driving to her crash-prone brother (Breckin Meyer). When Ray Sr. takes Maggie to a junkyard to pick out a car, she has no idea that the little Volkswagen Beetle – named Herbie – she takes home will change her life.