Cannonball (1976) on Netflix

Coy "Cannonball" Buckman is a race driver-turned parolee, who signs on to compete in the Trans-Continental Road Race, a cross-country journey starting at the Santa Monica Pier and ending at a garage in New York City. This does not sit well with Coy's parole officer girlfriend Linda Maxwell, who is legally responsible for him and he could go back to prison for violating his parole. Fixing up Coy's red Pontiac Trans Am is his loyal pal Zippo Friedman, who decides to enter the race himself in a identical Trans Am and even dressing up like Coy to fool the cops. Coy's rival is Cade Redman, an embittered fellow racer, who is also tasked to take no-talent country singer Perman Waters and his mother Sharma Capri to New York to jump-start Perman's stalled career.