Stoney enters a prison benefit rodeo. He has a friend who is incarcerated, who forces Stoney to help him escape by taking a teenage girl hostage.

A bull rider is killed, which scares the town into canceling the rodeo. Stoney's attempts to have the rodeo restored and to help the dead man's prideful but dirt poor family put him at odds with powerful city merchant Reese Ludlow.

Two men have a large bet, one man bets on Stoney and tries to buy his cooperation. The other one bets on a friend of Stoney's who is riding with a hurt leg.

It's rodeo riders versus race car drivers when Stoney and company are hired to convert a community's racetrack into a rodeo arena over the violent objections of the local racing club.

Stoney joins a senate campaign and agrees to make speeches because he remembers how much the senator helped his family, only to be disillusioned later during the campaign.

Stoney rides a horse named Sidewinder who goes berserk. Stoney can't control the horse and they buck into the stands and woman is killed.

Stoney is invited by a friend to judge a college rodeo, but soon becomes aware that the friend's 18-year-old daughter believes she is in love with him, and thinks that Stoney feels the same way toward her.

A weapons expert investigates the death of an international dignitary who was killed by an arrow fired by an Indian during a rodeo pre-game act. Though the film of the incident appears to show the death was accidental, the expert believes it was murder.

Stoney feels obligated to help out the reckless daughter of his late old friend and mentor by agreeing to pay her debts. But she takes total advantage of his generosity.

Sam Hagen is determined that his son Jess win the rodeo championship. But Stoney learns that Jess has a bad knee, and that even a slight injury could permanently cripple him, a fact which Jess doesn't want his father to know.