The player is John Tanner, an undercover cop who try to take advantage of his own excellent driving skill in order to infiltrate a criminal organization.

In the storyline, the player has the chance to drive several cars in four american cities (Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York), facing many different missions and tasks such as delivering a vehicle without damaging it, eliminating competitors or being the getaway driver in a bank robbery.

NYPD officer and former racing driver John Tanner is sent undercover by his boss Lieutenant McKenzie to discover the intentions of a crime syndicate led by Castaldi. McKenzie instructs Tanner to go to Miami and meet a pimp named Rufus. After arriving in Miami, Tanner uses his driving skills to prove himself to some gangsters in a parking garage, allowing him to become their getaway driver.

Tanner carries out jobs for various gangsters before meeting Rufus, who tasks Tanner with rescuing Jean-Paul, one of Rufus's associates. Rufus is later shot by his girlfriend Jesse. Needing more information for his investigation, Tanner apprehends Jesse and takes her to the police station, where she reveals that Jean-Paul is now in San Francisco.

Tanner goes to San Francisco, where he meets Castaldi, Jean-Paul's boss, and begins working directly for him. He also meets Rusty Slater, his former racing rival, who also works for Castaldi. Tanner later learns that Castaldi is working with a man named Don Hancock, who is running for president. He later suspects that Slater has been spying on him and wrecks Slater's car during a road chase, resulting in Slater being arrested.

The Castaldi family move to Los Angeles, where Castaldi plans to assassinate FBI agent Bill Maddox as part of Castaldi's plan to carry out a more high-profile assassination in New York. Tanner tells Leck, a police associate, to ensure Maddox turns up, otherwise Tanner's cover may be affected. The assassination on Maddox is successful, but the police ambush the gangsters, forcing Tanner to take them to safety. Tanner convinces the suspicious gangsters that Slater likely told the police about the planned assassination while under interrogation. Leck later tells Tanner that McKenzie recently met Marcus Vaughn, a corrupt FBI agent who is working with Castaldi and Hancock.

The Castaldi family then move to New York, the location of the planned high-profile assassination. Tanner is told by his police associates that McKenzie wants him to pull out of the undercover operation, as he is worried that Tanner's cover will not hold up much longer, and Leck tells Tanner that Hancock has bribed several members of the FBI. Tanner remains undercover and continues working for Castaldi, intent on discovering what he is planning.