The film originally aired on Showtime Network as part of their Rebel Highway series that took the titles of 1950s-era B-movies and applied them to original films starring up-and-coming actors of the 1990s (including the likes of Alicia Silverstone and Shannen Doherty) and directed by established directors such as William Friedkin, Joe Dante, and Ralph Bakshi.

Robert Rodriguez's take concerned a rebel named Dude Delaney (David Arquette) who dreams of leaving his dead end small town and becoming a rockabilly star but gets caught up in a nasty feud with the town's local sheriff (William Sadler) and his son (Jason Wiles).

Fed up with Teddy's failure to take care of Dude, Sarge hands him a pistol and tells him that he must resolve the situation by that night.

Dude finally decides to audition for the band, but when he shows up, he finds that they have sold out and now play bland pop music.

For other music in the film, Rodriguez found that Link Wray's work was not currently in demand, and he was able to license it at an inexpensive rate.

[2] Music supervisors Karyn Rachtman and Mary Ramos worked on both Roadracers and Pulp Fiction,[3][4] and the two films' soundtracks influenced each other.

[6] It featured newly recorded covers of classic '50s songs performed by Iggy Pop, Los Lobos, Concrete Blonde and others, all heard in the Rebel Highway series.

Rodriguez was used to shooting films very fast and ran into resistance with his Hollywood crew (most notably the director of photography).

Rodriguez said that due to the fast shooting schedule of this film, as of an interview in April 2012, he had not yet beaten the record number of camera setups performed in one day.

[11] John J. O'Connor of The New York Times wrote, "From square parents to ominous rumbles, Roadracers doesn't miss a cliche in the depiction of rebels without a cause.

"[12] Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times called it "a giddily shameless paean to misspent youth".

[13] Louis Black of The Austin Chronicle called "the perfect Roger Corman movie" as made by Rodriguez.

[15] Reviewing the film on home video, Matt Serafini rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "It’s a fairly simple movie, and a remarkably assured one.

Club wrote, "Rodriguez is clearly a virtuoso working at the top of his form, and the film's lurid, over-the-top histrionics suit his talents nicely.

The film reminds us of the director's humble roots, all while providing 90 minutes of fun, fast-paced, grindhouse-style filmmaking.