The Ghostbusters, Slimer, and Janine greet a crowd of fans, who are there to watch the Ghostbusters and Slimer enter a race, in which the winner wins prize money for his favourite charity. However, there's a demon in the crowd. Peter is driving a blue car, Ray is driving a yellow solar-powered car, Egon is driving a hydrogen-powered yellow car, Slimer is driving a white car that's coated in slime to reduce wind resistance, and Winston is driving the Ecto-1.
The demon walks through a wall, and the race begins. Then, the demon appears on a roof and produces pink fire, then creates a storm, then makes some traffic cones burn and move. Then, he creates a hole in the wall, and despite the other people telling the Ghostbusters and Slimer not to drive through the hole, they do it anyway, and the hole disappears.
Janine and Louis see the Ghostbusters and Slimer disappear on TV, and then they pop out in a parallel universe. Janine, Louis, and the police dash off to find the guys. They bring a box of Egon's inventions in hopes they'd help, but have no clue what they do. They decide to just try them and hope for the best.
In the other universe, the Ghostbusters and Slimer come across some signs pointing to places like "Ghost Town" and "Nightmaresville". A diner appears out of nowhere and they enter it to find it full of demons, who claim it's impossible to reach Manhattan from there. One demon lunges at them, so they run away, and while they're running, Egon determines that this place is the Netherworld.
They try to escape, but the directional equipment isn't working, and they end up trapped in a bubble made of high-density ectoplasm, causing Peter to crash his car. The demon from the beginning of the episode makes a remark about "the game" beginning, then the Ghostbusters and Slimer continue to drive and attempt to find an exit.
Janine and Louis, meanwhile, are still trying to make sense of Egon's inventions. She throws one on the floor, but then hears the guys' voices coming out of it. Thus, the two try to see if they can use it to talk to them. Back in the Netherworld, the Ghostbusters are driving on a checkerboard-like surface, which Egon thinks might be a clue. Two giant dice fall from the sky and crush Ray's car, but luckily he jumps out and survives.
Peter lets Ray ride in the Ecto-1 with him and Winston, then Egon reveals that the demon is called the Phantom, and he likes high-stake board games. After the guys are sent ten spaces back, the Phantom appears. Peter tries to zap him, but the stream bounces off the ectoplasmic "bubble". Egon sees some signs with zeroes and determines that to get free, he and the others must rack up points.
They set off, then the Phantom creates an evil bus, while Janine and Louis are still trying to talk to the guys. Peter then zaps the evil bus, but that just makes it grow bigger. Winston decides that Peter should keep blasting the bus to make it grow until it gets stuck. This works, but the guys run into a dead end. However, they're able to drive under the bus, and Egon scans for a crack in the portal.
He finds one, and they drive towards it, while Janine and Louis are using one of the machines to fire a blue pulse at the wall. The Phantom gets angry and makes the ground shake, then reaches out for the guys. Luckily, they go through the portal before he does. As for the charity race, everyone is tied for first place, and they (plus Janine and Louis) get their photo taken for the newspaper.
This episode provides examples of
- Animate Inanimate Object: The Phantom sends down a sentient bus.
- Aside Comment: After eating two whole cakes, Slimer turns to the audience and says, "Well, I'm a growing ghost, y'know!".
- Badass in Distress: The Ghostbusters end up trapped in an ectoplasmic bubble in the Netherworld.
- Call a Human a "Meatbag": The demonic diner owner calls Peter "Flesh Face".
- Calling Your Nausea: When Janine and Louis are in the car, she says that the guys' fate depends on them. Louis says, "I know, but so does the state of your upholstery!" (meaning he thinks he might throw up). Luckily, he doesn't throw up.
- Captain Obvious: Louis snarks at Janine for saying that Egon's invention probably has to do with ghosts.
- Conforming OOC Moment: Even Egon gasps upon seeing the demonic diner patrons and exclaims when he sees the falling dice and the evil bus.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Egon says that he thinks "all is not as it seems" (i.e. that they're in a parallel universe), Peter thinks that Egon's giving up hope of winning the race.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Peter makes a No, You quip to the Phantom, a powerful demon.
- Ectoplasm:
- Exploited — Slimer deliberately coats his car in his own slime to reduce wind resistance.
- Exploited again when the Ghostbusters and Slimer end up trapped in a ball of high-density ectoplasm.
- Evil Laugh: The Phantom laughs maniacally when producing the pink fire, then again when saying that there can only be one winner, and again when the portal is opening.
- Evil Wears Black: The Phantom wears a black robe and hat.
- Extra Eyes: One of the diner patrons has a great many eyes.
- Green and Mean: The demon that tries to attack the Ghostbusters and Slimer is dark green.
- Hope Spot: Subverted. Peter zaps the bus... but that just makes it grow... however, they keep making the bus grow until it gets stuck.
- Not So Stoic: When the Ghostbusters and Slimer see the demons in the diner, Egon gasps (as do the rest of the Ghostbusters, while Slimer screams). Later, Egon exclaims alongside the others when the giant dice fall, then when the evil bus shows up.
- No, You: When the Phantom says that the Ghostbusters and Slimer get "an A for effort", Peter says, "Well, here's an 'A' for you, pal!" before trying to attack him.
- One-Liner: When Winston wants to get out of the Netherworld, he says, "Let's blow this creep show!".
- Playing with Fire: One of the Phantom's powers is to set things on fire.
- Pun-Based Title: The title puns on "life in the fast lane".
- Ocular Gushers: Slimer cries with tears spurting out upon realising that he and the Ghostbusters are lost.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Phantom has red eyes, as do several of the entities in the cafe and the evil bus.
- Scary Teeth: At one point, it zooms in on the villain's mouth, and we see him flash a disturbingly-toothy smile.
- Sizeshifter: The Phantom can switch between human-sized and giant.
- Sore Loser: The Phantom goes into a rage when the Ghostbusters and Slimer look like they're winning.
- Spell My Name with a "The": The bad guy is the Phantom.
- Technical Euphemism: Ray tries to reassure Slimer by saying that they're not "lost", just "misplaced".
- Tempting Fate: Peter asks why the Phantom never shows himself, seconds before he does.
- Terms of Endangerment: Peter calls the Phantom "pal".
- Tongue-Out Insult: Slimer waggles his tongue at the evil bus after it gets stuck.
- Vanity License Plate: Ray's license plate has his name on it.
- Visual Pun: When Winston tells the others to overtake him if they can, Ray says, "Piece of cake, Winston!". Slimer agrees, "Yeah, piece of cake!" while eating literal cake.
- Wild Take: Slimer's eyes bug out when he sees the evil bus.
- You Are Fat: After making the bus grow so big it gets stuck, Peter calls it "fatso".
