Daytona Teddy Riggs is a has-been high school football star on a quest to win the World's Strongest Man competition.

Estranged from his oil-rich family who disapprove of his lifestyle, Daytona's primary source of companionship is the Pat Dupree motivational speaker tapes he listens to on a loop. Dupree is scheduled to appear in Houston the same weekend as the regional Strong Man qualifier, and Daytona decides he must confront him one-on-one to take control of his destiny.

Set in mid-nineties South Texas, Daytona Teddy Riggs is an offbeat portrayal of mental illness in the pre-internet South. At once an outrageous comedy, a biting satire of the self-help industry, and an examination of privilege and masculinity, family and relationships, Buxton's riotous debut chronicles Daytona's struggle to discover who he is beneath all the muscles.