FAQ/Walkthrough for: NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup (XBOX) by MikeNinja77 E-mail-Kbhredsox@aol.com Version 1.25 Most Recent Edition: September 4, 2005 Date Created: May 1, 2005 {1. COPYRIGHT AND CONTACT} Copyright 2005 by MikeNinja77. All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced, reformatted or otherwise taken advantage of by anyone in whole or in part without the consent of the author. All works published in this document are works of the author unless otherwise stated with in the walkthrough and/or the credits section. Use of this guide on another website besides gamefaqs.com or its partners is strictly prohibited and a violation of copyright. For the reader, this basically means that you should only read this guide for reference purposes. You may print sections of this guide out for your personal needs, but you may not by any circumstances publish this work as your own and receive money for it. Thanks very much for your cooperation. Also, if you need to e-mail me about this game, please put NASCAR or Chase for the Cup in the subject line so I know what it is about. Also, do not attach any files to your e-mails, as they will not be opened if this is the case. This is done for virus precautions. If you feel something needs to be changed within the guide, I need full proof from the game myself in order to fix it and have your name in the credits section. Thank you for your help. {2. VERSION HISTORY} September 4, 2005-Version 1.25 Thanks to Curtis Blake for his ingenious strategy on the "Learning the Draft" Lightning Challenge. July 7, 2005-Version 1.20 Thanks to imjorman040991, I don't have to write an "owner mode" section, as his version of it can now be found here. July 1, 2005-Version 1.10 I have completed the drivers section, all the thunder plates, and a sliver of the new "owner mode" section. A more complete section will be available soon. June 22, 2005-Version 1.00 Finally, all of the track strategies have been written. Most further updates will only be because of thunder plates. June 13, 2005-Version 0.95 I added custom car garage, skill points section, and some of the track strategies. I also fixed a few typos. A full track strategy section and a more complete thunder plate section are expected in the next version. June 4, 2005-Version 0.90 I completed everything except the My NASCAR section and track strategies, which are coming soon. May 1, 2005-Version 0.00 Started creating the walkthrough. {3. INTRODUCTION} EA Sports and Tiburon are back for another year of NASCAR racing, and this year they have made the experience of racing better than ever. Besides the fact that there are new NEXTEL Cup drivers (including Kasey Kahne), there are three new series you can race in this year! They are the Featherlite Modified Series, the Craftsman Truck Series, and the (National) Bush Series. There is also a new game mode called Fight to the Top. In this mode, you will strive to be either the next hero on the track or the greatest villain anyone's ever seen in someone else's rearview mirror, depending on how you drive. Your other objective is to win every race, collect every thunder plates, and win all four championships. With that said, let's go start our engines! TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Copyright and Contact 2. Version History 3. Introduction 4. Game Basics 4.01 Game Controls 4.02 The Rules of NASCAR 4.021 Flags 4.022 Pit Stops 4.023 Standings 5. Fight to the Top Mode 5.01 Prologue 5.02 Starting Your Career 5.03 Select Event Menu and Racing 5.031 Your First Week 5.032 Featherlite Race Menu 5.033 Strategy for Featherlite Races 5.034 Allies, Rivals, and Skill Points 5.035 Your Schedule Afterwards 5.04 End of First Year 5.05 Different Screens 5.051 Race Shop 5.052 Season Info 5.053 Phone Messages 5.054 Game Status 5.06 Becoming an Owner 5.061 Overview 5.062 Team Prices 5.063 Merchandise 5.064 Upgrading Your Car 5.065 Car Colors/Driver Uniforms 5.066 Hire/Fire Drivers 5.067 Pit Crew Training 5.07 Mode Wrapup 6. Other Game Modes 6.01 Race Now 6.02 Dodge Speedzone 6.03 Lightning Challenge 6.04 Season 6.05 Chase for the Cup 7. My NASCAR 7.01 Custom Car Garage 7.02 Skill Points 7.021 Easy Tasks 7.022 Medium Tasks 7.023 Hard Tasks 7.024 Extreme Tasks 7.03 Thunder Plates 8. Drivers 8.01 Nextel Cup Series Drivers 8.02 National Busch Series Drivers 8.03 Craftsman Truck Series Drivers 8.04 Featherlite Modified Series Drivers 9. Tracks & Track Strategies 10. Xbox Live 10.01 Overview 10.02 Racing Options 10.03 Racing Menus 10.04 Holding Room 10.05 Cheating Prevention 10.06 EA Sports Messenger 10.07 EA Sports Ticker and Medallion 11. Final Words and Credits {4. GAME BASICS} [4.01] Game Controls These are the default controls that come with the game. For those of you who have no clue where their instruction manual is, here they are. Steer Left Thumbstick or the Directional Pad Throttle Right Trigger Brake/Repair Left Trigger Reverse (when stopped) White Button Change View Black Button Shift Up (manual transmission only) Y Button Shift Down (manual transmission only) X Button Intimidator B Button Toggle HUD (Heads Up Display) Back Button Share Draft A Button Toggle rear view mirror ON/OFF Click Left Thumbstick Pause game Start Button Mute Voice (Xbox Live only) Click Right Thumbstick [4.02] The Rules of NASCAR The objective of this section is to inform the reader about some of the rules you must know in order to perform well within the game. (4.021) Flags These are the colors of the flags that you will see in this game: Green-Race as fast and hard as you can when this flag flies, as this indicates that the track is cleared and ready for 190 MPH racing. Yellow-This flag is better known as caution. When a condition, such as debris or a wreck, renders a track hazardous, this flag will fly. You cannot pass anyone during laps that are under caution, and you will only be passed if you take a pit stop, which will be explained below. Note that in the Featherlite Series, this flag will not be thrown under any circumstances. White-When the leader has completed his second to last lap (and therefore only has one to go), this flag will fly. This is your last chance to make up any positions you want to before the race is over. If you are leading when the white flag flies, be careful, as the cars behind you will be making a last- ditch effort to pass you and win. Checkered-This lovely white and black flag shows that the leader has completed his last lap by crossing the start/finish line. If you take this flag, you will be able to celebrate for a while by making doughnuts, smoke, or anything else that will cause your engine to sound off. (4.022) Pit Stops Before reading, know that pit stops aren't allowed during Featherlite races. When you have little fuel left, have tires worn or blown, or if you have taken damage, you should make a pit stop by turning hard left onto the apron coming out of turn four. Be sure to slow down to 70 MPH or less, or you will suffer a five-second penalty. You have several options: add fuel (half tank or full tank), change left tires, change right tires, repair damage, make a wedge adjustment, or change tire pressure. You can do as many as you need to during the pit stop, but know that the more options you choose, the longer off the track you'll be, so only do as much as you need to. If the caution comes out, the game will ask you if you want to pit under caution. This is a good time to come in because you have less of a time limit due to the slower speed of the other cars. However, there is a drawback to pitting at this time. If some cars don't pit, you will be placed behind them and have to pass them when the green flag flies again in order to get back your old position. So, some strategy is involved when making the decision whether or not to make a pit stop. I would only pit under caution if I were about to pit soon anyway due to low fuel, worn/blown tires, heavy damage, or horrible handling. (4.023) Standings Have you ever wondered how the game calculates the standings you see in various game modes, such as Fight to the Top? Well, the answer lies here. Most of the points are awarded to drivers depending on when they finish. Finishing first grants you 180 points, finishing second earns 175 points, and the points go down in increments of five until sixth place, which earns 155 points. Then, the number of points decrease by four (seventh earns 151, eight earns 147, etc.) until 11th place, which earns 135 points. The point totals then go down in increments of three until the last place driver, which earns 34 points in a Nextel race. In addition to these basic points, bonus points are awarded for leading laps. Each driver that leads a lap earns five bonus points. The driver that leads the most laps earns an additional five points, for a total of ten. Therefore, if a driver leads the most laps and wins, he earns himself 190 points, which will quickly distance himself from the competition. In the Nextel cup, the point totals are reset with ten races to go in anticipation for the Chase for the Cup. This only applies to those drivers who qualified for the chase by being in the top 10 in points and/or being within 400 points of the leader. The first place driver will start with 5050 points, the second will start with 5045, etc. until the last driver, which starts with 5505 points if ten drivers are eligible. These drivers then duke it out during the final ten races to see who will be the Nextel Cup champion. {5. FIGHT TO THE TOP MODE} [5.01] Prologue When you first load up the game, or if you choose "New Game" while at the title screen, you will be seen driving a red Dodge Viper and having to stop at a red light. You will then gaze at a magazine with Ryan Newman's face on the front cover. Right after you start reading, Ryan himself will pull up in his white Dodge Viper. After you do a double take at him, he will point towards the race track up ahead, nod his head, and smile as if to say, "I'll race you here right now!" You will then begin a one-lap race with him at the New York Speedway. The track starts out with a nice straightaway, then banks hard to the right, but there is a spill-off to the left if you aren't careful enough. After an easy left, an easy right, and a long easy right, you should be going almost 150 MPH. After another long straightaway, a slight bend to the left will prepare you for a square right immediately after. Since the auto-brake feature is on for now, all you need to do is get up off the gas and maybe give the brakes a tap until you are down to 105-110 MPH. You will then reach a banked turn after another set of easy turns, which gently leads you right. You should slow down to about 120 MPH before accelerating to the start/finish line for a victory! Once you win, you will give a blissful fist pump from inside your car, and Ryan himself will give you a call, saying that you are quite the driver. You will then have the option of continuing with Fight to the Top mode or to go to the game's main menu. For the purposes of this chapter, you should choose the top option. [5.02] Starting Your Career The next screen that will pop up will be the driver info screen. Here, you can name your driver, give him an age, a hometown, and a racing team. You then have three different body types to choose from, ten generic heads to decide on, and twenty unique faces to check out. You then enter a difficulty selection screen. Here, you can decide for yourself how hard and therefore rewarding you want the game to be. There are four options: normal, advanced, extreme, and custom. If you are a newcomer to the game, take the normal option for now unless you want to get right into the hardcore aspects of racing. Advanced is for those who are used to the games but don't want this one to be too challenging. Advanced is only for the experts and hard-core racing fans. The custom difficulty settings may be set in the settings menu under "My NASCAR" in the main menu. After you choose your difficulty setting, Ace Moneymaker, Ryan Newman's agent, will give you a call, saying that he has hooked up a one-year contract for you with the #192 Featherlite Dodge. You can then enter your first race by choosing the "Select Event" option in the Fight to the Top Menu. [5.03] Select Event Menu and Racing (5.031) Your First Week When you enter this screen for the first time, Ace will call you again, telling you that sometimes there will be scheduling conflicts when you obtain more racing contracts. This statement is correct, as you can expect 10-15 different scheduling conflicts if you are signed up with all four racing series! But for now, all you have is a Featherlite Modified Car, so you should have no problem entering the Railway 150. (5.032) Featherlite Race Menu When you select this event, another menu will pop up, with the race track as a background. Your options for a Featherlite Car are: practice, qualify, happy hour, start race, car setup, and quit. You should first visit the car setup menu, which will get you ready for the rest of the sessions. Once you find the car setup that is pleasing to you, go to the first practice, where you can drive around the Red Ball Raceway to make sure that you like your car setup. If you don't, you can always make adjustments during your practice session to get immediate feedback from your car. Once you can run the fastest lap possible for you, exit the practice session and go to qualify. Here, you will be timed for two laps. The better lap time will go into the race weekend stats and will determine where you start the race. Obviously, you will win the pole (first) position if your lap time is better than anyone else's during qualifying. If you are going to start near the back (22nd is the worst in Featherlite cars) or if you still don't like your car setup, it wouldn't be a bad idea to enter happy hour. This is a post-qualifying practice that will assure you of an ideal car setup. When you can't be happier about how your racecar is running, go to the start race option. (5.033) Strategy for Featherlite Races You will have three seconds to prepare yourself for the start of the race before it actually starts. Since there are no caution flags or pit stops allowed during Featherlite races, all you need to do is slow down in the turns and hold a low line. That way, the AI cars won't be able to pass you as easily. Be sure to stay out of wrecks and avoid contact as much as possible in order to keep your car in optimal condition for finishing the race. (5.034) Allies, Rivals, and Skill Points While out on the track, it is up to you whether you want to create allies and become a hero, or to create rivals and become a villain. As your blue draft meter increases, the bottom two bars (red and green) will start filling as well. When the green bar is completely filled, you can press A to share a draft with a car in front of you. You can likewise use the B button to intimidate a driver. This will let you earn some skill points along with a driver respect rating. Think before you create a rival; their relationships with you, good or bad, carry over from race to race in this mode. Below are some examples of what kinds of tasks earn you skill points. Share Draft/Intimidate 7/second Leading 5/second Took Lead 75 Clean Pass 12 Lapped Car 20 New Rival 15 In Top 5 50 In Top 10 30 When you finish the race, you will earn prestige points based on how well you finished, and your fan boost will get a good jump if you won as well. The bottom line will tell you how many Hero/Villain points you've accumulated. You may not have changed at all, resulting in a Neutral (0) score for this section. A screen will then show up summarizing your latest relationships with various drivers that raced against you, and you will see how many skill points you've earned for the race. Choose quit when you are ready to move on. If you make a driver especially upset, he will call Ace, who in turn will call you, asking if you want to ignore his complaint or to say sorry for your track behavior. Ace will also call you when you reach hero, villain, prestige, or fan base milestones, along with notifications of how you are doing in the standings of a particular series. (5.035) Your Schedule Afterwards As you compete in Featherlite races, you may attract enough attention to participate in a charity event, a race showdown, or a test run for a new contract. The charity/showdowns are always on Monday, and the test runs will always be on a Tuesday. Participating in a charity event will earn you hero points, and winning it will give you skill points. Winning a race showdown will unlock the production vehicle you raced against. Obtaining your goal in the test run will result in a contract offer, which will let you race in another series. All of the other series schedule their events a little differently, as they have you qualify two days before the actual race. However, the race weekend menus within the events will not change at all within the series. [5.04] End of First Year When your 2004 season is finally over, you will see if you won any trophies for championships (one is excellent, two is superb), and Ace will start to call you like crazy with new contract offers. I recommend that you pick the ride with the most stars attached, as you can achieve better results with a better vehicle. You could always enter owner mode as well, explained a little later. When you have finished these steps, your new season will begin, and this cycle will continue as long as you want it to. [5.05] Different Screens Ace mentions after your first race that you should go look at some different screens in this mode besides the main and select race ones. Each sub-section will explain each of the features in each different screen in Fight to the Top mode. (5.051) Race Shop This is where you can view each of your racing contracts if you are a driver. However, you can also upgrade your team quite a bit if you are a driver/owner in this screen. The decisions made in this screen can make the difference of $100,000 down the road. (5.052) Season Info Here, you can see the events you are pending to participate in, along with the current standings. See the rules of NASCAR to learn how the standings system works. It will also show you a breakdown of where the money you've earned is coming from in each of the series. A different screen will track your poles, wins, top 10's, etc. in each of the series. (5.053) Phone Messages Your phone messages can be viewed here and listened to once again. An indicator near the bottom of the screen will tell you how many messages you have, and it is here where you can delete any unwanted messages. (5.054) Game Status Progressing through this game can be quite a challenge to track, so this screen does that job for you. Atop the menu you will see your "overall progress," which is based on three components listed near the bottom of the screen: percentage of trophies won from winning races and finishing first in the standings, percentage of thunder plates you own, and the number of production cars you've unlocked. The other two charts on this screen will track your prestige and fan support. Each one will give you a rank (level for prestige, rank for fan support) and a number which you must eclipse if you want your rank to increase. Prestige level-ups are the number one way to getting new contracts, and obtaining more fans will be your top ambition if you are seeking cash. [5.06] Becoming an Owner HUGE thanks go to imjorman040991 for creating this section for me. Thanks also go to kash04 for the contract info that is further explained below by imjorman040991. (5.061) Overview When you finally muster up enough money to buy a team, you have 100% control over your race team. You control merchandise price, your cars' colors, you get to train your pit crew, you can hire/fire drivers to race in your place, you can upgrade your cars parts, change your drivers' uniforms, and you can still accept contracts in OTHER race series OTHER than the one you own. The only down fall to driver/owner is that once you own a team, you own it for the rest of the game, you can't sell it. To access your team, go to Race shop, and select the series that you own the team to view your team options. (5.062) Team Prices These are the prices you must pay to own a team in each series. I suggest only buying one or teams, that way, you can experience having contracts in your racing career as well. NASCAR FEATHERLITE MODIFIED- $175,000 NASCAR TRUCK SERIES- $750,000 NASCAR NNS SERIES- $1,500,000 NASCAR NEXTEL SERIES- $4,000,000 (5.063) Merchandise Once you enter the series where you own a team from the Race Shop, select MERCHANDISE, and you'll see the screen you work from. When you first buy your team, you have three items to sell: key chains, ball hats, and t-shirts. You can set the prices at whatever you want, just beware: if you set them too high, you'll sell no itmes, and you won't make any money in your merchandise column. Also, if you retire from a race, or don't race in it yourself, OR hire a driver for it (which will be explained below), you get no merchandise money. As you get more fans, and advance to better race series, more items become available to sell. For help on picking prices, view the agent tips from the merchandise menu. (5.064) Upgrading Your Car Once you enter the series where you own a team from the Race Shop, select garage, then select TUNE-UP. From here, you can upgrade your car stats by making all the pretty bronze stars silver, you'll know when your maxed out because the price of each of the catagories say "MAXED" when it's maxed out (not all that difficult). If you've got enough money, you can do all this in one sitting, and it doesn't take all that long to fill it up. But I did notice a huge difference in my car's performance when I maxed out all the stats. (5.065) Car Colors/Driver Uniforms From the garage menu, select the option above TUNE-UP, and continue (if you can't select the only other option on the page, you are beyond my help). Here, you can play around and make your car look as pretty...or as ugly as you want. Personally, mine's beautiful. Scarlet and Gray baby!!! Back on topic...just play around, and have fun doing it. (5.066) Hire/Fire Drivers From your team menu, select the obvious option HIRE/FIRE DRIVERS. Here you can pick any driver you want to race your car in the event of a scheduling conflict or any other reason you see fit. I suggest hiring the best driver available for 1 or 2 races, then firing him so you can get back to racing. You do make money from the hired drivers racing IF they make you more money in the race than they cost to hire. (5.067) Pit Crew Training Any NASCAR fan knows that your team has a lot to do with how you do in a race. The better your team, the faster you get out of the pits. Since I don't own any teams besides a Featherlite team (they don't allow pit stops), I don't know anything about this feature. So just go in there when you buy a truck team, an NNS team, or a Nextel team, and try it out. [5.07] Mode Wrapup That just about completes my chapter for Fight to the Top mode. I hope it shed some light on how the mode should be completed. I really can't help you with any more of the mode since all of the decisions are now up to you. Choosing between a Nextel Cup driver and a Featherlite owner is a personal decision, and I can't make a guide for those two options and everything in between. I hope that you enjoy the reference points I give in this and all of the other chapters. {6. OTHER GAME MODES} [6.01] Race Now This game mode lets you quickly get into a race if you're itching to try out a new car setup, or if just don't want your next race to count against you if you do poorly. This mode is highly recommended for rookies to the game because it lets you get used to the controls hands-on versus reading or viewing strategies. When you start up the mode, you are given four options: the series to race in, the number of players, the difficulty, and the race length. Then, select any driver for the series, and select a track to race at. Tilt the thumbstick left and right to view other races for that track, which may translate into a different race time! After this, it's time to go to race weekend, where everything is pretty much the same as Fight to the Top. [6.02] Dodge Speedzone This mode will let you practice in four vital elements to NASCAR racing. Obtaining all of the gold medals here takes some time and effort. Passing Description: The full field of cars in front of you is itching to be passed. You need to pass them as quickly as you can. Scoring: 5 points per pass, -2 points for damage, -5 points for major damage, -2 points for off track, -5 points for being passed. Requirements: Stay above 100 MPH (50 MPH for levels 3-5), no reckless driving Level 1-Craftsman Truck Series-California Gold=60 pts, Silver=40 pts, Bronze=20 pts. Skill Points-100, 50, 25 Level 2-Busch Series-Dover Gold=65 pts, Silver=45 pts, Bronze=25 pts. Skill Points-200, 100, 50 Level 3-Nextel Series-Homestead Gold=70 pts, Silver=50 pts, Bronze=30 pts. Skill Points-300, 150, 75 Level 4-Craftsman Truck Series-Phoenix Gold=75 pts, Silver=55 pts, Bronze=35 pts. Skill Points-400, 200, 100 Level 5-Featherlite Modified Series-Red Ball Gold=80 pts, Silver=60 pts, Bronze=40 pts. Skill Points-500, 250, 125 Strategy: This is a very simple challenge to beat, which is why it is first on the list. Just pass low when the AI runs high and vice versa. You should have no problem obtaining the gold medal here, until the computer cars start to shift with the rhythm of the track. In that case, learn to thread the needle. Blocking Description: You've got the lead and a whole pack of cars coming hard. See if you can hold them off as they try and pass you. Scoring: 5 points for blocking, -2 points for not blocking, -2 points for being off the track, -2 points for damage, -5 points for major damage Requirements: Stay above 50 MPH, no reckless driving Level 1-Craftsman Truck Series-Atlanta Gold=35 pts, Silver=25 pts, Bronze=15 pts. Skill Points-100, 50, 25 Level 2-Busch Series-Las Vegas Gold=40 pts, Silver=30 pts, Bronze=20 pts. Skill Points-200, 100, 50 Level 3-Nextel Series-Chicagoland Gold=45 pts, Silver=35 pts, Bronze=25 pts. Skill Points-300, 150, 75 Level 4-Featherlite Modified Series-Richmond Gold=50 pts, Silver=40 pts, Bronze=30 pts. Skill Points-400, 200, 100 Level 5-Featherlite Modified Series-Martinsville Gold=55 pts, Silver=45 pts, Bronze=35 pts. Skill Points-500, 250, 125 Strategy: This is a good preparation for the times when you need to reduce the amounts of rivals you have in Fight to the Top mode (this WILL happen, trust me). Be sure not to swerve too much after locking in by pressing A and you will do fine in this challenge. Drafting Description: The opponent in front of you is a little mad. Try and share draft with him and earn some respect back. Scoring: -4 to 10 points for sharing draft, depending on quality (10 points equals perfect draft), -2 points for activating share draft but not drafting Requirements: Stay above 100 MPH. Level 1-Nextel Series-Talladega Gold=60 pts, Silver=40 pts, Bronze=20 pts. Skill Points-100, 50, 25 Level 2-Busch Series-Daytona Gold=65 pts, Silver=45 pts, Bronze=25 pts. Skill Points-200, 100, 50 Level 3-Nextel Series-Indianapolis Gold=70 pts, Silver=50 pts, Bronze=30 pts. Skill Points-300, 150, 75 Level 4-Craftsman Truck Series-Michigan Gold=75 pts, Silver=55 pts, Bronze=35 pts. Skill Points-400, 200, 100 Level 5-Nextel Series-Texas Gold=80 pts, Silver=60 pts, Bronze=40 pts. Skill Points-500, 250, 125 Strategy: This challenge is fairly easy as long as you position yourself correctly when the AI cars make their move (indicated by the green arrow turning red). The arrow should be pointing exactly at the center of your back bumper to ensure that you do not give up your current position. Time Trials Description: With the clock as your enemy, hold on and strap in as you lay down some times through the toughest road courses. Scoring: None Requirements: Stay above 100 MPH, finish at or before bronze time. Level 1-Featherlite Modified Series-Old Spice Gold=23.7 sec, Silver=24.5 sec, Bronze=25 sec. Skill Points-100, 50, 25 Level 2-Craftsman Truck Series-Watkins Glen Gold=40.9 sec, Silver=41.7 sec, Bronze=42.5 sec. Skill Points-200, 100, 50 Level 3-Nextel Series-Infineon Gold=48.4 sec, Silver=49 sec, Bronze=49.5 sec. Skill Points-300, 150, 75 Level 4-Nextel Series-Dockside Gold=22.575 sec, Silver=22.9 sec, Bronze=23.25 sec. Skill Poiints-400, 200, 100 Level 5-Nextel Series-Speedway Blvd. Gold=30.3 sec, Silver=30.8 sec, Bronze=31.3 sec. Skill Points-500, 250, 125 Strategy: See below for strategies regarding the specific tracks you must conquer in order to win the challenges. Level 1 begins at the easy left halfway through the lap. Level 2 begins at the set of tricky turns. Level 3 begins at the turn before the hard, square right. Level 4 begins at the straightaway before the pair of hairpins. Level 5 begins at the straightaway before the hard pair of brick turns. [6.03] Lightning Challenge This mode puts you in some of the craziest scenarios in recent NASCAR history. Besides one challenge, they are all fairly easy if you know what to do. Name: Great American Win Driver: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Difficulty: Rookie Description: Junior made an impressive pass to take the lead from Tony Stewart at the 2004 Daytona 500. With Tony still behind you, get the #8 car to Victory Lane. Situation: You start first at Daytona, three and a half laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: When you start, immediately go low, so Tony doesn't pass you on the inside. That should fend him off for a lap or two. When he gets another charge going, he may start to blow by on the outside. If this happens, ram into his side a bit to mess up his steering. If you timed it right, you should be able to cruise to victory on this one. Name: Caution Ahead? Driver: Jeff Gordon Difficulty: Rookie Description: When the caution came out with 3 laps to go at the 2003 Virginia 500, Jeff Gordon had out battled Bobby Labonte and Dale Jr. Lead Jeff to the win this time WITHOUT the caution. Situation: You start first at Martinsville, five laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 13th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: When you enter the turns, you need to stay low in order to keep Labonte from passing you. If you don't, he'll start to creep up on your left side. However, this really isn't a problem since you can blow by him on the next straightaway. Overall, this is no challenge whatsoever. Name: I'll Do the Math! Driver: Kevin Harvick Difficulty: Rookie Description: Kevin Harvick almost won the 2003 GFS Marketplace 400 on a fuel gamble. Ryan Newman won that day with what should've been an empty tank. This time, both Newman and Busch run out. See if you can catch them and win. Situation: You start third at Michigan, one lap to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: The only thing you need to do is avoid hitting Busch and Newman. If you do, you'll automatically win by 1.2 seconds or more. Name: The First One Driver: Greg Biffle Difficulty: Rookie Description: Bobby Labonte ran out of gas on the last lap of the 2003 Pepsi 400, allowing Greg Biffle to cruise to the win. Out race Bobby, this time with a full tank, to the checkers with 3 laps to go. Situation: You start first at Daytona, three and a half laps to go Requirements: Finish first, stay above 3rd, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: Just like "Great American Win," you need to stay low on the turns to avoid letting Labonte by you. If he gets on your high side too much, just bump him a little to end his threat. Name: Recount? Driver: Jimmie Johnson Difficulty: Rookie Description: Jimmie Johnson hung back on purpose during the 2003 All-Star hoping the fans would vote to invert the entire field. He guessed right. Starting in 7th, see if you can lead the race like Jimmie. Situation: You start seventh at Lowe's, five laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 12th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: On the restart, you may ram into Labonte, who is ahead of you. Just blow by the opposition by staying very low on the straightaways, and you will pass them all in no time. Protect your lead for an easy win. Name: Atlanta Sweep Driver: Tony Stewart Difficulty: Rookie Description: Tony Stewart made a late run at Jeff Gordon during the 2003 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, but his run was halted by an ill-timed caution. Try and win the race without the yellow flag being flown. Situation: You start second at Atlanta, a little less than four laps to go Requirements: Finish first, stay above 13th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: Take the turns low and the straightaways medium and you should catch up to Gordon in no time. Once again, block all possible passing lanes to protect you lead and rack up some more skill points. Name: Settin' Up the Sweep Driver: Ryan Newman Difficulty: Rookie Description: After a caution with 5 laps to go, Ryan Newman restarted 1st and held off Jeff Gordon. This was the first part of his 2003 sweep. Hold off Gordon for the win. Situation: You start 1st at Dover, 6 laps to go Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: From the restart, stay low and do not let anyone behind you pass on the inside. As you get up to full speed on the back stretch, be careful about your speed entering the final pair of turns; it should be about 145 MPH. As you run future laps, watch that back straightaway wall, as it can come up and bite your right-hand side in a hurry, since the car is a little looser than usual during this challenge. Name: Streak Buster Driver: Rusty Wallace Difficulty: Rookie Description: Rusty passed Jamie McMurray with 12 laps to go, looking to end his losing streak. After holding on to the lead, Rusty was passed late by Kurt Busch. End the streak and take Rusty to the victory. Situation: You start second at California, about four laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: From the start, let Busch pass you completely so that you can concentrate on staving off a Labonte pass. Blow by Labonte on the back stretch and put the pressure on Busch's low side as you enter turn 3. If you timed it correctly, you should be able to pass him during turn 4, but it's okay if you can't do it right away, as the game gives you a few laps to make the move. Don't be afraid to get the car a little loose on this challenge as you have plenty of room to work with. Name: Domination Driver: Matt Kenseth Difficulty: Rookie Description: Matt Kenseth dominated the 2004 Subway 400 at North Carolina, silencing many of his championship doubts. With 5 to go, and Kahne behind you, win the race. Situation: You start first at North Carolina, five laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 5, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: It is imperative that you stay low on this challenge as Kahne will look to pass you in any way. Besides that, there are two spots that you need to watch out for on this track: the entry into turn one and the exit from turn four. Both places will cause your car to become loose for a second, so be sure to stay completely above the white line, or you will only make it harder for yourself. Name: Texas Two Step Driver: Elliott Sadler Difficulty: Rookie Description: When Jeff Gordon had battery problems at the Samsung/RadioShack 500 at Texas, Elliott Sadler moved right in and won the race after a battle with Kahne. Be like Elliott and win the race. Situation: You start second at Texas, four and a half laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 13th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: You must stay low throughout this entire challenge, otherwise you will have a very slim chance of winning. Get below Jeff Gordon on the back stretch during your second lap to make the key pass of this challenge. Then, just cut him off during the turns to keep him behind you. Name: A Virtual 5-Peat Driver: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Difficulty: Veteran Description: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was in the running to win his 5th Talladega race in a row. However, Junior ended up finishing well behind Michael Waltrip. Change history and take the #8 car to the win. Situation: You start 2nd at Talladega, two laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 15th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: This is a slightly more difficult challenge since you have a better chance of victory if you guide Waltrip low, then pass him up high on the following straightaway. It may take you a few tries to perfect this technique. Name: Hatch Trick Driver: Michael Waltrip Difficulty: Veteran Description: After holding off a flurry of attacks from Junior and Jeff Gordon, Waltrip went on to win the EA SPORTS 500. With 2 to go, see if you can hold off the late charge and win. Situation: You start first at Talladega, two laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 15th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: Like any of the super-speedway challenges, you must stay low on the turns and block any high attacks on the straightaways to stay ahead. If you can remember that, this challenge is quite simple. Name: Win of the Year Driver: Terry Labonte Difficulty: Veteran Description: Terry Labonte ended a 156 race winless streak by bringing home the checkered flag at the 2003 Southern 500. Hold off a strong charge by Harvick and win. Situation: You start first at Darlington, about six laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 15th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: Seeing that you car has fairly old tires on it, Harvick will catch up to you quickly (about 0.15 seconds a lap) if you don't ride this track perfectly smooth. You must hug the dotted line on the turns and go high in the straightaways to catch the good grove on such a narrow track. If you can avoid too much sliding, you should win by at least a third of a second. Name: Get it Straight Driver: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Difficulty: Veteran Description: After a pass of Johnson and Kenseth that many thought was below the yellow line, Junior went on to win the 2003 Aaron's 499. Take the #8 car to the win without passing below the line. Situation: You start third at Talladega, four and a half laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: Once again, this is an easy Talladega challenge with a DEI car. Once you blow by Jarrett, stay low on the turns and force Kenseth to go low with you. Then, just pass him on the high side and hold him off for another easy victory. Name: Caution? Again? Driver: Tony Stewart Difficulty: Veteran Description: With 4 laps to go during the 2003 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Jeff Gordon held off Tony Stewart before the caution was thrown. This time the caution won't be thrown. See if you can win. Situation: You start first at Atlanta, four laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 15th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: Since you are out in front, it's just a matter of staying low in the turns and blocking Stewart on the straightaways. For the most part, this challenge is just like some of the others. Name: Get My Second Driver: Jamie McMurray Difficulty: Veteran Description: Kevin Harvick ran away from the rest of the field as Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray tried to pass Robby Gordon. This time, you have 4 laps to catch Harvick and win. Situation: You start third at Indianapolis, four laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: You need to get underneath Kenseth on turn 2 to have a better chance at hunting down Harvick going into the back stretch. By the middle of the front straightaway, you should get to within drafting distance of him. Lock on and continue to catch up. On the back straightaway of lap 2, you'll see an ally run out of fuel and limp back to the pits. You should be in position to pass Harvick on the next pair of turns. The final two lap should be uneventful for you unless Harvick gets below you. If this happens, try not to make contact, as he may spin out, causing you to fail. Name: That Was Close... Driver: Kurt Busch Difficulty: Veteran Description: Kurt Busch won the 2003 Auto Club 500, but only after narrowly missing a pile up on the first lap. Guide Kurt's car through the wreck without taking any damage and finish the lap. Situation: You start sixteenth at California, a half lap to go. Requirements: No car damage, stay above 20th, stay on track. Strategy: Try to get onto the low side of the track, since if you do, you'll have a much easier time doing this. When the wreck happens, give the brakes a solid tap and hope that no one from behind or from the right bangs into you. This could take 10-15 tries if you get unlucky, so be patient with this one. Name: Getting Punished Driver: Brendan Gaughan Difficulty: Veteran Description: Brendan Gaughan was in the midst of the best run of his young career before he got spun out. This time you will be put back in 11th place with 13 to go. Get into the top 5 before the caution. Situation: You start 11th at Bristol, 13 laps to go. Requirements: Finish in top 5, stay above 16th, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: The only problem with this challenge is that it's longer than most, even at Bristol. As always, stay low to pass, and you should finish this challenge quickly and easily. Name: Inches Decide It Driver: Bobby Labonte Difficulty: Veteran Description: Bobby Labonte was barely beaten off of pit road by Jimmie Johnson, which proved to be the difference in the 2004 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. Help Labonte overtake Johnson for the win. Situation: You start second at Darlington, three laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 5, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: Since you start right behind Johnson, you don't necessarily have to pass him right away. Just try the low line throughout the challenge, and you should get an opening to pass sooner or later. Name: Back on Track Driver: Sterling Marlin Difficulty: Veteran Description: At the 2004 Subway 400, Sterling Marlin finished fourth. With 5 to go, see if you can improve his finish and win the race with the #40 Dodge. Situation: You start fifth at North Carolina, six laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 8th, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: When you start this challenge, your car will be a little loose, so don't try to immediately go low. Once the car is steady, make your move, and pick off the other cars by staying on that low line. Name: Redemption Driver: Tony Stewart Difficulty: Veteran Description: Tony Stewart was following Junior at the 2004 Daytona 500 with the lapped car of Kurt Busch behind. Tony didn't have enough to win, but use the #97 car to push you to the win. Situation: You start second at Daytona, three and a half laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: You won't even need Busch to beat this challenge if you just slingshot draft by Earnhardt, Jr. Name: Nowhere to Run... Driver: Michael Waltrip Difficulty: Legend Description: Mikey got caught up in a wreck on the 6th lap of the 2003 Southern 500. Navigate the #15 through the wreck and prove he had a winner. Situation: You start 17th at Darlington, a half a lap to go. Requirements: No car damage, stay above 19th, stay on track. Strategy: This is one of those challenges where you must have an equal amount of skill and luck to complete. You must slow down heading into turn 3, or you will get damaged and lose before the wreck even happens. Once cars start to spin out, keep close to the brakes and ride them when necessary. Then, if it's clear, go low and slam onto the accelerator and to the finish line. It is not often that the cars will stay high after they spin out, so you may get slammed when trying to finish low. Just keep doing it and you should win eventually (10-15 tries). Name: Clean the Slate Driver: Ricky Rudd Difficulty: Legend Description: With 9 laps to go, Ricky Rudd got into the back of Kevin Harvick on a caution restart and sparked a heated confrontation between the two. Take Ricky Rudd to Victory Lane. Situation: You start third at Richmond, nine laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 15th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: The secret to beating this challenge is to use Intimidator on both Harvick and Newman to get them to wiggle. Once you do that, you'll open up at least a half a second lead on the competition, and you can cruise to victory. Name: King of the Road Driver: Robby Gordon Difficulty: Legend Description: With worn tires, Robby Gordon held off a hard charging Jeff Gordon in the 2003 Dodge/Save Mart 350. With two laps to go, take charge of the #31 Cingular Chevy and lead it to victory. Situation: You start first at Infineon, two laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 3rd, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: Learn to like the brakes for this challenge and you should do fine. Don't be afraid to give the other Gordon a tap or two if necessary for you to stay in the lead. Don't spin him out, though, or you will be disqualified. Name: That's My Clock! Driver: Bobby Labonte Difficulty: Legend Description: Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon battled hard for the lead late in the Virginia 500. Gordon ended up winning with help from a caution. Pass the #24 for the win, this time with no caution. Situation: You start second at Martinsville, four laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: You can either use Intimidator to knock Gordon away or pass him more cleanly down low through one of the turns to beat this fairly easy challenge. Name: Road Rage Driver: Jeff Gordon Description: Jeff Gordon started from the pole, but was spun out by Greg Biffle in the first turn on the first lap. Take control of the #24 car, regain control from the hit, and lead the pack for the first lap. Situation: You start 21st at Watkins Glen, less than one lap to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 25th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: The trick to beating this challenge is to weave through traffic as best as you can, knocking into cars and using Intimidator along the way. After recovering from the spin, try to pass enough cars to get up to 15th before the back straightaway. You should be in the top 10 or very close to it by the end of the set of turns heading into a long curve right. You must be in 5th place or better at the end of the next long straightaway to even have a chance at this. Make those final passes on the inside of the last turn and see if you can get by that one last car (this should be the scenario for you) entering the straightaway containing the finish line. This, in my opinion, is the second or third toughest challenge in the entire mode, so don't worry if it takes you a couple dozen tries or more to beat this. Name: No Rain, No Problem Driver: Joe Nemechek Difficulty: Legend Description: Joe Nemechek was being pursued by Dale Jr. and Bobby Labonte when rain fell and gave Joe the win. This time with no rain and Dale Jr. and Labonte on your rear, win the race. Situation: You start first at Richmond, six laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: After the restart, concentrate on blocking any major threats by the guys behind you. Once your car is up to speed, you are good to go as long as you don't get loose or run into the wall. Name: Learning the Draft Driver: Brain Vickers Difficulty: Legend Description: Vickers and Gordon started towards the back of the pack at the 2004 Daytona 500 and drafted their way up to the front. Take control of Vickers and draft with Jeff into the top 10. Situation: You start 24th at Daytona, ten laps to go. Requirements: Ally must finish in top 10, finish in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: Thankfully, Curtis Blake has found a solution that will probably work for most gamers: For the first 5 or 6 seconds, draft Jeff closely. As turn one approaches, take advantage of the slower AI by using the apron to pass a few cars. After the turn, return to the racetrack and hold your position until Jeff catches back up with you. Let him by and repeat as needed until both cars are in the top ten. Give yourself a good pat on the back if you can beat this in one try. Name: Zeroin' on Victory Driver: Ward Burton Difficulty: Legend Description: Ward Burton finished in the top 10 in just his second race with his new team at the 2004 Subway 400. See if you can improve the #0 team's luck that day and get Ward into Victory Lane. Situation: You start 9th at North Carolina, five laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 20, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: This challenge isn't too hard if you know how to pass intelligently, since the AI cars won't be running as fast as they usually do. The one thing that will make this challenge harder is the strict time limit and the fact that Kenseth, the leader, starts out about 2.5 seconds ahead of you. Do not use the Intimidator too much with this challenge as it will cost you time if you don't use it correctly. With a little practice, you'll beat this challenge in no time. Name: Repercussions? Driver: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Difficulty: Legend Description: Dale Jr. wanted a top 10 in the worst way at the 2004 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. See if you can change history by getting around the #15 car and finish in the top 10. Situation: You start 11th at Bristol, five laps to go. Requirements: Finish in top 10, stay above 16th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: Don't ask me why they made this challenge a legend one, as all you need to do is pass an ALLY and hold off the rest of the field for the victory. Concentrate on making a clean pass as you have plenty of time, and you should successfully change history once again. Name: Doubters? Driver: Matt Kenseth Difficulty: Legend Description: Kenseth followed up his win at North Carolina with another win at the UAW DaimlerChrysler 400. This time, with 2 to go, hold off a charging Kahne (again) and win the race. Situation: You start second at Las Vegas, a little more than two laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 5th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: Lock onto Harvick immediately after beginning this challenge as you will easily get ahead of Kahne's pace that way. The #9 Dodge won't even threaten you until the first pair of turns on the last lap. On the back stretch, Harvick will run out of fuel, handing you the victory. Name: Turning the Tide Driver: Ricky Craven Difficulty: Bonus Description: Ricky Craven battled hard at the end of the spring Talladega race and managed to lock up a fourth place finish. Take control and work your way through the pack to a win. Situation: You start sixth at Talladega, two and a half laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 11th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: You will probably be able to pass two or three cars just as this challenge begins if you weave into the middle of the giant pack that is ahead of you. After making it into third or fourth place, the pack will start to become single file and drive away from you. Quickly lock onto a draft with them in order to keep them within range. You should catch up to them quickly enough that you will be able to blow by all of them on the next set of turns. It's just a matter of blocking any major passing threats from there on out. Name: Road Sweeper Driver: Robby Gordon Difficulty: Bonus Description: Robby Gordon won the 2003 Sirius at the Glen after a hard charging Jeff Gordon ran out of fuel on the last lap. See if you can hold off a fully fueled Gordon and the rest of the pack. Situation: You start first at Watkins Glen, one lap to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay above 19th, stay on track, no reckless driving Strategy: To start, your lead is only .2 seconds heading into this challenge, so you'll have to pull off that tricky first turn perfectly. Slow down as you need to and avoid the hazards to the left. It's not that hard to hold off the field from there until you reach the set of tricky turns requiring you to run around 75 MPH. Allow someone to bang into your backside to get you going if you need a little boost. This challenge is pretty much over there as the last few turns probably won't produce a problem for you if navigating the tricky turns wasn't a problem. Name: Start it Right? Driver: Dale Jarrett Difficulty: Bonus Description: Dale Jarrett won the first ever NEXTEL Cup race at Daytona in the Shootout. Take control of the UPS Ford with 2 laps to go and see if you can take it to victory lane. Situation: You start sixth at Daytona, two and a half laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: If "Turning the Tide" was easy for you, this will be a cinch as well. Just weave through the cars as you need to and when your competition is down to two or three cars, slingshot draft past them to take home a win. Name: New Beginnings Driver: Casey Mears Difficulty: Bonus Description: Casey Mears had the best finish of his career at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2004. Hop in his #41 Dodge and see if you can finish 7th or better. Situation: You start seventh at Las Vegas, five and a half laps to go. Requirements: Finish 7th or better, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: With the AI cars so spaced out ahead of you, your best chance to win this challenge is to simply hold off Tony Stewart, who is charging behind you as you begin this challenge. If you can pass another car before running out of laps, you'll easily win on your first try. Name: First Time? Driver: Scott Wimmer Difficulty: Bonus Description: In Scott Wimmer's first Daytona 500, he found himself behind Junior, Tony Stewart, and a lapped Kurt Busch. Pull out from behind the pack and get Scott the win. Situation: You start third at Daytona, three and a half laps to go. Requirements: Finish first, stay in top 10, stay on track, no reckless driving. Strategy: This challenge is like many before it. Just weave through Busch and slingshot draft past Junior and Stewart. If you can catch a good enough draft on the front straightaway, you could be in defense mode (first place) by the completion of one lap. [6.04] Season This mode allows you to race a season of any kind of length in any series with the driver of your choice. After choosing a driver from any series, you will be taken to the Season options menu. Here, you can control things such as cautions, race length, AI difficulty, etc. You will be then taken to the master season menu, where you can start another race, look at information (calendar, standings, and pole awards), change the number of players participating, and view a few features in My NASCAR. While this mode lasts a maximum of 34 races, you can drag them out for as long as you like with the considerable amount of menus available. [6.05] Chase for the Cup This mode will let you race the final ten seasons with any Nextel cup driver you wish. After choosing a Nextel driver, you will be taken to an options menu. Among other things, you can select the position you wish to start the chase in. Keep in mind that the harder you make it for yourself, the more skill points you'll earn when you win the mode (1000 points for easiest settings). After that, all you can really do is race, and after the first race (and any following race), you can elect to save your progress and quit the mode after looking at the new standings and the skill points/allies/rivals screen. As you can see, this mode is not very deep in terms of menus, but it does have a lot of drama, since one position can mean a two or three position difference for the next race. {7. MY NASCAR} [7.01] Custom Car Garage This feature allows you to create your own car from scratch! Instead of explaining through long, boring sentences, I'll use an outline form instead. I. Choose a Series A. Nextel B. Busch C. Craftsman D. Featherlite II. Choose one of four schemes (preset cars that you can tinker with) After this, three more options show up: III. Graphics A. Make (Busch and Nextel only) 1. Chevrolet 2. Dodge 3. Ford B. Paint Scheme 1. Basic 2. Fast 3. Wild 4. Ribbon 5. Wave 6. Flames 7. Shock 8. Safari 9. Shield 10. Vampire 11. Thunder 12. Stripe 13. Simple 14. Scorpion 15. Curves 16. Bend 17. Angles 18. Spider 19. Spikes C. Number-choose select 2-digit numbers or most 3-digit number from 100-199 D. Number Style 1. Regular 2. Italic 3. Bold 4. Skinny 5. Square 6. Shadow 7. Normal 8. Big 9. Big Outline 10. 3-D 11. Standard 12. Thin 13. Round 14. Straight 15. Pale E. Decals 1. None 2. Full 3. Half 4. Minimal IV. Colors-choose from any hue and brightness for each of the following: A. Primary B. Secondary C. Highlight D. Detail E. Extra F. Side Inner G. Side Outer H. Roof Inner I. Roof Outer V. Sponsors-choose from a vast variety of companies A. Primary B. Secondary C. Associate D. Team E. Driver That was some list! Let's go to another, much shorter one: skill points! [7.02] Skill Points This section will list each of the tasks necessary to earn more skill points. (7.021) Easy Tasks (1,000 points for each task completed) Win Fight to the Top prologue Modify in-game audio settings Create 5 allies in a race Create 5 rivals in a race Enter Best Laps screen Enter Chase for the Cup mode Enter Lightning Challenge mode Enter Season mode Finish top 5 in any series Gain 7 spots of position (Nextel) Intimidate an opponent for 5 seconds (any series) Last lap pass for a win (any series) 20 second Happy Hour lap at IRP (Busch) 13 second Happy Hour lap at Dodge (Featherlite) 48 second Happy Hour lap at California (Craftsman) 50 second Happy Hour lap at Talladega (Nextel) Share draft for 5 seconds (any series) Visit Custom Car garage Visit Dodge Speedzone Win a Featherlite Modified Series event Win a Craftsman Truck Series event Win a National Busch Series event Win a Nextel Series event (7.022) Medium Tasks (2,000 points for each task completed) Create 8 allies in a race Create 8 rivals in a race Gain 15 spots of position (any track/series) Intimidate an opponent for 10 seconds at Red Ball Raceway Qualify for the pole position (Craftsman) Qualify for the pole position (Busch) Qualify for the pole position (Nextel) Qualify in the top 5 for the Daytona 500 with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Qualify in the top 5 for the EA Sports 500 with Jeff Gordon 30 second Happy Hour lap at Milwaukee (Busch) 27 second Happy Hour lap at Levi Strauss (Craftsman) 15 second Happy Hour lap at Red Ball (Featherlite) 1 minute 45 second Happy Hour lap at Watkins Glen (Nextel) Share draft for 10 seconds at Red Ball Raceway Win EA Sports 500 with Kevin Harvick (Nextel) Win the championship in Season mode (earns 2,500 points) Win Dodge Performance 250 with Travis Kvapli (7.023) Hard Tasks (3,000 points for each task completed) Complete Lightning Challenge mode Create 12 allies in a race Create 12 rivals in a race Gain 40 spots of position (any track/series) Intimidate an opponent for 15 seconds at Red Ball Raceway Qualify for the pole with Travis Kvapli at Bristol Share draft for 15 seconds at Red Ball Raceway Share draft for 60 seconds (any track/series) Win at Bristol with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Win at Daytona with Dale Earnhardt, Sr. Win at IRP with Ron Hornaday Win at Levi Strauss with Jeff Gordon Win at Old Spice with Kevin Harvick Earn all gold medals in Dodge Speedzone Win a race in Manual Transmission (7.024) Extreme Tasks (5,000 points for each task completed) Earn $40,000 in merchandise sales for one race Earn 3,000 hero points in a race Earn 7,000 prestige points in a race Earn 3,000 villain points in a race Become a Level 1 Hero Become a Level 1 Villain Become a Level 2 Hero Become a Level 2 Villain Become a Level 3 Hero Become a Level 3 Villain Obtain 1,000,000 fans (earns 7,500 points) Obtain 500,000 fans Reach Level 10 Prestige (earns 12,000 points) [7.03] Thunder Plates This section will list each of the various thunder plates you can earn and how much it costs to earn them. Note that I will assign each position on the page a value: #1 is top left, #2 is top center, #3 is top right, #4 is bottom left, #5 is bottom center, and #6 is bottom right. I have not earned all of the thunder plates yet, so this section will continue to be updated as I fill in the blanks. Page 1-#1 Atlanta Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 1-#2 Bristol Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 1-#3 California Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 1-#4 Chicagoland Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 1-#5 Darlington Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 1-#6 Daytona Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 2-#1 Dover Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 2-#2 Homestead Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 2-#3 Indianapolis Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 2-#4 Infineon Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 2-#5 Kansas Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 2-#6 Las Vegas Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 3-#1 Lowe's Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 3-#2 Martinsville Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 3-#3 Michigan Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 3-#4 New Hampshire Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 3-#5 North Carolina Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 3-#6 Phoenix Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 4-#1 Richmond Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 4-#2 Talladega Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 4-#3 Texas Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 4-#4 Watkins Glen Pole Position 5000 Skill Points Page 4-#5 Atlanta Night Track 3000 Skill Points Page 4-#6 Darlington Night Track 3000 Skill Points Page 5-#1 Daytona Road Course 3000 Skill Points Page 5-#2 Craftsman Special Event-Dodge Raceway 5000 Skill Points Page 5-#3 Busch Series Special Event-Dodge Raceway 5000 Skill Points Page 5-#4 Nextel Special Event-Dodge Raceway 7500 Skill Points Page 5-#5 Production Car Special Event-Dodge Raceway 5000 Skill Points Page 5-#6 Dover Night Track 3000 Skill Points Page 6-#1 Featherlite Special Event-Indianapolis Race Park 5000 Skill Points Page 6-#2 Craftsman Truck Special Event-Indianapolis Race Park 5000 Skill Points Page 6-#3 Nextel Special Event-Indianapolis Race Park 7500 Skill Points Page 6-#4 Las Vegas Night Track 3000 Skill Points Page 6-#5 Craftsman Special Event-Levi Strauss 5000 Skill Points Page 6-#6 Busch Series Special Event-Levi Strauss 5000 Skill Points Page 7-#1 Nextel Special Event-Levi Strauss 7500 Skill Points Page 7-#2 Martinsville Night Track 3000 Skill Points Page 7-#3 Featherlite Special Event-Milwaukee Mile 5000 Skill Points Page 7-#4 Craftsman Special Event-Milwaukee Mile 5000 Skill Points Page 7-#5 Nextel Special Event-Milwaukee Mile 7500 Skill Points Page 7-#6 Craftsman Special Event-Nazareth 5000 Skill Points Page 8-#1 Nextel Special Event-Nazareth 7500 Skill Points Page 8-#2 North Carolina Night Track 3000 Skill Points Page 8-#3 Craftsman Truck Special Event-Old Spice 5000 Skill Points Page 8-#4 Busch Series Special Event-Old Spice 5000 Skill Points Page 8-#5 Nextel Special Event-Old Spice 7500 Skill Points Page 8-#6 Production Car Special Event-Old Spice 5000 Skill Points Page 9-#1 Phoenix Road Course 3000 Skill Points Page 9-#2 Nextel Special Event-Red Ball 7500 Skill Points Page 9-#3 Production Car Special Event-Red Ball 5000 Skill Points Page 9-#4 Richmond Day Track 3000 Skill Points Page 9-#5 Nextel Special Event-Speedway Blvd. 7500 Skill Points Page 9-#6 Talladega Night Track 3000 Skill Points Page 10-#1 Texas Road Course 3000 Skill Points Page 10-#2 Dale Earnhardt 15,000 Skill Points Page 10-#3 #101 Mr. Clean Featherlite Car 5000 Skill Points Page 10-#4 #153 Levi Strauss Featherlite Car 5000 Skill Points Page 10-#5 #163 Old Spice Featherlite Car 5000 Skill Points Page 10-#6 #177 Autozone Featherlite Car 5000 Skill Points Page 11-#1 #191 Dodge Rippin' Featherlite Car 5000 Skill Points Page 11-#2 #192 Dodge Classic Red Featherlite Car 5000 Skill Points Page 11-#3 #101 Mr. Clean Craftsman Truck 5000 Skill Points Page 11-#4 #153 Levi Strauss Craftsman Truck 5000 Skill Points Page 11-#5 #163 Old Spice Craftsman Truck 5000 Skill Points Page 11-#6 #177 Autozone Craftsman Truck 5000 Skill Points Page 12-#1 #191 Dodge Rippin' Craftsman Truck 5000 Skill Points Page 12-#2 #192 Dodge Classic Red Craftsman Truck 5000 Skill Points Page 12-#3 #101 Mr. Clean Car 5000 Skill Points Page 12-#4 #153 Levi Strauss Car 5000 Skill Points Page 12-#5 #163 Old Spice Car 5000 Skill Points Page 12-#6 #177 Autozone Car 5000 Skill Points Page 13-#1 #191 Dodge Rippin' Car 5000 Skill Points Page 13-#2 #192 Dodge Classic Red Car 5000 Skill Points Page 13-#3 #192 Dodge Classic Gold Car 5000 Skill Points Page 13-#4 #100 Dover Monster Car 5000 Skill Points Page 13-#5 Fantasy Drivers-Complete Set 25,000 Skill Points Page 13-#6 New Paint Scheme-Joe Nemechek Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 14-#1 New Paint Scheme-Terry Labonte Silver 3000 Skill Points Page 14-#2 New Paint Scheme-Terry Labonte Checkered 3000 Skill Points Page 14-#3 New Paint Scheme-Terry Labonte Kellogg's 3000 Skill Points Page 14-#4 New Paint Scheme-Mark Martin Reverse 3000 Skill Points Page 14-#5 New Paint Scheme-Mark Martin Red 3000 Skill Points Page 14-#6 New Paint Scheme-Mark Martin Dark Blue 3000 Skill Points Page 15-#1 New Paint Scheme-Scott Riggs Dark Blue 3000 Skill Points Page 15-#2 New Paint Scheme-Ryan Newman Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 15-#3 New Paint Scheme-Ryan Newman Blue 3000 Skill Points Page 15-#4 New Paint Scheme-Michael Waltrip Stars 3000 Skill Points Page 15-#5 New Paint Scheme-Michael Waltrip Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 15-#6 New Paint Scheme-Greg Biffle Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 16-#1 New Paint Scheme-Greg Biffle Red 3000 Skill Points Page 16-#2 New Paint Scheme-Matt Kenseth Darkened 3000 Skill Points Page 16-#3 New Paint Scheme-Bobby Labonte Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 16-#4 New Paint Scheme-Bobby Labonte Yellow-Green 3000 Skill Points Page 16-#5 New Paint Scheme-Tony Stewart Yellow-Orange 3000 Skill Points Page 16-#6 New Paint Scheme-Tony Stewart Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 17-#1 New Paint Scheme-Ricky Rudd Blue 3000 Skill Points Page 17-#2 New Paint Scheme-Ricky Rudd Dark Blue 3000 Skill Points Page 17-#3 New Paint Scheme-Ricky Rudd Red 3000 Skill Points Page 17-#4 New Paint Scheme-Jeff Gordon Pepsi 3000 Skill Points Page 17-#5 New Paint Scheme-Jeff Gordon Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 17-#6 New Paint Scheme-Kevin Harvick Yellow 3000 Skill Points Page 18-#1 New Paint Scheme-Kevin Harvick Red 3000 Skill Points Page 18-#2 New Paint Scheme-Kevin Harvick Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 18-#3 New Paint Scheme-Johnny Sauter White 3000 Skill Points Page 18-#4 New Paint Scheme-Robby Gordon White 3000 Skill Points Page 18-#5 New Paint Scheme-Robby Gordon Reverse 3000 Skill Points Page 18-#6 New Paint Scheme-Robby Gordon Construction 3000 Skill Points Page 19-#1 New Paint Scheme-Robby Gordon Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 19-#2 New Paint Scheme-Elliott Sadler Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 19-#3 New Paint Scheme-Jeff Green Yellow 3000 Skill Points Page 19-#4 New Paint Scheme-Kyle Petty White/Black 3000 Skill Points Page 19-#5 New Paint Scheme-Jimmie Johnson Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 19-#6 New Paint Scheme-Jimmie Johnson Stars 3000 Skill Points Page 20-#1 New Paint Scheme-Dale Jarrett Classic 3000 Skill Points Page 20-#2 New Paint Scheme-Kurt Busch White/Red 3000 Skill Points Page 20-#3 New Paint Scheme-Kurt Busch Black 3000 Skill Points Page 20-#4 New Paint Scheme-Kurt Busch Blue 3000 Skill Points Page 20-#5 New Paint Scheme-Kurt Busch Ice 3000 Skill Points Page 20-#6 New Paint Scheme-Jeff Burton Yellow 3000 Skill Points Page 21-#1 Sponsor-All Pro 1000 Skill Points Page 21-#2 Sponsor-Autozone 1000 Skill Points Page 21-#3 Sponsor-Coca Cola 1000 Skill Points Page 21-#4 Sponsor-Dodge 1000 Skill Points Page 21-#5 Sponsor-Dodge B 1000 Skill Points Page 21-#6 Sponsor-Dodge C 1000 Skill Points Page 22-#1 Sponsor-Uncle Hanley's Gloves 1000 Skill Points Page 22-#2 Sponsor-Home Depot 1000 Skill Points Page 22-#3 Sponsor-Levi Strauss 1000 Skill Points Page 22-#4 Sponsor-McDonalds 1000 Skill Points Page 22-#5 Sponsor-Mr. Clean 1000 Skill Points Page 22-#6 Sponsor-NBC Sports 1000 Skill Points Page 23-#1 Sponsor-Old Spice 1000 Skill Points Page 23-#2 Sponsor-O' Reilly 1000 Skill Points Page 23-#3 Sponsor-Romeo's 1000 Skill Points Page 23-#4 Sponsor-Joe's Snowblower 1000 Skill Points Page 23-#5 Mr. Clean Pit Crew 25,000 Skill Points Page 23-#6 Production Car-Dodge Magnum 75,000 Skill Points Page 24-#1 Production Car-Dodge SRT-4 75,000 Skill Points Page 24-#2 Production Car-Dodge Viper 75,000 Skill Points Page 24-#3 Production Car-Ford GT 75,000 Skill Points Page 24-#4 Production Car-Ford Mustang 75,000 Skill Points Page 24-#5 Production Car-Chevrolet Corvette 75,000 Skill Points Page 24-#6 Production Car-Daytona Prototype 75,000 Skill Points Page 25-#1 Production Car-SVT Lightning 75,000 Skill Points {8. DRIVERS} Throughout this chapter, the columns are, left to right, driver name, number, and primary sponsor/make of car (Ford, Dodge). [8.01] NEXTEL Cup Series Drivers Ward Burton 0 NetZero Chevrolet Joe Nemechek 01 U. S. Army Chevrolet Rusty Wallace 2 Team Rusty Dodge* Dale Earnhardt 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Terry Labonte 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet Mark Martin 6 Pfizer Ford* Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 8 Dale Jr. Chevrolet* Scott Riggs 10 Valvoline Chevrolet Ryan Newman 12 Alltel Dodge Michael Waltrip 15 NAPA Chevrolet Greg Biffle 16 National Guard Ford Matt Kenseth 17 DeWalt Ford Bobby Labonte 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet Tony Stewart 20 Home Depot Chevrolet Ricky Rudd 21 Motorcraft Ford Scott Wimmer 22 Caterpillar Dodge Jeff Gordon 24 DuPont Chevrolet Brian Vickers 25 GMAC Chevrolet Travis Kvapli 28 Nutzz Ford Kevin Harvick 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Johnny Sauter 30 America Online Chevrolet Robby Gordon 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Ricky Craven 32 Tide Chevrolet Paul Menard 33 Menards Chevrolet Elliott Sadler 38 M&M's Ford Sterling Marlin 40 Sterling Marlin Dodge* Casey Mears 41 Target Dodge Jamie McMurray 42 Havoline Dodge Jeff Green 43 Cheerios Dodge Kyle Petty 45 Georgia Pacific Dodge Jimmie Johnson 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Derrick Cope 50 Arnold Motorsports Randall Parker 56 2005 Chase for the Cup Chevrolet Brendan Gaughan 77 Kodak Dodge Dale Jarrett 88 UPS Ford Kurt Busch 97 Sharpie Ford Jeff Burton 99 SKF Ford Doyer Monster 100 Doyer Monster Ford Clay Dixon 103 MBNA Ford Kyle McCoy 105 Monte Carlo Chevrolet Greg Hicks 107 UAW Chevrolet Andy Armstrong 109 Dodge Dealer's Dodge Brad Carter 111 O' Reilly Ford Barry Barker 119 Aaron's Dodge Austin Hamilton 122 Goodyear Ford Charlie Davis 123 Ford Racing Ford Ben Baldwin 132 Car Quest Dodge Randy Norton 133 Goodyear Ford Chad Coleman 137 Maxell Dodge Ray Parker 141 EA.com Ford Russell Jackson 142 NASCAR.com Ford Rocky Perry 143 O' Reilly Ford Jason Kennedy 144 Coca-Cola Ford Scott Smith 145 Napa Chevrolet Doug Ferguson 147 Sunoco Dodge Bobby Boone 149 Little Trees Dodge Ronnie Reynolds 151 EA GAMES Ford Pete Nelson 153 Levi Strauss Chevrolet Don Evans 161 K-Mart Ford Brett Clark 163 Old Spice Chevrolet Jimmy Lane 169 Kroger Chevrolet Steve Thomas 171 Home Depot Racing Chevrolet Dave Dunn 172 Kroger Chevrolet Seth Taylor 174 Cintas Chevrolet Tim Wagner 175 Wincraft Chevrolet J. R. Jones 176 MBNA Chevrolet Dusty Gibson 178 All Pro Chevrolet Earl Hall 184 Advance Auto Parts Dodge Bo Banks 191 Rippin' Dodge Mark Lockhart 192 Classic Red Dodge Tony Walker 198 Waste Managment Chevrolet Mike Murphy 199 Tiburon Dodge *Actual sponsor is a beer or drug. [8.02] National Busch Series Drivers Ron Hornaday 2 ACDelco Chevrolet Hermie Sadler 02 Zapl Creations Chevrolet Kyle Busch 5 Lowe's Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 8 Oreo Chevrolet Jeff Burton 9 Coftman Ford Mark Martin 9 Pennzoil Ford Terry Cook 10 Power Stroke Ford Tim Fedewa 12 Supercuts Chevrolet Casey Atwood 14 Navy Chevrolet Matt Kenseth 17 Express Ford J. J. Yeley 18 Vigoro Chevrolet Mike Bliss 20 Rockwell Chevrolet Kevin Harvick 21 Reese's Pieces Chevrolet Jason Keller 22 Airplus Ford Kenny Wallace 23 Stacker 2 Chevrolet Bobby Hamilton, Jr. 25 Timberland Ford Johnny Sauter 27 Kleenex Chevrolet David Stremme 32 Trim Spa Dodge Paul Menard 33 Menards Chevrolet David Green 37 David Green Chevrolet Ashton Lewis 46 Ashton Lewis Chevrolet Cody Holt 56 Sparky's Ignition Dodge Greg Biffle 60 Charter Chevrolet Luke Nixon 63 Cobblers Ford Russell Hughes 64 Not-Cho Nacho's Chevrolet Billy Parker 66 Duraflame Dodge Bart Hawkins 81 Romeo's Alternations Dodge Randy LaJoie 82 Jani-King Chevrolet Manny Brown 83 Which-Way Ford Shane Kirkland 86 Ron's Waste Chevrolet Trey Murray 103 Hugger's Orange Dodge Wally Renshaw 106 Kings Chevrolet Gene Martin 107 Born Free Chevrolet Jared Holmes 108 Joe's Snow Blowers Ford Lance Brantley 109 Broken Heart Dodge Bobby Butler 110 Creepies Chevrolet Nick Richardson 112 Bubba's Hubcaps Dodge Tiny Buchanan 113 Dr. Cranium Dodge Jimmy Hill 116 Whittman's Repair Ford Corey Haynes 117 B4 Chevrolet Eddie Hammock 119 DCSpark Dodge Ray Westberry 121 Bare Race Wear Chevrolet Jay Chapman 123 A Foot Ahead Dodge J. C. Mathers 124 Uncle Handy's Ford Al Wiggins 125 Bowleg Chevrolet Donnie Hart 128 Jed's Campgrounds Ford Drew Campbell 131 Nugget Ranch Chevrolet Johnnie Moore 134 Lemon Luxury Auto Dodge Dwayne Borton 135 Knights Ford Shawn Batson 137 Hometown Quality Ford Blue Castleberry 138 ASH Dodge Steve Callaway 139 Wilson Harnesses Ford Darrell Bradford 152 52 Racing Shoes Chevrolet Craig Miller 168 JRodgers Ford John Jones 178 Poppa Squat Ford Gary Nelson 192 Classic Gold Dodge [8.03] Craftsman Truck Series Drivers Bobby Hamilton 4 Square D Truck Matt Crafton 6 GM Goodwrench Truck Jack Sprague 16 Chevy Dealers Truck Chad Chafflin 18 Dickies Truck Bill Lester 22 Bill Davis Racing Truck Travis Kvapli 24 Line-X Truck Brandon Whitt 38 Wemer Ladders Truck Jon Wood 50 Pennzoil Truck Scott Bush 56 Clatus's Truck Ryan Carter 64 JRodgers Truck Billy Wilson 82 Romeo's Truck Richard Johnson 83 Which-Way Truck Jake Bradley 86 Ron Waste Disposal Truck Carl Edwards 99 Superchips Truck Larry Watson 103 Hugger's Orange Truck Kevin Quinn 105 Shark Bait Truck Carl Richards 106 King's Truck Mark Handle 107 Born Free Truck Barry Wilder 108 Joe's Snow Blowers Truck Bonnie Allen 110 Pipe'N Hot Truck Troy Perry 116 Whittman's Repair Truck Wesley Schmidt 117 B4 Truck Keith Grimsley 119 DCSpark Truck Lee Anderson 121 Bare Race Wear Truck Adam Bell 123 A Foot Ahead Truck Doug Thompson 124 Uncle Handy's Truck Chad Wright 128 Jed's Campgrounds Truck Gary Freeley 131 Mum's The Word Truck Kenny Hall 135 Knights Truck Robbie Young 137 Hometown Quality Truck Ace Johnson 139 Wilson Harnesses Truck Bob Spear 152 52 Racing Shoes Truck Hank Grigsby 153 Levi Strauss Truck Aaron Magee 163 Old Spice Truck Andy Lyman 164 Not-cho Nacho's Truck Casey Cook 177 AutoZone Truck Jack Baker 178 Andy Boy Truck Jason Powell 191 Dodge Rippin' Truck [8.04] Featherlite Modified Series Drivers A. J. Hicks 53 Dr. Cranium Car B. J. Jones 56 Parker's Valet Car Dave Alpern 63 DCSpark Car Ronnie Williams 64 ASH Car Bruce Kennedy 82 Bare Race Wear Car Brady Barnes 83 Andy Boy Batteries Car Howie Black 86 Bubba's Hubcaps Car Rod Hanson 101 Mr. Clean Car Terry Giles 103 Hugger's Oranges Car Paul Donnelly 105 B4 Car Lou Stanton 106 Joe's Campgrounds Car Nate Beasley 113 Knights Car George Dennis 115 Cletus's Car Jackson Kemp 121 Broken Heart Car J. R. Roberts 123 Creepies Car Roger Bird 127 52 Racing Shoes Car Elmer Cadwell 131 Sparky's Car Kelly Walker 132 Born Free Car Justin Browning 137 Poppa Squat Car Chuck Spicer 148 Pipe'N Hot Car Bill Colhoun 149 iCag Car Joey Patterson 150 Wilson Harnesses Car Beau Phillips 153 Levi Strauss Car Tony Durbin 156 JRodgers Car Rocky Glover 163 Old Spice Car Marvin Humphries 168 Mid State RV Center Car Matt Jennings 172 Uncle Handy's Car Travis Foster 175 Bowleg Car Wade Davis 177 AutoZone Car Danny Ross 178 Dangler's Car George McFarland 187 Which-Way Car Geoff Myers 188 Lemon Luxury Auto Car Darin Dempsey 190 A Foot Ahead Car Junior McMillon 192 Dodge Classic Red Car Wayne Huckaby 193 Not-cho Nacho's Car {9. TRACKS AND TRACK STRATEGIES} This chapter shows every track in the game, its events for each series, and a strategy for each. Strategy (F) indicates a strategy for Featherlite Modified Cars. Also note that most tracks have different event lengths. If this is the case, the lap numbers will be written in the order that the events are shown below. NOTE: This section is incomplete. I will try my best to submit a completed list as soon as possible. Track Name: Atlanta Length: 1.54 Miles-325/202/130 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Golden Corral 500/Day (Nextel) Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500/Day (Nextel) Atlanta 500/Night (Nextel) Aaron's 312/Day (Busch) EasyCare 200/Day (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: Despite the short length, this track is one of the fastest out there. You probably will be able to reach 190 MPH on the straightaways and have to slow down to the 165-170 MPH range for the turns. Watch out for your car becoming too tight on such a fast track. Track Name: Bristol Length: 0.533 Miles-500/250/200 Laps Type: Short Track Events/Time: Food City 500/Day (Nextel) Sharpie 500/Night (Nextel) Sharpie Professional 250/Day (Busch) Food City 250/Night (Busch) O'Reilly 200/Night (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: This place is extremely simple thanks to the high banking. Being a short track, you probably will only get up to 130 MPH on the straighaways, and the car must yield to about a 105 MPH cruise around the turns. This track is mostly one-laned (difficult to pass cars on extreme difficulty settings), so qualify well in order to reduce your work load when attacking this track. Track Name: California Length: 2 Miles-250/150/100 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Auto Club 500/Day (Nextel) Pop Secret 500/Night (Nextel) Stater Bros. 300/Day (Busch) Target House 300/Day (Busch) American Racing Wheels 200/Night (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: This track is similar to Atlanta, except it is longer and has a straighter front stretch. You may be able to reach 200 MPH on the front straightaway before throttling back to 165 MPH throughout the front turns. Turn three comes up quicker than one, so you probably will only reach 195 MPH on the back stretch. Attack the back two turns the same as the front two, and you should be in good position to begin another lap. This track has low banking, making the car a little tighter. The track is very wide, however, allowing passing very often, especially through the first pair of turns. Track Name: Chicagoland Length: 1.5 Miles-267/200 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Tropicana 400/Day (Nextel) Twister 300/Day (Busch) Strategy: This track is virtually the same as Atlanta and California, with the exception of a curved back straightaway. Reaching 185 MPH on the straightaways isn't too hard, and braking to 160 MPH should allow the car to adjust to the turn the best. Be careful entering the front pair of turns, as the straighter front stretch will allow the car to get very tight heading into them. Track Name: Darlington Length: 1.366 Miles-293/367/292/147 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Carolina Dodge Dealers 400/Day (Nextel) Mountain Dew Southern 500/Day (Nextel) Darlington 400/Night (Nextel) Diamon Hill Plywood Co. 200/Day (Busch) BI-LO 200/Day (Busch) Darlington 200/Night (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: This track is very oddly shaped, looking more like an egg than anything else. It is also very narrow, as you must stay above the white line all the way around. Starting a lap, you should make it to 170 MPH on the front stretch before braking slightly to 150 MPH throughout the first pair of turns. Watch the turn two exit (that grandstand can come up too quickly sometimes) and slam on the accelerator to about 175 MPH on the back straightaway. Turns three and four are much tighter thn the first two, so bring your car down all the way to 130 MPH or even a little slower. Once the car has stabalized, rev it back up down the front stretch for another go. Track Name: Daytona Length: 2.5 Miles-200/160/70/120/100 Laps Type: Superspeedway Events/Time: Daytona 500/Day (Nextel) Pepsi 400/Night (Nextel) The Shootout/Night (Nextel) Hershey's Kisses 300/Day (Busch) Winn-Dixie 250/Night (Busch) Florida Dodge Dealers 250/Night (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: This is a track that doesn't need the brakes thanks to the beauty of restrictor plates, which limit an engine's power, causing it not to go as fast on the super-speedways. You should stay in the 185-190 MPH and 6900-7100 RPM ranges throughout any races here. Track Name: Dover Length: 1 Mile-400/200 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: MBNA 400 "A Salute to Heroes"/Day (Nextel) MBNA 400/Day (Nextel) Dover 400/Night (Nextel) MBNA America 200/Day (Busch) Stacker 200/Day (Busch) Strategy: This track is a combination of Atlanta and Bristol. I know that sounds strange, so let me explain: the banking in the turns is high, but the track runs much faster than Bristol, therefore making it similar to Atlanta. Get the car up to about 170 MPH on the straightaways and down to 145 MPH on the pairs of turns. Watch out for that turn two exit, as it is one of the tightest exits in any of the tracks in the game! Track Name: Homestead/Miami Length: 1.5 Miles-267/200/134 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Ford 400/Day (Nextel) Ford 300/Day (Busch) Ford 200/Day (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: Before 2003, this track was a nightmare to drive around because of the low banking. Thankfully, the maintainers of the track have added banking, making it a much faster and looser track, which makes everyone happy. You may be able to reach 185 MPH on the turns, and you should slow down to 150-155 MPH during the turns. The higher banked turns are as wide as before, so it is still pretty easy to pass cars on this track. Track Name: Indianapolis Length: 2.5 Miles-160 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Brickyard 400/Day (Nextel) Strategy: This track is famous for the insane speed you can obtain on it. You can reach 190 MPH on the long straightaways before entering turn one (or three) at 155 MPH. After a short straightaway, which should yield a 170 MPH result, dive back down to 155 MPH for turn two (or four). The front and back are the same, making this track easier than others. Watch out for the turns, as they have low banking, causing cars to be tight entering them. Track Name: Infineon Length: 1.99 Miles-110 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Dodge/Save Mart 350/Day (Nextel) Strategy: This track is a nightmare for beginners, so try to tackle some easier tracks before even considering racing here. The track starts out with a short straightaway before turning left; slow down to about 115 MPH. Next, you will turn a quick left and a longer right while going up a hill. Try to slow down to about 60 MPH by the time you reach the top. After topping out at about 115 MPH (again) and turning left, slow down to about 85 MPH to turn right. You will then reach a hard right where you will have to glide around no faster than 75 MPH. A sinister square right then approaches. Go all the way down to 40 MPH and first gear in order to make the turn before having to turn left quickly again. A pair of very subtle left and right turns allow you to reach 100 MPH before having to slow down to 85 MPH to turn left and then right. An easy, long left will allow you to reach 125-130 MPH before having to decelerate to 85 MPH for a fairly sharp right. You will then enter an innocent-looking straightaway that has a hairpin right at the end of it (the pit road enterance is to the left of this, by the way). Slow down to 35-40 MPH, and when you feel you have made your way through the turn, gun it straight towards the start/finish line. Track Name: IRP Length: 0.686 Miles-400/200/150 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: IRP 400/Night (Nextel) Kroger 200/Night (Busch) Power Stroke Diesel 200/Night (Craftsman Truck) Cardinal 150/Night (Featherlite) Strategy: This is easily the shortest speedway out there, and it drives like a short track, most noteably Richmond. You can reach 135 MPH at the end of the straightaways and have to drop down to 110 MPH in the turns to be successful here. It's not that hard to drive here, seeing you are turning almost all the time on this track. Strategy (F): Surprisingly, you will only drive a little faster in the turns using a modified car, so no extra strategy is required. Track Name: Kansas Length: 1.5 Miles-267/200/167 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Banquet 400/Day (Nextel) Mr. Goodcents 300/Day (Busch) O' Reilly Auto Parts 250/Day (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: This track is basically a duplicate of Chicagoland, except it has a much straighter back stretch. You can get up to 185 MPH on the front stretch but only 180 MPH on the back stretch. A 165 MPH cruise through the turns is the way to go as you drive along. Track Name: Las Vegas Length: 1.5 Miles-267/266/200/146 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: UAW-Daimler/Chrysler 400/Day (Nextel) Las Vegas 400/Night (Nextel) Sam's Town 300/Day (Busch) Las Vegas 350/Night (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: This track is a tri-oval, much like Atlanta, Lowe's, Chicagoland, and Kansas. Tri-ovals have this weird pair of quick lefts on the front striaghtaway, which makes the car you're driving tough to handle at times. Anyways, you should reach 180 MPH at the end of the front straightaway before dropping down to 150 MPH; the car can get pretty tight here if you're not careful. Speed up to 175 MPH then down to 150 MPH throughout the rest of the lap. Track Name: Lowe's Length: 1.5 Miles-400/333/90/200/136 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Coca-Cola 600/Night UAW-GM Quality 500/Night (Nextel) NEXTEL All Star Challenge/Night (Nextel) CARQUEST Auto Parts 300/Night (Busch) Little Trees 300/Night (Busch) Infineon 200/Day (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: This track has a sharper tri-oval than Las Vegas, but it is otherwise a replica. Reaching 190 MPH on the straightaways and yielding to 160 MPH on the turns is the way to go here. Be extra careful on the exit of turn 4, as the car can become suddenly tight, causing you to give the wall another layer of paint. Track Name: Martinsville Length: 0.526 Miles-500/250/200/150 Laps Type: Short Track Events/Time: Advance Auto Parts 500/Day (Nextel) Subway 500/Day (Nextel) Martinsville 500/Night (Nextel) Kroger 250/Day (Craftsman Truck) Kroger 200/Day (Craftsman Truck) Appalachian 150/Night (Featherlite) Strategy: This track is a pain to drive around since it has no banking, which creates some very tight turns. You will probably be able to get up to 115 MPH on the straightaways before your tires lock, anticipating a sudden drop to 60 MPH and low second gear. You must qualify well here since the turns are one- laned, and the straightaways aren't long enough to get side by side with someone that often. Strategy (F): A much easier version of Martinsville will show itself driving with open-wheeled cars. The cars will not skid as much going from 120 MPH to 75 MPH in the turns. Track Name: Michigan Length: 2 Miles-200/125/100 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: DHL 400/Day (Nextel) GFS Marketplace 400/Day (Nextel) Cabel's 250/Day (Busch) Line-X Spray-On 200/Day (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: This track is basically a slightly larger version of Atlanta: fast and tight (in the turns). You may reach 200 MPH on the front stretch before slowing down to 175 MPH. Reaching 200 MPH on the back stretch isn't possible unless you have an ideal car setup, so 195 MPH is acceptable. Slowing down a little extra to 170 MPH on the back pair of turns isn't the worst idea, either. Track Name: Milwaukee Length: 1 Mile-400/250/200/150 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Milwaukee 400/Day (Nextel) Alan Kulwicki 250/Day (Busch) Black Cat Fireworks 200/Night (Craftsman Truck) Badger State 150/Day (Featherlite) Strategy: This track is like Indianapolis, except it is 40% the size. It is also a bit more rounded, especially in the turns, where you must slow down to 105 MPH in order to navigate properly. You can probably reach 150 MPH on the straightaways if nothing goes awry beforehand. This track isn't too hard once you get used to slowing down extra on the turns. Strategy (F): With the special cars, you can gently speed up to 140 MPH on the straightaways and glide at 125 MPH during the turns. Track Name: Nazareth Length: 1 Mile-400/200/150 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Nazareth 400/Day (Nextel) Goulds Pumps 200/Day (Busch) Lehigh Valley 150/Day (Featherlite) Strategy: With Pocono missing from this game, EA Sports tried to compensate by using this track instead. It may be harder than a few road courses with its extremely short triangle. After reaching 140 MPH after the start/finish line, you will enter a turn where you must slam on the brakes and quickly decelerate to 110 MPH to avoid hitting that outside wall. Throughout the gentler portion of this track, you can slowly speed up to 125 MPH by the exit. The back straightaway allows you to get back up to 140 MPH before dropping down to 115 MPH on the other turn, which isn't as tight as the first. Qualifying well here is a requirement unless you want to smash into quite a few cars while racing. Strategy (F): The wall problem won't be as bad for the modified cars, but good gripping power is necessary. You should reach 140 MPH during the straightaways and have to slow down to 125 MPH to properly grip the turns. Track Name: New Hampshire Length: 1.058 Miles-300/200/100 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: New England 300/Day (Nextel) Sylvania 300/Day (Nextel) New England 200/Day (Busch) New Hampshire 200/Day (Craftsman Truck) New England 100/Day (Featherlite) New Hampshire 100/Day (Featherlite) Strategy: This track is a larger version of Martinsville, which creates tight turns once again. Speed up to 140 MPH on the straightaways and slow down to 95 MPH entering the turns. This track is a little wider, along with being longer, so passing here turns out to be easier than expected. Strategy (F): Once again, the modified cars will make this track much looser and therefore easier. Speeding up to 145 MPH on the straightaways and slowing down to 115 MPH during the turns does practically nothing to these cars. Track Name: North Carolina Length: 1.017 Miles-393/197/147 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Subway 400/Day (Nextel) Rockingham 400/Night (Nextel) Goody's Headache Powder 200/Day (Busch) Rockingham 150/Night (Featherlite) Strategy: This is the number one tire-eating track, so watch out for being too tight late in a race. Other than that, it's pretty straightforward. Just slow down to 130 MPH in the turns and speed up to 160 MPH on the straightaways. Strategy (F): Speed up to 165 MPH and slow down to 145 MPH while racing with open-wheeled cars. Track Name: Phoenix Length: 1 Mile-312/200/150 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Checker Auto Parts 500/Day (Nextel) Bushas' Supermarket 200/Day (Busch) Chevy Silverado 150/Day (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: This track is extremely narrow and oddly-shaped, making passing quite the challenge. You should reach 150 MPH before braking to 110 MPH in the first pair of turns. You should be going about 145 MPH in the middle of the back stretch when the track turns: an odd third turn in the middle of a stretch! Hug the bottom of the track to avoid hitting the wall, then repeat what you did at the end of the front stretch and in turns one and two for the back pair. Track Name: Richmond Length: 0.75 Miles-400/250/200/150 Laps Type: Short Track Events/Time: Chevy 400/Night (Nextel) Chevy Rock 'N Roll 400/Night (Nextel) Richmond 400/Day (Nextel) Emerson 250/Night (Busch) Funal 250/Night (Busch) NCTS 200/Day (Craftsman Truck) Bell Tower 150/Night (Featherlite) Strategy: Many NASCAR drivers consider this track the best one of them all, in terms of difficulty to drive. The turns are tight but not sharp, and the lanes on the straightaways are wide open, allowing major passing action. Speed up to about 135 MPH during the stretches and halt to about 100 MPH (maybe a little less) during the turns. This is the only track that, in real-life, has more than one race under the lights count towards the Chase for the Cup. Strategy (F): Open-wheeled cars again get a lucky break from an already easy track. Speed up to 140 MPH on the straightaways and slow down to 120 MPH in the turns to successfully complete each lap here. Track Name: Talladega Length: 2.66 Miles-188/117 Laps Type: Superspeedway Events/Time: EA Sports 500/Day (Nextel) Aaron's 499/Day (Nextel) Alabama 500/Night (Nextel) Aaron's 312/Day (Busch) Strategy: This is another track where you can just lean on the gas the entire time thanks to the beauty of restrictor plates. You should end up going about 195 MPH on the back stretch and use about 7000 RPM the whole way. Track Name: Texas Length: 1.5 Miles-334/200/167/233 Laps Type: Speedway Events/Time: Samsung/RadioShack 500/Day (Nextel) O' Reilly 300/Day (Busch) O' Reilly 400K/Day (Craftsman Truck) Silverado 350K/Day (Craftsman Truck) Strategy: This track is a cross between Lowe's and Michigan, having a definite tri-oval during the front straightaway but having very tight turns. You should reach 185 MPH on the straight portions of the track and slow down to about 170 MPH during the turns. A little less brakes should be used on the front pair. Track Name: Watkins Glen Length: 2.454 Miles-90/75/60 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Sirius at the Glen/Day (Nextel) Thunder Road 188/Day (Craftsman Truck) Watkins Glen 150/Day (Featherlite) Strategy: This track isn't as bad as Infineon, but it still shouldn't be used by any new driver right away. This track starts out with a long straightaway where you should reach about 150 MPH before reaching a square right. Slow down to about 70 MPH, but don't worry if you're a little slow on the uptake, as there is a spill-off area to the left before the sand pit. After going straight for a few seconds, gather speed through the gentle right (about 130 MPH) and tap the brakes a little going into a normal left turn. You will then reach the "back" straightaway. About two-thirds of the way through it, you will encounter signs marking 500, 400, 300 etc. yards until the set of tricky turns, as I call it. Slow down to about 95 MPH and maintain that speed through the quick right and equally quick left before entering a long but banked right-hander. Exiting that turn at about 125 MPH, you should gather enough speed to reach 160 MPH on a third straightaway before reaching a hard left. Slow down to about 95 MPH before making your way through the turn. After driving straight for a split second, a harder right will appear, beckoning a further brake to 90 MPH. You will finally reach the straightaway that contains the start/finish line, where pit road begins on the right-hand side. Strategy (F): As seen from above, open-wheeled cars do not need to slow down as much to enter each turn, making road courses like this one much more easy to drive around. You should reach 140 MPH by the end of the start/finish line straightaway and slow down to 85 MPH during turn one. You will glide around the S-curves at about 130 MPH before speeding up to 150 MPH on the back stretch. Drive through the tricky turns at 95 MPH before speeding up to 125 MPH by the end of the banked right turn. Reach 150 MPH again going down the third stretch and slow down to 100 MPH to navigate each of the final two turns. Track Name: Daytona Infield Length: 2.125 Miles-142 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Florida 500K/Day (Nextel) Strategy: This is the first of four tracks that takes an ordinary track and spices it up with some extra turns and hazards, including narrow and tight turns. The start of each lap here is just like the normal Daytona, but after about three seconds, you will see a hard left come up very quickly. Slam the brakes to about 75 MPH in order to avoid hitting the outside wall. Slowly get back your speed as you glide through the next left, which is gentle and banked, at 115 MPH. You will then have to slow down to 90 MPH in order to successfully navigate the next pair of quick turns. Watch out for the sand trap on the grass inside the quick left, as you will easily lose a lot of time should you get yourself stuck. The next left comes up quickly, so halt to 85 MPH in order to avoid the outside sand trap. Follow the track through the following right and glide through the next right, a gentle one, at 100 MPH. The next straightaway, featuring a hill, is your cue that the rounded hairpin is coming up. You will have to take it at 75 MPH in order to avoid hitting the outside wall or lose control and find yourself in the inside sand trap. The last pair of turns, one right and the other left, should be taken at about 95 MPH before re-entering the straightaway that started this lap. Track Name: Devil's Canyon Length: 2 Miles-150 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Tumbleweed 300/Day (Nextel) Strategy: This track boasts a few narrow turns, but it's for the most part easier than Daytona Infield. The start/finish line is in the middle of a LONG straightaway, which tails off to a very banked left-hander. It can be navigated at about 125 MPH. The next turn, a right, looks innocent enough, but it becomes much tighter towards the end, so watch that outside wall. Take this at about 105 MPH. You will then get back up to 120 MPH as you glide through a quick left and a much gentler one. You will then reach a pair of turns, a right and a left, that require you to slow down to about 100 MPH in order to avoid the walls. The cave section of the course begins right after the tight right. The left in the middle of the cave must be taken at 100 MPH again. This turn is followed by a straightaway that curves right to prepare you for the final left, which should be taken at 110 MPH. You will once again try to get your speed up to 155 MPH as you cross the start/finish line and 170 MPH at the end of it. Track Name: Dockside Length: 1.5 Miles-233 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Fisherman's 349/Day (Nextel) Strategy: This track is more or less the same as Devil's Canyon, except it has grass spill-off areas and has sharper turns. Each lap begins with the usual straightaway before rounding off gently to the left. You will then hit a hairpin left that requires you to slow down to 50 MPH in order to avoid driving in the grass. The right that follows is a glider since you'll still be trying to reach your original speed. The next left, which is heavily banked, should be taken at 80 MPH. The "back" straightaway follows, with the track going sharply downhill. Two rounded hairpins complete the track. The first one is a right, which should be taken at 100 MPH. The second one, a left, should make you brake to 80 MPH before coming back to the start/finish line. Track Name: Dodge Raceway Length: 0.375 Miles-400/300/250/150 Laps Type: Short Track Events/Time: Dodge Dealers 400/Day (Nextel) Dodge Motorsports 300/Night (Busch) Dodge Performance 250/Night (Craftsman Truck) Dodge Racing 150/Night (Featherlite) Team Dodge 150/Night (Featherlite) Strategy: This track is like Bristol, except that it is shorter and has little banking. The short straightaways let you get up to 105 MPH, and the turns beckon a speed drop to 80 MPH. Note that the enterance to pit road is right after the exit, on the right in the middle of the back stretch. Strategy (F): Maximize at 115 MPH and slow down to 95 MPH during the turns. Track Name: Levi Strauss Length: 0.5 Miles-400/250/200/150/100 Laps Type: Short Track Events/Time: Signature 400/Day (Nextel) Coyote Run 250/Day (Busch) Treasure Lake 200/Day (Craftsman Truck) Market Street 150/Day (Featherlite) Steel Mill 100/Day (Featherlite) Strategy: This track is just like Pocono, only with banking and much shorter. You will be able to reach 130-135 MPH on the straightaways and have to slow down to 105 MPH during the turns to compete well here. The turns are quite tight, so give the brakes a forceful tap during traffic. Strategy (F): The modified cars will find themselves gliding around this track. Speed up to 130 MPH during the straightaways and slighty slow down to 120 MPH for turns one and three. The turn in the back straightaway doesn't even require a change in speed. Track Name: New York Length: 2 Miles-175 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Rush Hour 350/Night (Nextel) Strategy: The track starts out with a nice straightaway, then banks hard to the right, but there is a spill-off to the left if you aren't careful enough. After an easy left, an easy right, and a long easy right, you should be going almost 150 MPH. After another long straightaway, a slight bend to the left will prepare you for a square right immediately after. Since the auto-brake feature is on for now, all you need to do is get up off the gas and maybe give the brakes a tap until you are down to 105-110 MPH. You will then reach a banked turn after another set of easy turns, which gently leads you right. You should slow down to about 120 MPH before accelerating to the start/finish line for another lap. Track Name: Old Spice Length: 1.5 Miles-333/200/233/133/100/66 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Old Spice 500/Day (Nextel) Ice Shanty 300/Day (Busch) Dairyland 350/Day (Busch) Cheese Wheel 200/Day (Craftsman Truck) Door County 150/Day (Featherlite) Cherry Blossom 100/Day (Featherlite) Strategy: This track is similar to Infineon, except it is shorter. It starts out with a long straightaway before curving off to the left, forcing you to slow down to 100 MPH. A harsher right then occurs, forcing a further speed drop to 80 MPH. You will then drive down a quick straightaway before reaching a rounded hairpin to the left. Negotiate this curve at about 60 MPH. You will then go through a gentle right and a gentle left as you re-gather your speed. The enterance to pit road is on the right after this pair of turns, so watch out. If you aren't pitting, stay left and glide through to the second left- handed hairpin. You should reach 160 MPH before having to brake back down to 60 MPH and turn to complete the lap. You can re-gain your speed down the long straightaway that follows to start your next lap. Strategy (F): The special cars will once again help you out on this course. Speed up to 140 MPH by the end of the start/finish line straightaway, then glide through the following left turn. The square right that comes up next requires a downshift and a slow down to 85 MPH. The next left beckons a further drop to 70 MPH. After that, speed up gradually to 150 MPH before reaching the hairpin. Take this nasty left at 75 MPH to successfully navigate it. Track Name: Phoenix Infield Length: 1.149 Miles-270 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Sandstorm 500K/Day (Nextel) Strategy: This track is not as crazy as some of the other infield courses, as it pretty much follows the normal track path. After the normal straightaway and turn one, the track goes right of the normal path and guides you into a banked left turn, which must be taken at 85 MPH, being so tight in the middle. A quick right follows, which gets you temporarily back on the normal track. Turn three is much sharper on the road course, so slow down to about 45-50 MPH in order to make the almost square turn. Gather speed as you turn right, then slow down to 65 MPH to take the left-hand turn that will allow you to finish each lap. Track Name: Red Ball Length: 0.533 Miles-400/350/200/250/150/100 Laps Type: Short Track Events/Time: Red Ball 400/Night (Nextel) Switch Track 400/Night (Busch) White River 350/Night (Busch) Crossroads 200/Night (Craftsman Truck) Locomotive 250/Night (Craftsman Truck) Railway 150/Night (Featherlite) Hooster 100/Night (Featherlite) Strategy: This track is another re-incarnation of Bristol, which means that you should slow down to 90-95 MPH in the turns and reach 120-125 MPH during the straightaways. Strategy (F): Speed up to 130 MPH on the stretches and slow down to 115 MPH during the turns. Track Name: Speedway Blvd. Length: 3 Miles-133 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Speedway Blvd. 400/Night (Nextel) Strategy: This track is certainly the roughest, causing your controller to vibrate more often here than anywhere else. The lap begins with a straightaway that is much shorter than usual, and it sharply curves right, forcing a speed drop to 100 MPH. A quick left soon follows, causing a 90 MPH glide in this section. You will then drive down a long straightaway, the second half of which is very narrow. The quick right comes up in a hurry, so brake to 90 MPH as soon as you see the arrows. After driving through the dirt portion, you won't have to slow down for a while, not until the hard left about ten seconds after the new asphalt section begins. You will have to have a minimum speed of 90 MPH once again in order to prevail. The quick pair of turns that follows are just boosters to get back up to speed. The next pair of turns, which are on a brick- like substance, should be taken at 95 MPH. A pair of left turns should have your car bottoming out at 90 MPH for the fourth time this lap. A gliding right at 105 MPH will bring you back to the start/finish line straightaway. Track Name: Talladega Infield Length: 2.163 Miles-143 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Dixieland 500K/Night (Nextel) Strategy: This track has gotten much more simple than before for those of you who played the NASCAR Thunder games. The straightaway that comes with the start/finish line is the same as the most of the front stretch on the actual track. The track then cuts hard to the left, so slowing down to 75 MPH is a good idea. You will then drive through a section where trailers are lined to the sides before rejoining the original track for a brief moment. Glide at about 115 MPH when re-entering the normal course. You will then turn left, continuing to gain speed in the process. A gentle trio of turns then follows: right, left, and right, in that order, which is in the section of the track I call the pure road course region. It contains grass on either side of the track, turns right (you've only done lefts until now), and has nifty lights surrounding the region. Anyways, after the tranquil trio, slow down to 115 MPH to make the left that is banked and very rounded. A right will then show up; halt to 110 MPH in order to make it. You will then reach a left that will put you back on the front, normal stretch, where you can pick up speed again until turn one of the next lap. Track Name: Texas Infield Length: 1.374 Miles-226 Laps Type: Road Course Events/Time: Texas 500K/Day (Nextel) Strategy: This track is half the same as the usual track, except you're going the "wrong way," having many more right turns than left turns. After the start/finish line, the usual slow down to 160 MPH grants you into turns one and two. About halfway down the normal back stretch, a very sharp right will come upon you, so you need to slow down to about 65 MPH in order to avoid the wall. The left that follows should be taken at about 70 MPH. A gentle right will allow you to pick up speed. You will then glide at about 105 MPH to turn another right in order to join the original track. Stay low during this part, as you will hit the wall if you follow the track's "advice." With approximately 60% of this track the same as the original Texas, this is easiest infield road course you will encounter in this game. {10. XBOX LIVE} [10.01] Overview New to this year's game is the online mode. Now, you can finally race against your friends across the country and see just how effective of a racer you are. To be honest, I have never done any kind of video gaming online, so I will have to rely on the instruction manual to this game in order to have any kind of clue how to write this chapter. I hope you enjoy it! [10.02] Racing Options You have three ways to get your online racing started: quick match, optimatch, and online lobby. In quick match, you will be thrown right into a race against players that have selected identical difficulty settings. In optimatch, you can first select what series, track, or race length you would like to have before checking who has the same difficulty settings as you. The online lobby will let you gaze at the waiting rooms, allowing you to choose an optimal player to race against. [10.03] Racing Menus On the home screen, you can decide to view three other menus: leaderboard, my career, and my NASCAR. The leaderboards allow you to see who are the elite in racing, allowing you to judge yourself against them. My career will let you see how you are performing as a online racer. Finally, my NASCAR will let you view the goals you've reached and more. [10.04] Holding Room This screen lets you round up your competitors before you go out onto the track. To chat with another player, press the White button and use the online keyboard to type in your message. [10.05] Cheating Prevention Everyone knows that cheating is unethical and unrewarding to video gaming. EA Sports tries their best to avoid online cheating by ranking all races, counting disconnected races as losses, and penalizing users for delaying races. If you are going to be a successful online gamer, be sure to avoid the above scenarios. [10.06] EA Sports Messenger This tool lets you chat with and maintain track of your online buddies. Press the Y button to open the messenger and Y again to search for someone. To add a friend to the list, select the name and press A. Once the friend request is accepted, the name will be added to your contact list. You can flag multiple users for a group chat by highlighting them and pressing right on the D-pad. You can also block a user from contacting you or leave feedback for another player, positive or negative. Keep in mind, however, that you will be held accountable for your actions. [10.07] EA Sports Ticker and Medallion The EA Sports Ticker at the bottom of the screen will let you view the results of real races and other sports competitions. It will also show new EA Sports messages, so keep your eyes peeled for those. The medallion located to the left of the ticker shows your connection status. As long as it's green, you have a suitable connection. If it turns red, it means you have disconnected. The screen will turn gray, and you will have to sign in again using the B button. {11. FINAL WORDS AND CREDITS} Thanks go to EA Sports, Tiburon, and Microsoft for making yet another great sequel in the ever-expanding NASCAR series. All of the "description" portions throughout a few sections were taken directly from the game. The instruction manual also helped out as a launching pad for this guide. kash04, imjorman040991, and Curtis Blake also helped a lot in making this document a lot easier to write. Kudos also go to GameFAQ's, the best online gaming reference site in the world. You, the reader, should also be commended for your time and effort spent reading and following this guide. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2005 by Kevin Hufnagle (MikeNinja77). END DOCUMENT