NASCAR 09 was the last EA Sports NASCAR simulation video game. It was not necessarily well-known for its single player offering, but its multiplayer is looked back on fondly by many NASCAR gaming YouTubers. RealRadman looks back on this game quite fondly for what it did online. However, the single player was not great, and EA soon dropped NASCAR.
There is no official cover art for this game, as this was EA Sports’ first NASCAR arcade specific game. You can still find it in some arcades to this day. It was the first new NASCAR Arcade game since NASCAR Arcade by Sega in 2000, so it has an interesting novelty factor.
NASCAR 08 was the first game on the seventh generation of consoles, but it was not received well. The Car of Tomorrow was featured, but none of the manufacturer licenses were obtained for it. Therefore, every COT car in the game is just a generic COT. The game was actually received better on the previous generation of consoles oddly enough.
This was the last NASCAR video game to be released exclusively on the sixth generation of consoles. The North American cover athlete was also an interesting choice in Elliott Sadler. The game did not garner too many notable new features following NASCAR 06. However, the move to the next generation of consoles was highly anticipated.
NASCAR 06: Total Team Control retained a lot of features from its predecessor, NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup, but NASCAR 06 did include something new. The “Total Team Control” feature allowed drivers to work with their teammates.
The feature was highlighted on the player’s HUD with there being a D-pad looking thing in the bottom corner. There, the player could ask teammates to share draft, block or even swap cars. This was highlighted in the intro of the game where a player switches from a crashed Jimmie Johnson car to Jeff Gordon to win at Daytona.
The game also looked a bit different graphically and brand-wise with cover art. The Total Team Control aspect was interesting to players, but the game did not gain too many new features aside from that.
Unfortunately, that trend of video games, at least from a single player standpoint, continued with the following entries. However, NASCAR 06 was still well received, and it has had its following to this day.
With Papyrus now unable to create NASCAR simulations on PC, EA tried its hand at making one with NASCAR SimRacing. The game was received well, but it was the only one that EA ever made. It became the final licensed NASCAR game to be released on PC for almost a decade.
Those who feared that EA was going to start downgrading its NASCAR games because of the company’s exclusive license had their fears mitigated by this game. NASCAR Thunder 2004 was obviously a tough video game to follow, but EA did a good job.
They took a page from the NASCAR Dirt to Daytona book, and EA included the NASCAR feeder system with one major difference. In place of the dirt stock cars, they would feature the NASCAR Xfinity Series, branded as the NASCAR National Series in the game. It still featured licensed drivers from the series though.
The career mode was revamped as well. There was still the option to be the owner of a team, but the mode was rebranded as “Fight to the Top.” It focused instead on a player working their way up through the NASCAR feeder system.
It did not have as many original ideas as previous games, but EA made good use of them. From here on out, it was only EA that was allowed to make NASCAR video games.
For many, this was the greatest NASCAR video game of all time. While NR 2003 is a huge game in its own right, the console entry of NASCAR Thunder 2004 reached a much wider audience when it was released.
The game features more improved features, including a deepened career mode featuring a new “Rivals” system and Lightning Challenges. There is also an incredible amount of Thunder Plates that can be earned throughout the game to get a slew of special paint schemes, fantasy tracks and drivers.
However, the biggest thing this game added was online play. It was the first NASCAR console video game to have an online capability. Sure, online gaming was still relatively new in those days, but this was the first game to include it.
It’s the highest rated EA Sports NASCAR console video game on Metacritic, and it is easy to see why. However, this would be the beginning of the end of this “Golden Age” of NASCAR gaming as EA Sports took the NASCAR license exclusively following the release of the 2003 NASCAR games. With that being said, the follow-up would still turn a lot of heads.
Rarely is a game able to stand the test of time quite like NASCAR Racing 2003 Season. Part of it is being the final licensed NASCAR PC game released by Papyrus, but the other part of it is simply how great of a game it is.
It hits all of the points that a NASCAR simulation should, and it does incredibly well. Unsurprisingly, it is the highest rated NASCAR video game on Metacritic.
However, the game’s life has been extended not necessarily because of its value then, but because of how easily moddable it is. To this day, the modding community on NASCAR Racing 2003 is second to none. Tracks, drivers and cars from any era in NASCAR post-2003 can be found somewhere.
Lots of great NASCAR content has been derived from this game, including TNTMan93’s “Idiots of NR 2003” Series on YouTube. The game is still being played, modded and used to this very day in spite of the game being 20 years old!
The NASCAR Heat games were the second tier of NASCAR console games for the most part, but NASCAR Dirt to Daytona perfected something that NASCAR Racing 1999 Season tried to implement, but could not do properly. NASCAR Dirt to Daytona was the first NASCAR console game to include the NASCAR feeder system.
As opposed to the EA Sports Career Mode, which just included controlling a Cup Series team, NASCAR Dirt to Daytona allowed the player to work their way up through the feeder system. First starting in dirt stock cars, then working their way up into the modifieds.
From there, the player worked their way up to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series before finally making it all the way up to the Cup Series. The game does have some strange omissions, particularly not having all licensed NASCAR tracks.
Regardless, this is a game that is still beloved by many. Primarily because it implemented a feature that had never been done on a console game before. For many, this was the first time that they were able to work their way up through the NASCAR feeder system, and it gave people a good reason to buy this game over the EA Sports NASCAR games.
The release of this game kick started potentially the greatest run of NASCAR gaming ever seen. Following this game, Papyrus and EA Sports made arguably their best NASCAR video games.
