The National series (aka "Busch series") as well as the truck series return this year as well, so there are plenty of different cars to drive on the game's 22 tracks--each of which has gotten a makeover. The greatest change is at the Las Vegas track, where there are new banked turns, but each course has more detail and is more accurate than ever. There's also a new day-to-night transition, and during some races the sun will set, blinding drivers in certain turns and casting shadows over the track in others. If the sun doesn't get you, the improved smoke and dirt effects will do their best to obscure your vision, which makes accidents even more difficult to avoid. Actually, not all smoke is bad. Thanks to new postrace celebrations you can burn rubber to your heart's content to celebrate a victory.
If you do happen to swap some paint you'll notice new and improved damage modeling, and you can really get a closer look at the damage with the game's new, more dynamic replays, which EA hopes will be yet another way to better capture the excitement of NASCAR. We wrecked a few times (on purpose, of course) and were able to witness our car flip, spin, and basically fall apart from a number of cool camera angles. Wrecking a lot also gave us the opportunity to get yelled at by Jimmy Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus, who recorded new dialogue for the game.
Running individual races with 43 cars on the track (and 16 human opponents online) is fun, but what about depth? Don't worry, NASCAR 08 has you covered with "The Chase." Rather than placing you on the lowest rung of the racing ladder and making you slowly work your way up, the chase gives you the opportunity to join the NASCAR circuit much quicker, while still giving newcomers the experience they need to be competitive on the track. You'll start by participating in a series of license tests where you'll learn about drafting, bump drafting, slingshot passing, apex turns, and more. In one challenge we had to draft three cars, another had us pass five vehicles, and we saw another that focused on getting in and out of pit row as quickly as possible. As you gain licenses you'll earn a contract and get to take over someone's ride and hopefully finish in the top 12 so that you can race for the cup.
The license tests aren't the only new feature to help new players learn the game. The Vehicle Telemetry Visor (VTV) is a HUD similar to a fighter pilot's. You can toggle the VTV overlay on and see the draft effect of the car in front of you, monitor tire wear, fuel and oil pressure, speed, position, lap time, and more. There's also a circular display in the center of the screen that helps you see the banking of the track. It was a bit difficult to gather all of the information available to you while racing and the center part of the HUD was a bit distracting, but the information presented was certainly valuable. If you're not happy with your car's performance on the track, you can take advantage of the game's 40 different tuning options. You can change springs, shocks, gear ratios, and air pressure, move weight around, and more. If you're having trouble finding a good setting, or you have one that you think is great, the game will let you share settings with other users online.