NASCARRacers is an animated television series by Saban Entertainment which features two rival NASCAR racing teams, Team Fastex and Team Rexcor, competing against each other in the futuristic NASCAR Unlimited Division. The series ran from 1999 to 2001 on Fox Kids.[2] Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, which also includes Saban Entertainment.[3][4][5]
While real life NASCAR tracks are mainly ovals, NASCAR Racers is anything but. The racers compete on a wide variety of courses, including road course, off-road, mountain, and Motorsphere. The Motorsphere track starts with a typical race track leading into a sphere, then tracks are wrapped around the inner surface of the sphere.
The NASCAR Unlimited Division features cutting edge, over-the-top technologies (from the show's point of view). To protect drivers from crashes, each race car has an inner Rescue Racer that ejects from the outer body if an accident happens. XPT racers, introduced in season 2, are the new race cars for Team Fastex. XPT racers use atomic fuel run by forced-combustion systems. Nitro Racers contain high-flux fusion units that can get maximum power out of atomic fuel.
Before Saban Entertainment was acquired by Disney on July 23, 2001 and the sale was finally completed on October 24, 2001, the group had already designed new concepts and storylines for a season 3 which were never put into motion due to an uncertain future with the group, mostly because Saban's sale required full attention.
A video game called NASCAR Racers was published in 2000 for Microsoft Windows[7] and Game Boy Color by Hasbro and developed by Software Creations (PC) and Digital Eclipse (GBC). A PlayStation version was planned but cancelled before release.
Before I begin reviewing Sierra's NASCAR 2, allow me to make one crucial point: NASCAR 2 is not a toy. I thought I was fairly adept at your average brake-accelerate PC racer, but NASCAR draws a thin line between exhilarating action-racing and strategic planning. This is a game where every track must be considered individually when tweaking the design of your car, where you need to know where and when to pit, all while staying aware of your competition's position on the road. After a few hours of roaring around the oval, taking cues from your spotter through a headset (let's assume you're wearing headphones during your game) it becomes startlingly clear: NASCAR 2 is so realistic, it's scary.
First of all, NASCAR 2's graphics are top-notch. Sierra has improved on the frame rate of the first game, making for fluid car animation, and realistic body damage. Simply put, this is as close as most of us are going to come to participating in an actual televised race. As an added bonus, Sierra has included a paintshop-style program where you're given the opportunity to customize the artwork of any car on the track. Slap your dog's name on the hood, a smiley face on the bumper. The association doesn't care: In NASCAR 2 the car is your canvas.
I don't mean this wholly in an artistic sense. Half the fun of NASCAR 2 is making the ever-so-slight adjustments to your vehicle's tire pressure, foil height, camber, and gear ratios to achieve optimal performance for a particular track. Experienced racers - whether they're the real McCoy or just veteran desktop competitors - will know what all these arcane terms mean from the start. However, before hitting the first NASCAR track, most of us are going to need an quick learner's course. An easy to understand which-element-on-your-car-affects-what diagram made it all clear, and in no time at all I began to experiment until I felt I had a firm grasp on exactly what I could tweak to make my V-8 the finest machine on the track.
The AI in the game is pretty incredible. When you accidentally blindside another vehicle (or even on purpose, if you don't believe in good sportsmanship), the other cars realistically slow down or cautiously slide out to avoid a collision. It's funny, but although NASCAR 2 doesn't purport itself as being the kind of body-casualty ride that Psygnosis' Destruction Derby 2 is (with its incredibly realistic incremental car damage - fenders mashing in, hoods flying off, wheels tearing from their axles, bouncing down the track, requiring a tow into the pit-stop), it certainly rivals that game damage-wise. . If you collide with another vehicle because you performed an action contradictory to your spotter's directions, he'll remind you of your ineptitude with a reprimanding "What kind of bone-headed move was that!" And at that point, you're probably so absorbed in the race that you'll want to go back and apologize to him personally.
That's the kind of complete immersion NASCAR 2 offers. It's a completely professional game, both in its execution and in its dedication to the NASCAR tradition. In fact, it's so that Sierra and NASCAR have teamed up to bring the game to TEN (the online Total Entertainment Network) to allow players to compete and achieve "official" NASCAR standings in an Internet roster. Now how cool is that? People who played and worshipped the original NASCAR already own this game. I'm writing this review largely for gamers out there who are intimidated by realistic sims. Games like Grand Prix 2 and now NASCAR 2 have converted me: I can now rest my rocket-launcher temporarily to carry on some in-depth racing.
The Anheuser-Busch brand has committed to spending $10 million over the next three years to elevate women in NASCAR with the Busch Light Accelerate Her program. The objective is provide more funding, track time, media exposure and training to prospective female NASCAR racers aged 21 or older.
Seven female drivers will receive the inaugural sponsorship through the Busch Light Accelerate Her Program: Cobb, Toni Breidinger, Natalie Decker, Amber Balcaen, Brittney Zamora, Stephanie Moyer and Melissa Fifield.
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