EA SPORTS™ made sure to go the extra mile with NASCAR® 2005: Chase for the Cup™. In addition to all the improvements they made to the game’s look and feel, they also included an amazing amount of depth. The really big news for racing diehards is the fact that Chase for the Cup is the first game to incorporate NASCAR’s new scoring system, but EA went on to include over a half-dozen different modes to test your skills as a driver and owner, with a handful of special races and historical scenarios to keep your eyes glued to the road.
The chase is on!
Fight to the Top Fight to the Top is the game's career/story mode which casts the player as an up-and-coming driver. After you impress Ryan Newman in an impromptu street race, you are given the chance to compete in real NASCAR events like the Featherlite Modified Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on your way up to the all-important NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. As you win races and progress through the game, you’ll build up skill points, cash, and prestige (as either a hero or villain) that will affect how sponsors, fans, and other racers treat you on and off the track. Once you’ve made your mark, you can choose to continue as a driver, become a driver/owner who manages the men and machines on an entire racing team, or combine both elements (though this takes careful contract management, since you can't play both roles in the same series of races). As a driver, you can improve your skills and win races, but as the driver/owner you can manage your team to make the big bucks as well as achieve victory and glory. The owner/driver also has to manage the media and contract negotiations, but both drivers and owner/drivers have to deal with the enemies and allies made during each race—AI drivers will help or hinder you throughout the season based on how you treat them on the track.
Chase for the Cup An offshoot of Fight to the Top, Chase for the Cup mode lets you make the same driver and driver/owner decisions, but only for the intense final 10 races of the season. You can take part in the Chase as a normal course of events during your Fight to the Top, or you can play the Chase as its own separate challenge. When you do this, each driver is separated by five NASCAR points with ten races left to go. It’s your job as the driver or driver/owner to see that your car and your team earn the championship cup.
Drive like lightning.
Lightning Challenge If you don’t feel like Fight to the Top or Chase for the Cup hold enough drama for you, you can always take on one of the Lightning Challenges. Each of these races recreates a real historical situation from NASCAR’s colorful past, and puts you in charge of rewriting history. Sometimes you’ll have to win a race by holding off Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, or Bobby Labonte without the historically accurate benefit of a yellow flag or Labonte’s empty gas tank. Each Lightning Challenge is unique, with careful instructions that lay out the scenario and how you are supposed to achieve it. Each also pays off with Skill Points that you can use to unlock new cars, tracks, and other goodies.
Dodge Speedzone Novices and veterans alike will appreciate the Dodge Speedzone, a series of skill challenges that players must master. The preset challenges can, for example, require you to pass a certain number of cars within the time limit without taking too much vehicle damage or falling below a certain speed. Other challenges include blocking tests, drafting tests, and time trials.
Welcome to the Speedzone.
NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup also supports multiplayer races (two-player splitscreen and four-player online via Xbox Live®) and lets you participate in any of the NASCAR series directly from the main menu. With this much action, this is one chase that will be on for quite some time.
