I grew up in a fairly conservative town. Pretty small, more often than not people tended to know each other. Not altogether unlike a small Southern town, deep in the heart of NASCAR country. Except it's a lot colder in Canada. Regardless, I feel like I can appreciate the kind of audience that NASCAR Thunder 2002 is speaking to. Gentle, redneck, turn-left-a-lot kind of folk. While I don't have the red neck, I do like what EA has done with this game.

Last year, EA's NASCAR game was made to look a little, well, lacking compared to the mighty NASCAR Heat from Infogrames. To their credit, EA took up the challenge and have made NASCAR Thunder 2002 one of the best NASCAR games I've ever played. With a full 43-car field displayed, the atmosphere of NASCAR racing is front and centre, drawing you in from the get go. With "Sweet Home Alabama" playing as the game's theme/soundtrack (memo to all Southern bands: never, EVER diss Neil Young), I hopped into the options looking for a race. There are a myriad amount of options available - jump into a quick race, start a complete career from rookie to champion, race multiple seasons - they've even included each of the 23 NASCAR tracks and 50 of the top drivers. Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., among others, are all accounted for. The create-a-car option is the coolest thing going, with tons of different paint options to choose from. You can even change the style of your number on the car, and tweak everything to your heart's desire. Sponsors? You can choose primary, secondary, associate AND contingency sponsors. You've got to admire a sport that takes selling out to the next level, and NASCAR Thunder 2002 has that covered.

Now, let's talk about the in-game graphics. The aforementioned full 43-car grid can't be described, you have to see it in action to realize what an impressive job EA Sports has done. The cars are exceptionally detailed, with full advertising and a smooth, high frame rate. Now granted, once you're actually driving in the game the engine only has to display the cars that you can see, freeing up memory for other things, during the replays with all of the different cars whipping around the frame rate still stays smooth and the detail doesn't slip. The venues themselves are nice enough, considering the source material, but still spartan - you have your crowds, your grey walls, your grass, sky and the pit crew once in a while. That said, this is still a very good looking game. Not Gran Turismo 3 quality, of course, but much improved over previous efforts in this arena. After swapping paint, the damage textures look great, totally realistic with the accompanying dents and scrapes on the sides. Beautiful.

NASCAR Thunder 2002's gameplay is an acquired taste - either you like NASCAR or you hate it. There are no in-betweens. Thankfully, since all the NASCAR tracks are modeled, you have more than the usual 'turn left and step on it' oval tracks that have become the hallmark for this sport. The difficulty of the game is well-tuned, and you're forced to pay close attention, even in Rookie mode. Drafting behind cars is available as a strategy, and I suggest you turn on your rear-view mirror immediately - you'll need it to keep the boys from cutting in on you. In a full season, you can play with up to 4 different users, with all of the standings, statistics and awards you need to be aware of. EA's NASCAR series have modeled the car setup portion of the sport well over the years, and this year is no different. Manipulating the rear spoiler, gear ratio and increasing/decreasing wedge. tire pressure and transmission...there's a lot covered and it all makes a difference. Again, not managed nearly as ultra-detailed as GT 3, but well done in its own right.

The game's audio isn't bad - the engine sounds are loud and throaty, if not that varied. The announcer for each of the races is somewhat quiet, but the running commentary from your pit team is great. They're constantly calling encouragement, notifying you of any problems you may have with the car, chiding you when warranted - if the samples were a little more varied, I'd have given the game a higher score. As for the music...well, I got sick and tired of "Sweet Home Alabama" real quick, let me tell you.

On the PS One note, you get 30 drivers instead of the 50 (what? doesn't the licensing carry over across platforms?) and not all of the cars are modeled onscreen at the same time. The graphics are good for the original PlayStation, but the audio came across as somewhat tinny. Other than that, the game is nearly the same on PSOne as on PS2.

As it stands, NASCAR Thunder 2002 is on the top of the heap for stock-car racing games. It'll be interesting to see how NASCAR Heat 2002 from Infogrames stacks up against it. Again, if NASCAR racing is not in your interest, this isn't the racing game for you. For those of you who do, you need to check out this game.

One last mention: the #3 tribute to Dale Earnhardt, Sr. immediately upon loading is a classy touch indeed.