Wouldn't even have been acceptable as NASCAR 2010, thought it would be more accurate
But how can you have a NASCAR game with not only an incomplete Sprint Cup series roster, but an incorrect roster at that? Kurt Busch is still in the blue deuce, only with Penske on the hood instead of Miller (understandable given recent alcohol and tobacco advertising laws). Greg Biffle has been replaced in this game entirely with Trevor Bayne, whose name only a handful of people had ever even heard before this year's Daytona 500. On top of that, throughout the field you have Nationwide series drivers (and their cars, numbers, and sponsors). Even the schedule is inaccurate.
These failings alone are enough to red flag any die hard NASCAR fan from running off to purchase it at full price. But wait, there's more!
Despite the over-the-top pile-up shown in a pre-rendered video to introduce the game on start-up, the wrecks in the game are incredibly weak. Even with the damage settings at full, car damage is so ridiculously nerfed. You can run headlong into the driver's side of another car at full speed and continue on without any impact on the car's handling, aerodynamics, or mechanics. The sheet metal LOOKS fairly mangled, but not nearly as much as any casual NASCAR watcher can tell you it should be. Caution flags almost never wave when the player is involved in a wreck. But in the rare event that the 31st place car spins out, the game throws the yellow without a second thought.
Pitting is a nightmare. The game displays a speed limit indicator at the last possible moment, making it nearly impossible to pit without penalty. Herein lies another rules inconsistency. In real life, the penalty for speeding is imposed AFTER you make your pit stop. In this game, the pass-through penalty is imposed immediately. So if you pit for gas at the last possible second and get caught speeding on pit road, you don't fill up and pass through on the next lap; you skip your pit altogether and run out of gas before you can make it back to the pit at all.
The racing itself is acceptable at best. AI difficulty can be adjusted, but not in the tight intervals needed. Medium renders the AI cars too slow to keep up, but Hard will leave you 3 laps down in a 4 lap race. You have the option of adjusting setups in practice mode, and even saving them for later application. By default you have simplified setup system, adjusting for more overall speed vs acceleration, tightening or loosening the car altogether. But there's also a deeper setup option, giving you access to individual tire pressure, suspension settings, and gear tuning. The deeper setting will allow you to free up the car going into or coming out of the corners independently (a better solution than simply looser or tighter overall), which is a necessity when using the controller to brake into the turns. Fortunately, the car's feel does respond to these changes.
Car customization is similar to GRID. You can paint the various areas of the car, then apply shapes and graphics just about anywhere. But car numbers and sponsor decals have to be manually applied here. Sponsorships have to be earned by completing a list of demands from each sponsor, but even once unlocked, the decals are not applied to the car. Furthermore, you cannot pre-made car designs. So if you like the default paint scheme, you cannot add Sunoco across your hood, or any other sponsor for that matter.
Overall, if you need a circuit racing game and you like NASCAR, rent this game. Hopefully they will release an update to adjust the points system, roster, and schedule. Even if they don't, you'll only be able to look past its flaws for so long. After awhile you'll realize there's nothing new in this game over the last NASCAR entry before it. In fact, there's even less.