What's Next, Todd Bodine in a Subaru STI?

Early on in the latest EA NASCAR game, NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup, you find yourself locked in a street race with NASCAR star Ryan Newman. Burning through the city course in your Dodge Viper, this is your first introduction to the latest game in a sport series that has been traditionally known as the "left turn only circuit." While this design choice is certainly an exciting way to begin the game, getting you into the action immediately, it set me thinking about the interesting precedent this sets for the series.

After all, this isn't the Need for Speed: Underground series we're talking about; this is NASCAR, where the drivers are more twang than slang, and the cars are more steel sleds than nimble nitro-fuelers. Might this trend continue in next year's version of the NASCAR series? Could we see the likes of Joe Nemechek and Mark Martin throwing up gang signs and spitting smacktalk before lining up for the videogame version of next year's Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500? The possibilities are frightening.

What's your take? Do you like this new direction for the NASCAR series or do you think EA is doing a disservice to the great NASCAR tradition the sport has built over the years?