Honestly, the most I have seen of NASCAR were some bumper stickers on the back of some trucks, and the assorted mullet clad, Wal-Mart shopper, sporting a mighty fine Jeff Gordon t-shirt. Stereotypes aside, I had a chance to sink my teeth into the fast-paced world of NASCAR 2006: Total Team Control.

Graphically, this racer doesn’t hold up too well with the competition. Not to say there aren’t some nice touches like lots of cars onscreen, a steady framerate and special effects, but the overall look is dated and overly pixilated. Even the cut scenes are rudimentary at best. The feeling of speed is pretty good though, always an important factor in racing games. Also worthy of note is the cool sun glare effect dancing off the hoods and windows, as well as the neat changes in time, from dusk and beyond. Not being a diehard NASCAR fan, I would assume EA modeled all the tracks and areas down to the last detail. The cars, at the very least, support this theory - they are highly detailed, but a tad blurry.

It picks up the pace a bit in the sound department, however. The steady engine humming really builds to a cacophony as you battle around the turns, with each class of car recreated here to boot. Effects are your usual squealing, grinding, crashing menagerie of chaos. Add to this the pit crew chatter, and you have a rich and solid audio experience. Oddly though, there are no TV style announcers, and this coming from the guys who give us Madden year in and year out.

NASCAR 2006: Total Team Control features a ton of goodies, for even the most basic racing fan to drool about. Some of the latest features this year include the car switching, an interactive crew chief, a beefed up Fight to the Top career mode, a microphone communication system and more. Add to this 60 drivers, 42 tracks (22 Nextel, 13 fantasy, 2 Busch) and so on.

The thing you probably all want to know about is this Total Team Control deal, right? Well, lemme break it down for you all. You can hop around and are able to coordinate with the rest of your cars in efforts to gain ground, slide behind someone’s draft, box someone out, etc. This opens up a lot of room to get into deeper strategy, rather than just concentrating on finishing in one piece. You now have to contend with your team and supporting them as such. Interestingly enough, you can’t just hop into anyone’s car at any moment to “steal” the glory so to speak. You have to watch who you bump into out there, or they may not be so inclined for you to hitch a ride for a celebratory champagne shower. You can also bust out the mic, and start shouting some directions, which surprisingly I have heard is glitch free, aside from the occasional mistaken curse word. It’s actually pretty hilarious if you do have a genuine foul mouth, as you can get deducted points and everything.

There is also a Season Mode and Chase for the Cup, both offering lots of reply value, but the real kicker is the Fight to the Top. It’s basically like the franchise mode for the football/basketball games out there, you can check stats, offers, sign contracts, run your own team, garner prestige, and work with folks like Craftsman, Nextel, NNS and Whelen as you live your NASCAR dreams.

It’s pretty incredible to me how long these races are most of the time…like 300 laps for a standard race. Which can take a long time on the ‘ol PS2. Thankfully, you can adjust the number of laps for a quick dash to the finish line, before school or work.

You will need all your strength and wits about you, as the A.I. is pretty cagey. Cars will ram, nudge, poke, jostle and generally harass you into giving up your position. All the while you have to look out for your rear guard car, switch to your leader, watch out for cars you're lapping, and then make the odd pit stop or two. There are a few blemishes though. Sometimes your A.I. buddies will turn on you if you randomly bump them, which can hurt your prestige, as well as your crucial positioning.

EA Tiburon was kind enough to include a few levels of difficulty, as well as several options to make it more or less realistic. I personally opted for a decent mix of arcade realism… or “realcade” if you will. Most gamers who have played a racing game, be it Gran Turismo, Burnout or the plethora of other quality titles, should acclimate just fine.

NASCAR 2006: Total Team Control offers up ample amount of views, so don’t think you will have to stare at gloved hands (or hairy knuckles…) the whole game. You will get pretty comfy with your analog sticks here, and thankfully they are snappy and responsive. I really wished I still had my steering wheel and pedals… man I used to tear it up in DieHard Trilogy for the first Playstation… that Ice Cream truck could sure pull some sick cookies.

Electronic Arts is a freaking machine. It just keeps pumping out hit after hit from their monster library of sports titles. Frankly, I don’t see why they don’t get more anti-trust flack, considering this was the year they bought up all ESPN rights (bye bye $20 SEGA games), as well as snatching up an exclusive deal with the NFL, worth billions of dollars.

Thankfully, none of these corporate dealings really effect the solid gameplay found in NASCAR 06. Considering the excellent Total Team Control, the solid controls, and the plethora of racing options, diehard NASCAR fans should definitely take this sucker for a spin.