WoMR Pt4 - NASCAR

THIS GAME IS SUPPLIED & DESPATCHED BY LAMBOURNE GAMES AND IS NOT AVAILABLE AS PDF

An exciting addition to the series and a stand-alone module which does NOT require Part 1 to play.

NASCAR in its ultimate form is about a 32-race series held in the USA - mainly on Ovals varying in length from just under 0.5 mile to 2.5 miles, but with 3 regular circuits thrown in for good measure. Distances range from 300 to 600 miles, and races go by weird and wonderful names such as the Jiffy Lube 300 and The Bud at the Glen.

But imagine the closeness of the British Touring Car Championships (Part 3) expanded from the 30 or 40 laps of that championship to the 160 laps of the Brickyard at Indianapolis, or the 500 laps of the smaller Ovals, with wheel-to-wheel racing most of the way! Small wonder that we have had pressure from fans to produce a simulation of the sport. Well now you can get your hands on it!

The close racing is achieved mainly by technical regulations which ensure very closely matched machinery. Only three 'marques' contest the Winston Cup - Ford, Pontiac, and Chevrolet. And the Yellow Light 'caution' system stops the actual racing whenever there is oil or debris on the track, so enabling the field to form up in an echelon behind the pace car and at a stroke reducing the leader's advantage from anything up to almost a lap - and likewise back through the field.

This in itself means that for most of the race the leading cars are not only on the same lap but are probably well within sight of each other - and often a lot closer than that!

With fuel tanks large enough only for 90-100 miles of racing refuelling and tyre changes occur four or five times in a race, further complicated by the ability to pit 'under the Yellow' if you get lucky, probably getting back out on the track at the back of the echelon without losing a lap.

And with points awarded to every driver who leads at least one lap - with double points for the driver who leads most laps - the scene is set for exciting motor sport!

The simulation does not use the original Track Display published with Part 1 of World of Motor Racing so in that sense it is a stand-alone module. Instead you 'build' the track by a series of Race Cards - not in the shape of the circuit, but more to reflect the nature of the racing at a particular venue.

For example, at small Ovals of 800+ yards in length there isn't a lot of spare space - and drafting (slip-streaming) is the name of the game. The Race Cards reflect this and the game design, whilst still based on the Incident Car principle used in the other parts, reflects the frantic overtaking along the straightaways (and even around the curves!) by one, two, or even more 'express trains' of drafting cars. By contrast the twists and turns of Watkins Glen give little scope for drafting and the Race Set for that track hopefully recreates that situation also.

NASCAR comes complete with the 1997 season and 36 plastic moulded cars in six colours with stick-on numbers - and capable of considerable enhancement and personalisation via your paint pot! So visually the game is quite spectacular.

You have the option of a full race distance simulation in terms of laps with Turns comprising 1 to 15 laps, or a quicker version for those of you not too bothered about such matters.

In both cases you are promised exciting and accurate racing.