Fantasy drivers
 Enter "Extra" as a first name and "Drivers" as a last name under 
 the "Create-A-Car" option.  
 
 
 Race as Dale Earnhardt
 Enter "Dale" as a first name and "Earnhardt" as a last name under 
 the "Create-A-Car" option.  
 
 
 Tiburon Speedway track
 Use a memory card with a saved file from an EA Sports 2003 game.
 
 
 Thunder Plates
 Select the Thunder Challenge or Lightning Challenge at the game 
 mode screen. Complete the various challenges to get new Thunder 
 Plates. Note: The Plates are awarded randomly from game to game 
 -- winning a certain track with a particular driver will not unlock 
 the same Plate between games.
 

 Unlock Cars
 To unlock a paint scheme for a specific driver, win a race under
 Veteran or Legend mode.


 Unlock Dale Jr.'s Oreo and Nilla schemes
 Beat the Steve Park Thunder Challenge.


 Best car setup
 Tire Pressure: 30psi 
 Front shock:default 
 Rear shock:default 
 Sway Bar:default 
 Wedge:-0.5turns 
 Gear 1:3.00 
 Gear 2:2.40 
 Gear 3:2.00 
 Gear 4:1.45 
 Rear end Gear:2.50


 Daytona - Easy win
 Make sure the race is set on ten percent difficulty. Then, cause a crash on lap
 four. If done correctly, there should be a caution. Go into the pits, and ignore that
 fact if no one else also enters. You will probably be last, but there will soon be
 another caution and the leaders will come in. Stay out and do not pit. After the
 stop, you should be in first or second place. You will run low on gas, but you will
 not run out. Block and you will be able to win.


Tiburon: Great crash:
Let all the cars pass you at the star of the race. Line up on the start/finish line so 
that the front of your car is facing the wall and the back of it is facing the pits. Hold 
the brakes and wait for the other cars to come around. With you parked out on the 
track and the other cars coming around, they will hit you. When they do, you and 
other cars will go flying up in the air. Sometimes this takes out four or more cars, 
and perhaps even all of them.

Pay At The Pump lightning challenge:
During the Pay At The Pump challenge, step on the gas all through the track. Put a 
big enough lead on Bobby Labonte and Sterling Marlin so that it is about a two to 
three second gap. You will run out of gas at the exit of turn four, depending on 
how hard you have been pushing the car. If the lead is big enough, just block and 
you will win the challenge. This may take a few attempts, but if you drive the car 
correctly it will be an easy way to win.

Pocono thunder challenge:
Press Start during the race. Go to the settings and set "Auto Brake" to "Off". 
Set "Stability Control" to "Limited". You will be able to catch your opponent. Try to 
stay off the wall; if you hit it too much you car will be gone.

Richard Petty:
To unlock Richard Petty, enter his name at the create a car screen.

Rookie stripes:
When in career mode, the back of your bumper has yellow stripes on it. When you 
get to the second season, they will be gone.

Pass easily:
Draft with the car in front of you for awhile. When you just come out of a turn, 
move over and you should pass him. You can also do this on a straight away, but 
it works much better coming out of a turn. Also, drafting helps fuel mileage and 
your speed.

Watkins Glen: Easy win:
Set the race length to 5%. On the first lap, cause a caution. When asked to pit, do 
not. On the second lap, cause another caution. This time when asked, pit. You will 
be 43rd place, but just before lap 4 everyone else will have to come in and pit. 
You will coast to an easy win with enough fuel and tires.

The Big One lightning challenge:
At the start of the challenge or a few seconds after, slow the car to 181 to 183 
mph. Do not let the meter at the top of the screen transfer below 24th or you will 
be out of contention. When you feel that you have enough room between the cars 
that will wreck and yourself, accelerate. You should have enough speed to get to 
about 4th place. Stay alert to dodge the wrecking cars. Do not slow if you happen 
to drive through some smoke. You have to time it correctly in order to catch the 
lead pack.

Faster donuts on celebration:
When you win a race and start to celebrate, begin to do a donut. When you are 
spinning, hold the brake and your car will spin even faster.

Lowe's Motor Speedway: Car setup:
The following setup is to be used with caution. With this setup, your car can and 
will slide out of turn four and hit a wall if you are not careful. Change the car setup 
to the following settings. Tire Pressure: 23 PSI; Down force: Fender Flare, 74"; 
Rear Spoiler, 51 degrees; Suspension: Front and Rear Springs at 100%, sway bar 
at 1/4 ", and Wedge at -4.0; Gears: first to 1.30, second to 1.10, third- 2.00, 
fourth- .80; and Rear End to 4.60. This setup takes away the handling needed to 
succeed on Lowe's, but the speed will give you an advantage. The acceleration 
combined with the speed will get you up to about 195 mph by turn four, lap one. 
Also, this setup allows you to not let off the gas if you have all assists on. Use 
unlimited gas/tires for this, as it will eat your tires.

Daytona: Super speed:
Go to Daytona Super Speedway at any length. At a round of pit stops, before you 
enter, go to speeds of 71 to 75 mph. Do your pit stop with a penalty; your speeds 
should be at around 207 mph. This will work about 50% of the time. 

Set your gear ratios to preset 6 and tire pressure at 21 psi. You will go up to 194 
mph. Note: It will take your car some time to get up to speed, but on the second 
lap you might even reach speeds of 197 mph (because you will be drafting).

Bud Shoot Out:
On the first lap, go into the pits and take on left side tires only (no gas or repairs). 
When you leave the pits, cause a caution. After all of the caution laps, there will 
only be one lap remaining and not enough time for anyone to pit.

Bristol: Easy win.
First, turn on the running line, and unlimited fuel and tires. Qualify as you would 
for any track. During the race, when the running line turns red, wait a moment 
before letting off the gas. Then, press the gas when you reach the green again. 

The car will automatically go high, and the other cars will slow down. You can go 
around them. It may take a few laps, but eventually you will be running in the 
front. This tactic can be adapted for all short tracks. When at Bristol Motor 
Speedway on the second lap, on the second turn the other cars will slow down.

Better acceleration and easier handling:
For all of the tracks except for Daytona and Talledega, go into car setup before the 
race. Change your tire pressure down to 15 psi for better acceleration and easier 
handling. For Daytona and Talledega, leave it at 25 psi.

Eight Championships:
Win all eight championships and get the Eight Championships video with a New 
Lightning challenge.

NASCAR Commentary:
If you want to bend the rules a bit turn off caution flags, turn on unlimited fuel and 
tires, move the race progress past 5%, and then do a quick race. When the race 
starts, go to the side of the track or just go backwards on the track. Either way, 
you'll hear some really funny commentary from your pit crew as you break the 
rules of NASCAR.

Talladega: Easy win:
Go to the car set-up then select the gear ratios. Set the ratio number to "5". Make 
sure damage is off, and tire wear is unlimited. Also, use a manual transmission. 
Note: This can also be used at Daytona.

Talladega: Car setups:
Go into car setup. Go into "Gear Ratios" and change the two down at the very 
bottom to "89" and "4.45" respectively. Note: "4.45" for the bottom one and "89" 
for the one above it. Accept the changes, start the race, and by the end of the 
back stretch on the first lap, you can get up to and over 200 mph. 

Go into car setup. Then, select "Auto Transmission". Set the tire pressure to "30". 
Loosen or tighten the car as desired. Finally, go to the gear ratios. Leave the first 
gear as is. Set second gear to "1.85", third gear go "1.35", fourth gear to "1.01" 
or "1.02", and leave rear end as is. When you start the race, second and third 
gear will be a little slow, but when you get to fourth you will blow them away. At 
the end of the first lap you should be going about 190 to 195 mph.

Bristol: Great crash:
Go to Bristol, turn around, and run directly into the lead car. If yellow flags are on, 
you will not be able to turn around.

Get pole position:
Before running a veteran race in quick race mode, take the Thunder license and 
complete all three levels of the test for the desired track. This will give the first 
(pole) starting position.