NASCAR Arcade



Revving up their engines for the NASCAR Arcade, drivers prepared for the race of their lifetimes. Bobby Labonte, in his cool Pontiac Grand Prix wanted the pole position, but it didn't matter because he had the faster car on the track. Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Burton also had fast cars on the track that day, a Ford Taurus and a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Never before had a video arcade racing game made spectators so nervous. The game operators had promoted the contest with lots of advertising and prices for first, second and third place. It was going to be a heck of a NASCAR race, even if nobody picked the Team Sega track.



Songs of Angels played a tribute over the arcade speakers, as Bobby readied to slip in four quarters for his big chance at racing around the track at full speed to win the NASCAR title cup. He selected the Talladega Superspeedway game. Other players stood in line, waiting for their turn to show off their driving skills on the other tracks, not intending to take anything less than first place. The arcade staff had to ask everyone to chill out when it looked like people were having NASCAR withdrawals and couldn't wait to put their pedal to the medal of the turbocharged automobiles. Tires would be burning up the track when these drivers floored their engines.

Bobby's four quarters slid into the machine. He loved how the games sucked quarters like the engines sucked gas. Sega had created a winner with this one. With either manual or automatic transmission, the arcade game was so real that it made his blood pressure surge every time he climbed into the driver's seat. The simulated NASCAR motor, with it's lifelike sound of thundering horsepower, made him squeal with delight as he pressed the gas pedal. Moments later, the race was on!

Bobby had gotten the pole position, with all the other cars close behind. They sped around the track as arcade spectators screamed. Into the first turn, Bobby tried not to be overtaken, but two cars sped past him going into the second lap. The cars were now speeding down the backstretch straightaway. They were approaching the highest speeds possible on the arcade game, and if Bobby could get into first place his time would be fast enough to reset the timer for additional laps. The cars were into the second turn when suddenly there was a spinout in front of him! The arcades manager watched closely as Bobby maneuvered around the crash. Moments later, Bobby was in NASCAR first place, leaving a pile of wrecked cars in his rearview mirror!