NASCAR Drivers Break Free From The Oval And Hit The Streets Today In NASCAR Unleashed

Arcade Racing Action For NASCAR Fans Of All Ages

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 1, 2011) — They say a good story mimics real life. In that case, NASCAR® Unleashed qualifies perfectly.

 

NASCAR announced today that it will expand on the success of the NASCAR video game franchise with the release of NASCAR Unleashed, a video game featuring stars from the world of NASCAR that includes a “Rival” mode – a unique twist where an enemy driver attempts to knock you out of the lead. Or as Tony Stewart would call it, “cashing tickets.” Sound familiar?

 

Available for Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3, Wii™ from Nintendo and Nintendo 3DS™, NASCAR Unleashed features 15 of NASCAR’s biggest names, including NASCAR Sprint Cup series drivers Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Jeff Gordon, and Joey Logano. Players will take the wheel of growling, turbo-charged racing machines that will unleash their stock car fury on defenseless city streets. Familiar NASCAR tracks featured in the game: Daytona International Speedway®, Chicagoland Speedway®, Homestead-Miami Speedway^SM, Martinsville Speedway® and Talladega Superspeedway®. Lifelong NASCAR fans and those new to the sport will enjoy careening around the tracks before rocketing away from the grandstands to explore the wide open world, NASCAR style.

 

The gameplay features forgiving handling and virtually no rules, with the key being a no-holds-barred trading-paint strategy to earn the trophy. Drafting and power sliding around turns will be the most useful tools in a player’s arsenal. The aforementioned wild “Rival” feature turns up the heat: players must compete not only with the other racers but with a given “Rival” who is gunning to knock them out of the lead and to the back of the pack. Distinct game modes available for play include single player championship, time trial challenges, quick races and action-packed split screen multiplayer.

 

Utilizing the NASCAR Unleashed video game, Activision is taking the storied rivalries and competitive NASCAR spirit off the track and putting them in the hands of NASCAR kids, who will compete against one another for pride and glory. As their dads coach and their moms manage them, these kids will race for first place and the honor of being crowned the first ever “Battle of the NASCAR Kids” champion. The event aims to bring together NASCAR families and ultimately raise money for charities. Post-race all the racers will band together to present a check to The NASCAR Foundation for $25,000 from Activision; while the winning driver will be awarded an additional $5,000 for the charity of their choice.

 

The following is a list of the players who will be competing and the drivers and charities they’ll be representing:

 

·         J.J. Yeley’s daughter Faith will be racing for Jake Raborn Foundation

·         Juan Pablo Montoya’s son Sebastian will be racing for Formula Smiles

·         Travis Kvapil’s son Carson will be racing for NASCAR Dreams

·         David Gilliland’s son Todd will be racing for Sherrills Ford Optimist Park

·         Dave Blaney’s son Ryan will be racing for Alzheimer’s Association

 

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 GameStop Toyota in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will be coaching all the players in the bracketed tournament. Since Logano is an avid gamer himself, he will choose two wild-card racers from the crowd of fans assembled to watch at Homestead prior to the tournament to compete. If one of his wild card picks win, they'll take home the $5,000.

 

The “Battle of the NASCAR Kids” competition will take place at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, November 19 at the GameStop videogame truck outside of Gate 2 in the Outer Display Area of Homestead-Miami Speedway, with public gameplay sessions and practice rounds scheduled for November 17-18 at the Championship Drive event in Miami Beach.

 

NASCAR Unleashed is now available on Xbox 360, PlayStation®3 system, Wii and the Nintendo 3DS for $39.99 MSP. The game is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. NASCAR Unleashed will also be featured in the Battle of the NASCAR Kids event taking place the weekend of November 18 at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship race in Homestead-Miami Speedway. For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/NASCARUnleashed orwww.Activision.com.