Three laps ago, I’d nudged him. It wasn't even a wreck—just a "friendly" reminder that the bottom line belonged to me. But in the world of NASCAR Thunder 2004 , memories are long and tempers are short. The little red icon above his car on my dashboard told the whole story: .

The sun was a blistering hammer against the pavement at Talladega. Inside the cockpit of the #24, the air was a thick soup of gasoline and adrenaline. I could see him in my rearview mirror: Tony Stewart, his orange hood filling my glass.

Here is a short story capturing the spirit of the game's legendary "Grudges and Alliances" system: The Grudge of Talladega

My back end stepped out. The tires screamed as they fought for grip on the 33-degree banking. I caught the slide, white-knuckling the wheel, but the momentum was gone. The pack swarmed past me like a school of angry sharks.