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NASCAR 09 is the continuation of EA's long running NASCAR franchise and an update from the previous years. It features an updated driving roster as well as update paint schemes, featuring the top drivers of the NASCAR Sprint, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series.

There is also two new "racing models" for players to choose from, depending on their skill. Either competing in "Normal" mode, which is more forgiving and is designed for new players and a "Pro" mode that is designed for hardcore racing players. Players can also learn from the games cover driver, Jeff Gordon, learning tricks of the trade on how to draft and pass as well as introduce new features to the game.

There are the standard modes to the game, exhibition for either one or two players, "Chase for the Cup", which is the standard career mode where players start out in the Craftsman Truck Series and work their way up to the Sprint Cup Series by winning races and securing prime sponsorships. There are also new "Sprint Driver Challenges", that lets the player go head-to-head against top Sprint Cup drivers in racing challenges, which will unlock new paint schemes and bonus material for winning these challenges.

Also there is online capabilities for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 (the Playstation 2 does not feature online) where players can customize special paint schemes for their cars utilizing the "Paint Booth", letting them customize paint schemes however they choose. Letting players download templates from Electronic Arts Sports website, incorporating the templates into editing programs such as Photoshop.