I have read a lot of what I feel are unnecessarily negative reviews about this show. It was a fast-paced, action-packed children's cartoon involving futuristic gadget-filled cars -- not an animated version of real NASCAR racing. Yes, the NASCAR Unlimited Series racing in the show is very much reminiscent of the old Speed Racer cartoons and the current Hot Wheels Accelerators series. The NASCAR name is there because the show was used by NASCAR as a marketing tool -- a way to attract young fans to the sport and sell more merchandise to all of the little beggars' parents, just like Accelerators is just a big ploy by Mattel to sell more Hot Wheels cars and accessories. That doesn't mean either are bad shows if viewed in the right context.
I personally believe that for the most part, the two seasons of NASCAR Racers that were produced contain a lot better plot lines than either Speed Racer or Hot Wheels Accelerators -- including some ongoing themes targeted at a more adult audience (such as Megan Fassler's search for her birth mother and Carlos Rey's financial difficulties in caring for his ailing father). However, whereas both of those two series have been released on DVD, you can only find a half-dozen or so episodes of NASCAR Racers on VHS -- and that's a real shame, as is snubbing NASCAR Racers simply because it's not real NASCAR. There's already plenty of that on the air every week with all the associated interview and commentary shows. I think NASCAR rightly calculated that a reality-based animated series probably wouldn't attract the audience they were targeting.
