After hearing all sorts of horror stories with the patch, I am pensive.

I received the game on Tuesday and looking forward to driving it on the weekend. Big Nascar and Dale Earnhardt/Darrel Waltrip fan.

Is it possible to patch straight to the latest version without having to start the original game ? Will this miitgate any potential problem with the patch ?

Yes, definitely patch teh game. It was a minority of people who had issues. I didn't have a single issue patching it. And yes, you can install and patch, without having to start the game.

Best of luck and hope to see you out on a track sometime. My Handle in Online ARCA racing is the same as it is here.

Have Fun!

My trouble with the ARCA patch turned out to be faulty hardware. Got a new mobo installed and it patched without trouble. It is well worth patching it, so as to be able to join on-line servers.

NOTE: Happened to me and I saw it on another forum: if you enter a server and can view other drivers' cars but not select one for yourself, there is a setting in the on-line section labeled 'enable camera view' or something similar to that. Make sure it is turned OFF.

Thanks guys. I didn't manage to hook up to an internet connection this weekend but I did install the game and fired it up for a couple of laps at Talladega and Pocono. Pretty darn good. I could get used to this.

Felt like Ricky Bobby lol