NASCAR Thunder 2003

NASCAR Thunder 2003 is the sixth edition of the NASCAR racing simulator series from EA Sports. It was developed by EA Sports and Budcat Creations and published by Electronic Arts. It was released on September 19, 2002 for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, then on September 29 for PlayStation 2 and on October 16 for PC. The product features Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on the cover. It was the first time NASCAR's most popular driver was featured on the cover, although he didn't win the award for the first time until the following year. Dale Earnhardt appeared in the game as a driver because his name was entered as the name of a Create-A-Car driver; he had not appeared in the previous game due to his death. In subsequent games, he appeared as a legend.