NASCAR Thunder 2003 Secrets and Unlockables (GameCube)

NASCAR Thunder 2003 is a racing simulator published by Electronic Arts in September 2002 for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Xbox and in October 2002 for PC. It is the fifth game of EA Sports' NASCAR series. The product features Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on the cover. It was the first time the NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award recipient was featured on the cover. Being a racing simulation, NASCAR Thunder 2003 places the player in control of a stock car in a NASCAR race. Players battle AI drivers for race position for a preset amount of laps.

As the race progresses, players are forced to make a pit stop to refuel, replace tires and repair damage. For multiplayer support, NASCAR Thunder 2003 becomes split-screen and eliminates much of the field. Normally featuring the normal NASCAR amount of 43 drivers in a race, it is limited to 18 or less with more than one human driver. As an option, the AI drivers can be disabled, allowing the players to just race each other. (Wikipedia)

Unlockables

Unlock 31st Lightning Challenge
To unlock the 31st Lightning Challenge (Hendrick vs. Petty), win an 8th Championship in Career Mode.

Unlock Driver(s) Paint Schemes
To unlock a paint scheme for a certain driver (John Andretti, Dale Jarrett, etc) you must do a race under Veteran or Legend mode and win the race.

Unlock Night Tracks
In order to Unlock a night track, the track must beatable to have this option, then simply race on that track and win, but you must race under Veteran or Legend difficulty.

Secrets

Fantasy Drivers
To get the Fantasy Drivers go to the Create-A-Car option and enter the following name:

First Name: Extra
Last Name: Drivers

Unlock Dale Earnhardt
Go to Create-A-Car and enter your name as Dale Earnhardt. Exit Create-A-Car and you should get a Dale Earnhardt Thunder Plate.

Unlock the Tiburon Track
To unlock the Tiburon Track you must have a game save of another 2003 title (such as NCAA Football 2003).

Here's the opening of this classic NASCAR title: