Not a ground shaker, but not a snore either. Solid.
The Chase For The Cup, hereafter referred to as Career Mode starts you off in the Truck series. For you NASCAR regulars, you know that this is a starter series. First thing you have to do is Create a Truck or Car in later series. While I do like to customize the appearance of my vehicles in games when I can, I really do not care for the Create a Vehicle in NASCAR 09. The choices are too limiting.
After the setup and paint, you can configure your Game-play and career options. I ran the first races in my truck career on Normal settings. It was difficult, but I adapted quickly and soon started piling up victories. The game play is good and solid. The assists, if you choose to run them can save you, but at the same time, cost you seconds on qualifying.
Overall, I say that this game was a solid attempt with no major issues, except for some occasional sound bugs. Being a solid game, it gets a solid score.