This first Drag track is among the simplest. After getting a good start, there's a long, open stretch of road for you to maneuver and bump your opponents, but watch the two outlying lanes, as both will be cut off eventually as the road heads underneath the overpass. After exiting the overpass, you'll need to stick to the right to hit the ramp that jumps the train; any contact with the train itself will probably render your run useless, so be sure you're going as fast as possible. Use your nitro before the ramp to ensure a high speed.
Reverse:
Hit the left lane as soon as you get in a position to do so, as the right lanes here will be mostly inaccessible due to construction and traffic. Once you get an opportunity to get back in the proper traffic lanes, do so and, depending on the traffic, stay in the middle lane with the yellow stripes to avoid collisions. You will need to watch out for cross-traffic as you approach the finish line; try to avoid swerving into the oncoming traffic lanes.
If the 14th & Vine Construction track is "among the simplest," then the normal 14th & Vine track is the simplest. None of the lanes are blocked off here, giving all of the cars a full four lanes to play with. Winning against equal or better competition here will require positioning and bumping off the starting line and drafting down the stretch. As per usual, hit the ramp at the end for a spectacular finish.
Without the train at the end, all you need to worry about here is traffic avoidance. If you're running neck-and-neck with a foe, try to ram their car into an oncoming traffic lane.
This is another traffic-laden course, but then, what would you expect from a highway? You'll need to stick to the middle lanes as you enter the flow of cars, if only to give you two avenues of escape when you come up on a slower-moving vehicle. The right lane is blocked off in one spot by a truck, so avoid it.
Well, at least you have a bit of a buffer zone to accelerate through before you head off against four lanes of oncoming traffic; after you reach the highway, though, you'll need to keep your wits about you. Again, stay in the center lanes, and try to avoid shifting over into a lane where you can see a car coming; your margin of error here is drastically reduced.
The first jumps here will make it difficult to shift properly, but whatever you do, avoid shifting in midair; your tachometer jumps to the far red zone and you'll wind up killing your acceleration. If you can manage it, shift in-between jumps; if not, wait until you hit the street again and shift there, laying off the gas a bit if need be. From there, stick to the right and stay out of oncoming traffic. If you get stuck behind a fellow racer, you won't have much room to maneuver before you hit the bridge, but you should get enough of a speed bonus from drafting to allow you to easily take the lead on the final stretch. Hit your nitro before the bridge jump for a last-second boost of speed.
Reverse: Get to the right after the bridge jump and ride up and over the overpasses to avoid traffic. You'll need to be at or near your top speed when you hit the final jumps if you want to win; go too slow and you'll likely bang right into one of the cross-cutting trucks that would normally drive serenely underneath you.
This course is unique in that it eventually narrows down to one lane, with a second narrowing of a mere two lanes. There isn't much room to maneuver here, obviously enough, so you'll want to be in the first or second spot as you hit the two-lane choke point: if you're in the lead, block off your drafter on the home stretch; if you're in second, cut around them before the bridge and use your nitro to pull away.
Reverse: If you get anything less than a perfect start here, you'll almost certainly be relegated to second place before the choke points, which, again, isn't such a bad place to be. If this is the case, stay on the leader's rear until just before the two jumps before the finish line and use your speed boost and nitro to come in first.
The notable obstacle in the first half of this race is the choke point in the canal, where the lanes constrict down to a total of two. You obviously want to be in the center when this occurs. From there, you pass through an industrial area, where, again, you'll want to be in the middle two lanes to avoid the ramps on either side of the track. There's one last huge ramp before the finish line, on the right side; if you want a spectacular end to your race, try changing lanes onto it or off of it a split-second before you reach it; you should wind up careening through the air as you pass over the finish line.
Get to the rightmost lane off the starting line and stay there until you reach the canal. Traffic comes from left to right at the first cross-street, and it's almost impossible to avoid a car that you can't see coming, which you can't, due to the building's walls. After you reach the canal, though, you should have a clean shot to the finish line, minus the two huge jumps that immediately precede it. Hit your nitro before you go over them; at low speeds your car can sometimes hit the ground before the finish line in an odd position and wind up spinning out.
