NASCAR 08 ships for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 on July 24 and EA Sports is celebrating the roots of racing with a country-heavy soundtrack.  Mulit-platinum country duos Brooks & Dunn and Big & Rich headline the music that gamers will listen to as they play the first next generation NASCAR game. To kick off the celebration, Brooks & Dunn and rising country star Jason Aldean will perform at a NASCAR 08 launch party tonight at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City's Times Square.

Big & Rich's "Radio Between Raising," Brooks & Dunn's "Long Haul," Jason Aldean's "Johnny Cash," Crossin Dixon's "Stomp," and Bucky Covington's "Empty Handed" are among some of the songs featured in the new game. While there will still be some rock spread in for good measure, including Aitbourne's "Stand Up for Rock' n Roll" and Velvet Revolver's "She Builds Quick Machines," this game is mostly country. It marks a first for the franchise, which has always featured rock over country in the past.

The new game brings high definition visuals to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions and teaches fans how to perform real maneuvers that drivers use to win races every week. A special option allows players to see the wind flow to show hot to draft off other vehicles in a race. By the time one's played through all of the driving challenges across the trucks, Busch and Nextel and Car of Tomorrow classes, even the most die hard fans will have a better grasp of what it's like to get behind the wheel of a speeding vehicle with 42 competitors on a small oval track.