You really struggle with money in the beginning, and most races have buy-ins, so every race you HAVE to get a good placement, and you only get 3 retries.

Combine with that the fact that you build heat after every race, so you’re always deciding wether to keep going and do another race for a bit more cash, or go home and bank it, but then you’re missing out on the cash that you urgently need for the weekend qualifiers.

Money is so tight early on that you actually have to consider trading in cars you’ve worked on for better ones, and every upgrade is a blessing.

The game really makes you feel like an underground street racer trying to work your way up, instead of a rich car collector.