Though I'm sure you know this, it's worth noting for those unfamiliar that it started from a NASCAR game - NASCAR Racing 2003 Season[0]. A lot of the quirks are related to oval-racing based assumptions for that reason. A lot of the severely lacking (or particularly rough) areas are things that exclusively exist in road racing, like non-solo-driver events.

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR_Racing_2003_Season