These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
Crowning Music of Awesome: The music that plays during Elite Races, when it reaches it's highest point, is easily classifiable as this. Especially if you are blazing ahead and leaving the so-called Elites eating your dust.
Also, the music that plays before and after the Elite Races - the former for sounding incredibly ominous, and the latter for sounding incredibly victorious and having a chorus back it. All this for a racing game, folks.
Excuse Plot: It could easily be argued that the whole Reality TV Show thing is an excuse plot for car racing with gratuitous explosions, admit it.
The developers flat out admitted that they came up with the Stuff Blowing Up concept first and only later asked "OK, how to we justify this?"
Might be subverted if there's a sequel, as the ending of the Season mode suggests that more is taking place than meets the eye.
Ear Worm: While most of the music if ok, the Main theme, and its' variations are both Epic sounding and will get stuck in your head. The best examples are the version that plays over the intro cinimatic when you boot up the game, and the version Plays during the Elite races.
"...did they just collapse twonuclear reactor cooling towers?!"
"...did they just blow up an entire dam?!"
"...was that a radar dish?"
Moment of Awesome : Pulling off a Level 2 Power Play and taking out nearly the entire grid in one blow.
Jumping over all other cars after a particularly long jump, staying on the lead while dodging falling cranes and cars set aflame like a lunatic, stylishly finishing off a stunned opponent by ramming him against some crates...
One could argue the entire race is an MOA.
That One Level: Storm Drain. Just Storm Drain. Only two laps and an absolute killer deathtrap sequence from passing through a long warehouse.
Who here claimed a gold on the Ryback Thunder Challenge without breaking a controller or two? Hell, who here played the Ryback Thunder Challenge without breaking a controller or two? Yeah, thought so.
Replacement Scrappy: Monty Hall, generally because he wasn't nearly as fast as Tom Kennedy (and on a show called Split Second, you want fast). Robb Weller, on the other hand, just couldn't compete with a pair of legends.