American Dragracer

You control the car from a side view. At the start, you hold a key to accelerate and watch the RPM gauge climb. The main thing is shifting gears at the right moment; you press another key to shift up before the engine redlines. If you shift too early or too late, you lose speed. The objective is just to get to the finish line first in a straight, short burst. The races are over quickly, and the challenge comes from nailing your shifts every single time. It feels like a brief, tense exercise in timing.