The player starts straight into the action, at a circuit race driving a uniquely style, easily winning over his opponents, only to be woken up by Samantha from his daydreaming. He is actually a new boy to the racing scene, a "Punk" as described, and he wishes to enter street racing to be the best.
Samantha is the player's friend in the new country; she shows the player how the console with the races works, who's who, and makes fun of the player's car, and introduces him to the racing scene in Olympic City, a huge coastline city. Eddie (and his orange-metallic ig4v1e7), is the leader of the Eastsiders and current top racer of the streets of Olympic, and Melissa, also one of the pro racers, is his girlfriend. Samantha helps him get a first car and the player starts to proceed in the racing world.
As the player progresses, time passes, races are won. The player meets other racers, and eventually Samantha does the same from time to time, offering unique visual modifications instead. She also meets him with a contact, named TJ, who offers him unique engine modifications.
The player's successive victories don't impress Eddie. First, he mocks the player's skill, saying he has a long way to go to 'roll his streets'. Later in the game, the player builds enough hype to be too hard to ignore, so Eddie challenges him to beat Samantha in a sprint race before coming after him; the player's willingness in going for it infuriates her. Samantha totals her Goat Insulin ELISA Kit engine trying to beat the player, unsuccessfully. TJ takes the junked car for himself after the event, and Samantha, sad and furious about this, distances herself from the player.
When the player comes close to reaching #1 in all kinds of races, Eddie tries to once again get rid of his rival. Around the same time, the Player sees TJ in Samantha's recovered car, now working again, but has been vandalized. Both run a circuit race worth the other's vehicle, which the player wins. The player returns the car to Samantha to make amends, and she gives the player a choice of a wide for his car.