The cover in the PAL region features Juan Pablo Montoya (as Montoya returns to EA Sports cover athlete since F1 Career Challenge).

Critical reception of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version of the game has been mixed.

[21] IGN called NASCAR 08 "bare-bones, unpolished and uninspired", saying that the package felt insubstantial with the lack of basic inclusions such as ending wrap-up screens for the Season mode.

[22] Critical reception of the PlayStation 2 version was better when compared to the previous year's NASCAR 07, but was still mixed.

Strategy Informer reviewed the title, stating that the game improved in insubstantial ways over the previous entry through appealing to a broader audience in favor of the core fans invested in its mechanics.