I getcha, Chris and VBishop, and everyone has their own opinion. VBishop felt 5.5 fit.
Taken from the OS scoring linked above:
5.0 - 5.5 (Average) -- This is the quintessential average game. There are good spots, there are bad spots. You might love this game, then you might hate it. In the end, you'll just feel like it could have been so much more. Rent these for sure if you are a fan, and you might even buy the game if you can overlook the many flaws.
6.0 - 6.5 (Above Average) -- These games are definitely above average, but definitely not good yet. There are still some big flaws that need tuning, but overall these games can be quite fun for fans of the sport.
7.0 - 7.5 (Good) -- These games are pretty good, and while having several notable flaws, they generally play well and are quite fun. They definitely are not great yet, but with a few fixes they could get there. These are solid buys, especially if you like the sport.
For me, I think if I were writing this up for OS, I'd go 6.5 based on this scale and the descriptions. Fun but still some big flaws that need tuning.
I do agree with VBishop on one point on releasing games as complete. Eutechnyx took a pretty good amount of time on this one and it should have come out of the chute better than it did from a MP point of view. I question whether their testing methods for online play are sufficient, or whether they just have that much of an issue coding online multiplayer.
Now, this next cycle they are taking basically two years to release the next NASCAR game. If the pin hasn't popped when that one comes out of the oven, I won't be kind.