I was at my arcade recently, and there is this racer by Konami called 'Thrill Ride 2'. Like Burnout, it seems to pride itself by having pretty cool crashes when you race. Although not nearly as cool as Burnout's crashes and the accompanying slow-mo, TR2 was pretty fun to play. The way you're driving is like you've got an instructor sitting next to you. She says where to go, and like an instructor, tells you to 'please pull into traffic in a safe mamer'. Of course, you don't, since you're racing against 3 other cars, and when you crash, there is a resulting ear-splitting scream, and you're back on the road.
I don't know what inspired what, but both games are excellent for that speed rush and the crash physics.
Another racer that got my attention was Hydro Thunder. The boats have that satisfying broooooom! to them, the boosts are pretty cool, as is the jumping systems (yank the accelerator lever back into reverse, the press the boost button). A fast game, that is pretty cool to play.