No Fast and Furious? No Need For Speed Underground

Simple. Or at least that's my personal opinion. Remember when Tokyo Drift was released? And then...they introduce Carbon with the Canyon Races? The cinematics are also similar to Need For Speed. Hell I did not even know what underground racing was until I saw Need for Speed.
 
:EDIT:
 
What do you guys think? What do you think pumped Need for Speed up for the underground racing games?

Definitely plausible and perhaps a direct cause-effect.  Fast and the Furious was released in 2001, and the first Need for Speed Underground was released in 2003. This comes right around the typical time frame for game development (2-3 years).
 
BTW they were great games, Underground 1,2, and most wanted are some of my favorite racing games. Played countless hours of them.

I guess I should be thanking them? NFS: Most Wanted if my favorite arcade racer of all time, and without Underground it probably wouldn't have been made.