Yes, I noticed this also. I gained a good 10 fps when I turned reflections
off.
The good thing about the recent NASCAR games by Papyrus is that you can get
to a spot in a race, typically at the start line with all cars, and then go
back and forth from the graphical settings to the same spot you were before,
to check frame rates.
As it now stands, I get about 45 fps at the start line in the N2002 Demo
with all options on high (except world view and mirror), with reflections
off, running at 1024x768x16. Having a GeForce3(and a P4, 1.3 w/256 RAM), I
only lose about 3 fps when I go to 32 bit. If I get rid of the steering
wheel I gain another 5-7 fps.
Looks like a good sim, and I'll be looking forward to it come February.
Alanb