Race certainly has a signifcant random element (hurray card games) but it's well balanced and falls together into a very rich meal, offering lots of room for a variety of strategies. It's basically about finding the best combination of actions you can perform using the cards you have, and calculating the cost of getting better cards, combined with trying to second-guess what your opponents will do (which is among my very favorite kinds of game mechanics).

Apparently its first printing is sold out already! I can't wait to get my hands on a copy, after they make some more. I look forward to playing it with you then!