Nope, I did every race on hard, I wanted the money.
My story: I had the promo version a month before the actual game came out. Loved it, passed it (except for that one race, Freeway Flyer, it was impossible in that version, in the full game they actually changed the route of it to follow the freeway more, and I got it in one shot.
Then the full game came out. And my old save file didn't work. I wanted to be able to show off a Koenigsegg CCR online, so I played it hardcore for the first few days, and got one. Then it was school holidays, so I just played it for a few days straight...
I'm thinking of passing it again. It's soo good. :D