In Crash, the goal is to cause the biggest wrecks you can for fat cash, this mode is fun, but was actually implemented much better in Burnout 2. Why you ask? Well, for reasons unknown, Criterion decided that they would add Cash-Bonus and Multiplier powerups to Crash mode. Guess what? They totally kill the game. There are a ton (100 I think) crash events in the career mode you must go through. I managed to get GOLDS in every last one of them in my first 2 or 3 tries each.
Wanna know how? Well it's simple, I just aimed for that BIG FAT GREEN 4X MULTIPLIER present in every crash level, helped immensely by the fact that you can steer your car through the air (the random element of flying haplessly through the air is gone) and bingo, instant gold. So, as you can see, the awesome Crash mode from Burnout 2 has been reduced to "who can get the 4x multiplier" instead of actually trying cause an awesome crash. F'n weak.