Best NASCAR Games
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Highlights
- NASCAR games have been a staple of the auto racing video game genre, with varying levels of success and appeal to different demographics.
- Games like Gran Turismo 5, NASCAR Rumble, and NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona offer unique and fun experiences for NASCAR fans, allowing them to race on different tracks and progress through various series.
- NASCAR Thunder 2002, NASCAR Racing 2002 Season, and iRacing are considered some of the best NASCAR games, offering innovative features, improved graphics, and realistic gameplay experiences.
NASCAR is the number one auto racing series in the United States. The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing has existed since 1949. The popular auto racing tour has inspired hundreds of video games over the years that have been a staple of the auto racing video game genre.
The NASCAR games have had varying degrees of success; some have been fun for the whole family, while others have only appealed to a niche demographic. Games like these allowed fans to live out their fast-paced dreams, some to better degrees than others.
10 Gran Turismo 5
While the Gran Turismo series isn’t purely NASCAR-themed, Gran Turismo 5 is still an amazing game that allows NASCAR fans to experience some new and interesting racing. The series only features two tracks on the NASCAR circuit, Daytona and Indianapolis, and eleven NASCAR cars, far fewer than other games at the time.
However, it still gave fans a chance to race as Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson in a head-to-head battle on the Circuit de la Sarthe. Gran Turismo 5 is the type of game that gives players a taste of what NASCAR is, which will likely lead them to want more.
9 NASCAR Rumble
What happens when NASCAR meets Mario Kart? That’s basically what fans got with NASCAR Rumble. The game features power-ups, fantasy tracks, and some of the wackier gameplay players can see in an auto-racing game. This quaint title allowed drivers to race on a highway or around a large fountain featuring shortcuts.
NASCAR Rumble also featured six vehicles form the Craftsman Truck Series and hidden vehicles along with the typical Winston Cup Series teams. Players were also able to trick out their cars, which allowed for some additional fun.
8 NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona
It takes top-level NASCAR drivers years of racing through several different series before they reach the top tier. In NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona, players were allowed to start racing on dirt tracks and work their way all the way up to the big leagues. In this game, drivers must win races and keep sponsors happy while building their reputations.
This was one of three NASCAR video games made by Hasbro and is considered by many to be the company’s greatest contribution to the auto racing video game industry.
7 NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup
After some disappointing games from EA Sports, this is one that had fans rushing back to the starting line. In NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup, NASCAR fans finally got to experience the auto racing series tier system. While the Cup series is considered the cream of the crop, NASCAR has several other levels, and this game allows fans to play them.
Chase for the Cup allowed for the Busch, Truck, and Modified series to get their due, giving fans four different levels of racing. The game also added a story mode and production car races to make the experience a little broader.
6 NASCAR Thunder 2002
NASCAR Thunder 2002 is considered by many to be the best effort presented by EA Games when it comes to NASCAR games. When EA Sports acquired the sole rights to NASCAR games, quality is believed to have fallen off, but in 2002, multiple companies could make titles like this. This is where EA Games is considered to have stepped up their game.
NASCAR Thunder 2002 added several new tracks, alternate paint schemes, and a career mode. The game also licensed the entire schedule, so NASCAR fans could race in all 36 races on the circuit at the time.
5 NASCAR Racing 2002 Season
This was Papyrus’ penultimate PC game, and it marked a massive improvement in the car models. It was hard for fans to argue against NASCAR Racing 2002 Season‘s improvements over its Papyrus predecessors.
NASCAR Racing 2002 Season also featured one of the wildest fictional tracks, the Coca-Cola Speedway. It combined everything about the two biggest tracks on the NASCAR circuit, Daytona and Talladega, allowing cars to reach 250 miles per hour.
4 NASCAR Thunder 2004
This is a personal favorite among many NASCAR fans. NASCAR Thunder 2004 introduced the “Grudges and Alliances” feature. This allowed players to make friends and enemies during a race that could help or hurt them in key moments.
The game also features the lightning challenge game mode, which puts players in the shoes of drivers in key races and situations that actually happened during the 2002 and 2003 NASCAR seasons.
3 NASCAR Racing 4
This is the PC game that signified that the Papyrus series of games would be exactly what NASCAR fans were looking to see. NASCAR Racing 4 is the first version that allowed cars to flip over, something that actually happens in auto racing.
The game’s resolution also jumped to 24k color and a full 43-car field was finally able to race. This game was released shortly after the turn of the millennium, and it signified a new age in racing games.
2 NASCAR Racing 2003 Season
When it comes to PC games, NASCAR Racing 2003 Season is considered to be the gold standard among many NASCAR fans. This was the final NASCAR game made by Papyrus before EA Sports acquired the rights. The game features every track that was on the circuit in the 2003 season.
Mods for NASCAR Racing 2003 Season are still around to this day despite being released 20 years ago. This game is considered the end of an era for many fans, as the EA Sports NASCAR games aren’t as loved as the Papyrus games were.
1 iRacing
iRacing is the biggest racing game out there that brings racing fans from all over the world into a competition against each other. NASCAR sanctions its own official iRacing series that wound up being televised when all sports were shut down due to the 2020 COVID restrictions.
Top NASCAR drivers all took part in iRacing to ensure the product stayed on people’s minds during the time that NASCAR events would normally be on television. Current NASCAR driver for Rick Hendrick Motorsports, William Byron, actually started as an iRacer before getting a chance to drive in the main series.
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