iRacing is hard at work creating the new NASCAR console game that has been promised to be released in 2025. The game is being developed on the Unreal Engine and will feature gameplay elements that have never been seen before. The developer has been appeasing fans with regular updates, and the latest news about the race weekend experience came this week.
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The NASCAR 25 Developer Diary Episode 4 was named Sights and Sounds of Race Day. It included a little peek into how each weekend will be structured in the game. It also spoke about the sound design and what it will be like to be at a race track. Players will get to experience pre-race ceremonies and even walk around the garage area at multiple tracks. All interesting additions, without a shadow of a doubt.
The video also displayed on-track action from the view of a Cup Series car racing into the track for practice and qualifying. John Schneider, iRacing’s director of development and production, says, “Everything we have been doing at the race track is from a driver’s perspective. When you get to the race track, you are dialed in the pits, you’re in the garage, you are intermingling with your crew members, your team, and you are in your car.”
In @NASCAR25Game, every detail of the race-day experience has been meticulously crafted.@ENASCARGG | @iRacing pic.twitter.com/70SomdcY5q
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 1, 2025
Players will be able to discuss strategies with their crew chiefs and with their spotters, just like a driver would on any real world race weekend. All this is very interesting. However, fans did not respond to the update with the most optimistic outlook. And who can blame them considering how terrible their experience has been with NASCAR-related games in the past?
One fan pointed out an issue with the in-game footage, “Why are the wheels so white…? Why is the game running is such a low FPS? Hope it’s just an alpha/early build thing.” This could be because the game is still in development and quite a way from being ready for release. iRacing will likely fix these errors before calling it a finished product. Another fan wanted to see more of how things are going to be.
1. Can we disable seeing the driver in the cockpit?
2. Why do the colors seem oversaturated? Is it a lighting issue or just a color issue in general? pic.twitter.com/O3XczLR5Ym— Going in Circles (@Here4Racing) May 1, 2025
They wrote, “This is all really hype and all, but the almost complete lack of gameplay is deeply concerning to me. 2 second clips isn’t enough to get a feel for how this game is really going to be like.” The lack of major revelations does cause a doubt about whether the game will be ready to reach fans this year. Any delay would result in backlash against the developer.
Although impressed with it all, one fan chose to remain cautious and wrote, “I’ve been burnt so many times that I’m just gonna wait and see.” That’s a clever way to approach this. Another fan was quite underwhelmed with what was shown. They commented, “I’m sorry but this does not look like anything special. It’s early, so I am optimistic… but oof.”
iRacing is working against some really high expectations. The wait for a decent NASCAR game has been decades long and people are now holding onto hope to motivate themselves. For the time being, an official release date for the game is yet to be finalized.
