I was immediately struck by how slickly presented NASCAR 26 is, with video introductions and all the official branding that you can shake a dipstick at. That plus Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd being the default music track in the playlist gives you some idea as to the target audience here. It’s been a while since this reviewer put any serious time into a NASCAR game, going back to Papyrus’ venerable NASCAR Racing on MS-DOS in 1994. Yes, I’m really old.
During the fairly lengthy installation and download, you get a glimpse of the title series that you’ll initially only be able to access via multiplayer or quick race options. The former is populated by a mixture of hardcore types playing 100% race distance events with manual gearboxes mandatory and full damage enabled and casual players just having a bit of fun alongside the odd console player out to snag the mercifully lenient multiplayer trophies.
I dipped a toe in before trying career mode and was struck by the somewhat unforgiving nature of racing. I guess multiplayer is some people’s bread and butter when it comes to games of this sort and the day one DLC with the season pass so you can keep up with the latest car liveries is targeted at people who are into that.
Quick races are just that; you can choose a track, a car and a series and get cracking. You’ll at least grab a win in that mode anyway, which is by no means a given once you get into career mode, but more on that later.
There’s a bit of a fallacy among us on this side of the pond that NASCAR is a field of forty cars hurtling round a track turning left occasionally. The thing is, for the most part that’s true in terms of the track selection on offer here. In the initial ARCA series that’s the first of career mode, barring three of the twenty tracks in this feeder series sponsored by the Wisconsin DIY chain Menards, the tracks are all ovals of varying types. You’ve the superspeedways like Daytona or Talladega, the shorter ovals that aren’t quite as high speed like Charlotte and the short tracks where you barrel round in around twenty seconds per lap. The non-ovals are Road America, Watkins Glen and Lime Rock, at least to begin with.
Occasionally you’ll happen upon a track where you simply can’t get the hang of it, generally it’ll be a road circuit that isn’t at all suited to the handling model on display here. One at San Diego for example, that I deliberately DNFd at in both Truck and Auto Parts as I was on a hiding to nothing throughout the race weekend and not having to drive the damn course again was a price worth paying.
Career mode is the place to be where I’m concerned, though you can’t just leap straight into a full NASCAR setup and expect to be winning races at the outset. First off, you’ve got the ARCA series in which you start in a car with base stats that you have to build up by plugging away in the trenches and securing sponsorship by meeting goals and securing funding via your reputation. I found this part pretty engaging though I came up short of winning the overall series by season’s end, as by the time I started winning races, the deficit to the leader who’d had the advantage of a decent car all season was insurmountable.
The second season, I won virtually every race in the calendar, and my car was an all-conquering behemoth that set records at every turn. I’d dare say this got a bit boring as the real-life series is a bit more competitive than the same car streaking ahead of the field in every race. In fact, the 2026 champion only won the championship by virtue of his consistency and one single race win.
It would have you drive immaculately throughout with nary a scuff on your vehicle, but when you’ve got AI drivers jockeying for position even when you’ve secured pole via a decent qualifying session, it can be hard to avoid. Upon finishing a race, you gain reputation which is the key to securing the next lucrative sponsorship deal as well as unlocking the next series. You’re scored on having met your practice lap target as well as having qualified well, so it pays to put some decent laps in. During the race you’re graded for hitting fast laps as well as clean racing, naturally you garner extra points for a win.
Once you have secured a win, you’ll have the opportunity to do doughnuts on the track, but even this can lose its novelty after a few wins. Then you have a social media summary in which the race winner is bigged up and your interactions with the other racers in the field are shown by either negative or positive tweets. If you have a love tap with another racer for example, they’ll call you out in this summary. It was here I learned I’d upset Frankie Muniz aka Malcolm in the Middle when I muscled past him on one track. He drives in the real-life NASCAR Truck series you see, though he rarely bothers the podium.
Upon conclusion of a race weekend, you’re taken back to your garage where you have to tackle repairs and replace parts on vehicles. They are either affected by your cackhanded driving or in the case you’ve had an immaculate race, they deteriorate anyway. This is no issue when you’re winning races and money is no issue, but if you’re battling cash is hard to come by.
This is felt far more acutely in the second tier once you’ve unlocked both the truck series and the one below NASCAR series branded O’Reilly Auto Parts. You’re given the option to run both side-by-side but to be honest, I wish I’d just concentrated on one as the two series at the same time is a bit much. But hey ho.
You can replace bodywork, engine, chassis and suspension as they’re required or in the event it saves your precious engineering time. This finite resource means you have to think a little strategically in terms of how you allocate your resources. Replacing a part altogether is often the best move, especially as it often serves as an upgrade. This is a bit tougher from the second tier onwards as you also need to have upgraded your facility to earn research and development points to unlock the better parts. Though as I mentioned, cash is often king.
Additionally, while I was cash rich upon finishing the second ARCA season as champion, I couldn’t just wade into the next tier of championships with the top tier of parts on my vehicles. I had to start with a frankly underpowered and underequipped car at the back of the field once again. I can’t help but feel that this is somewhat artificially gated to stop you romping through the series and it feels a bit mean spirited especially when you consider a Formula One team can sometimes be amazing out of the gate. Think Brawn GP and Jenson Button’s amazing 2009 season when they had the car to beat.
While the experience is generally polished, a few rough edges are apparent and weird little design choices are made. For example, on your first visit to some of the tracks, you’re given a primer with a breakdown by sector showing how well you’ve done. This doesn’t carry through to actual qualifying though. Why is this sort of data not available during actual race weekends so you can see where you can make improvements? Or if it is, it’s damn well hidden.
Also, when you get into your car, there’s a weird little animation showing your engine start and then a fade to black. Why can’t you start in pitlane and make your own way to the track? My playthrough has hung at this point on several occasions, so I have to wonder what purpose it serves. This bug persists despite umpteen post-release patches, so I have to wonder exactly what the patches are addressing.
I can appreciate that car decal customisation is limited to presets to stop phalluses being driven around ovals in multiplayer but it’d be fun if you could go to town creating your own vinyl layers like you could in Forza Motorsport 2 on Xbox 360. My Tesco Value VW Golf was a thing of beauty. It just feels like a missed opportunity. Just restrict online to presets and it won’t be a problem.
Generally, NASCAR 26 is a fun enough experience, though rather geared towards existing fans of the real-life motorsport, with video vignettes from the likes of Dale Earnhart Jr and other no doubt notable figures known to existing fans. But for me, I’ve no idea who most of these people are so it bounces off me like any number of Michael Bay summer blockbusters.
If you love NASCAR, this is for you. If you’re curious, this might be for you but with the caveat that some of the extra presentation might be a bit superfluous. So, a cautious recommendation on my part. Take a point off if you don’t like US sports. I do, so I’m wavering between a seven or an eight. The fact that I can’t help but do just one more race has me inclined to go with the latter.
iRacing® Studios’ NASCAR 26 is out now on PS5, Xbox and PC.