First In-Game Look at iRacing’s NASCAR Console Game is FINALLY Here

What’s Happening?

After nearly two years of waiting, NASCAR fans finally have their first in-depth look at gameplay for iRacing’s highly anticipated NASCAR ’25 console game.

Despite the immense amounts of hype surrounding NASCAR ’25, publisher iRacing has held off from showing fans in-game footage beyond small clips of drivers testing the game. Now, in a 16-minute video with NASCAR Xfinity Series veteran Anthony Alfredo, fans have their first look at the first NASCAR console game since 2021.

The video itself is rather straightforward, with Alfredo racing in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Homestead and the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond.

This did give fans a look at the transitions from home screen to driver selection, to track selection, and to the track. From there, players are greeted by a general overview of the track and then taken to a race weekend hub similar to the one found in the later NASCAR Heat games.

It should be no surprise that similar elements could be found, as NASCAR HEAT developer Monster Games was purchased by iRacing in 2022 and is the developer of NASCAR ’25 as the newly named iRacing Studios.

From the hub, users are moved into a garage, backed out of said garage in a cut scene, then thrown onto the pit lane. This is a stark difference from 2021’s NASCAR 21: Ignition, which famously thrust players onto the backstretch at full speed for practice and qualifying sessions, often leading to an unwanted meeting with the outside wall.

From there the game is pretty par for the course, after hitting your sesssion goal, you can end practice, go to qualifying, then the race. Unlike past NASCAR games, the race day starts with a short pre-race ceremony cut scene with cars on the grid.

Overall, the gameplay looks clean, though at times it seemed as if the AI was not putting up a fight. This is despite Alfredo and iRacing’s Matt Lewis claiming that there were little to no driving assists turned on, though that does not mean the AI difficulty was high.

Nonetheless, the video is a hit with fans, with many users on Reddit complimenting the lighting of the game, such as the glare of the sun on cars, or the sunset that occurred while Alfredo raced in a Cup Series car at Richmond.

NASCAR 25 Gameplay
byu/tornnewspapers inNASCAR

As Reddit user AHayes31 said, “Love the sun glare down the front straight when he raced at Homestead. How the car handles, being tight in, loose off looks so real!”

Though one interesting thing did stand out to another handful of the online NASCAR community, as during the Xfinity Series race, both Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez were entered in the race in the No. 9. In the game, like many of the past, to fill out rosters, iRacing has part-time drivers entered in different entries. In the official roster, Chastain, Suarez, and their Trackhouse Teammate Shane van Gisbergen are all listed as drivers of the No. 9 for JR Motorsports.

While this is commonplace to have part-time drivers in the same car in a NASCAR game, having both of them on track in the No. 9 is an odd feature, as the game has more than enough individual drivers to fill out an Xfinity Series field.

More gameplay videos from content creators are expected to be released later today, alongside similar videos covering different features of the game, such as the customization suit and career mode.

NASCAR ’25 is set to release on October 14 for PS5 and XBOX Series X/S, with a PC release via Steam set for November 11. For any and all information, including timelines, promotional videos, and in-game info, make sure to check out our in-depth article on NASCAR ’25 below.

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