EA Sports College Football 25 was a blessing for a fanbase without a licensed game in almost 11 years. It has been two and a half years for NASCAR fans since the last NASCAR console game was released. When a new game gets released, those who play it may find themselves watching that game get played by others on YouTube. With iRacing’s planned 2025 NASCAR console game, it’s crucial to get ahead of the curve on who to watch play the new game.
How we got here
That last game, NASCAR 21: Ignition, was highly anticipated, but Motorsports Games couldn’t match the hype after its release.
While the game looked great, it lacked certain levels of playability. Glitches and numerous other glitches led to a player base that immediately retreated to the familiar arms of NASCAR Heat 5.
After Ignition’s release, Motorsports Games released NASCAR Heat Ultimate Edition+ a month later for the Nintendo Switch. The game was a reskin of NASCAR Heat 5, and its follow-up game, NASCAR: Rivals, was released on October 14, 2022.
Subsequently, Motorsports Games attempted to revive Ignition with a 2022 Expansion, adding the Next-Gen Cars. This attempt did not save the game, which still had many issues.
After an attempt at releasing a similar DLC for NASCAR Heat 5, rumors of the souring relationship between NASCAR and Motorsports Games continued to swirl. The rumors would be confirmed with the announcement of NASCAR and longtime partner iRacing’s new adventure into the console gaming scene for 2025.
Now, with the future looking bright. It’s important to find someone to experience the game with. That’s where the growing NASCAR gaming community comes into play. Here are a few fellow race fans to get into before the new games release.
RealRadman
RealRadman sets the bar for popularity in the YouTube NASCAR gaming scene. With 80.6K subscribers, RealRadman has continued to grow the channel through the diverse selection of content uploaded. NASCAR in Roblox? It’s on there. Old school EA NASCAR? There’s some of that, too. RealRadman is still playing NASCAR 21: Ignition in 2024, something that not many still do. With a large selection of gaming videos (and a little NASCAR News), RealRadman will hold over any race fan until the new game comes out.
KamikazeGames
KamikazeGames has 36.1K subscribers on YouTube and frequently uploads racing content on their channel. Some notable series they have uploaded are a career mode in NASCAR Heat 4, NASCAR Thunder 2003, and everyone’s favorite NASCAR Thunder 2004. KamikazeGames also plays other games, both racing and non-racing. A well-viewed and rewatchable series is KamikazeGames’ reviews of past NASCAR games, specifically the EA Sports run. As a long-time member of the NASCAR gaming community, KamikazeGames will indeed have some NASCAR 2025 content when the game is finally released.
GOWEN
GOWEN is a NASCAR YouTuber with 27.4K subscribers. They have a long-running career mode on NASCAR Heat 5, which is consistently updated and uploaded. Alongside this is a backlog of playlists for games like NASCAR 15 and various iRacing series. Not only does GOWEN have NASCAR gaming content, but other racing games do, too. When NASCAR 2025 releases, GOWEN should be an excellent channel to find the content you are looking for.
Idk Player
If you have been around the NASCAR online community, you have heard of Idk Player. With 34.7K subscribers on YouTube and consistent live streams, Idk Player has a top-notch presence in the community. Unlike other entries on this list, Idk Player primarily focuses on live streams. Those live streams are mostly iRacing, which includes multiple NASCAR series, IndyCar, and SRX. When NASCAR 21: Ignition released, Idk Player had solid coverage of the game’s release. Fans should expect nothing short of that with the release of NASCAR 2025.
dgoodin24
A reliable source for NASCAR gaming on YouTube, dgoodin24, will be one to watch when NASCAR 2025 is released. There isn’t an old NASCAR game that dgoodin24 hasn’t played. If you’ve ever wanted to watch someone playthrough NASCAR SimRacing for the PC, dgoodin24 has a series. This gets even more interesting with the NASCAR Gameboy Retrospective series, which reviews obscure NASCAR releases for the handheld console. With a touch of everything on the channel, dgoodin24 is bound to be a channel to take in some NASCAR 2025 content.
DJ Yee-J
DJ Yee-J is another NASCAR iRacing YouTuber with 35.9K subscribers. Unlike some iRacing YouTubers, DJ Yee-J has more digestible iRacing videos, which tend to be anywhere from ten to 25 minutes long. Along with these videos, DK Yee-J also does iRacing news and information videos. DJ Yee-J is a great channel to learn about and take in the always-growing iRacing and NASCAR scene.
Michael Mrucz
Michael Mrucz may have a NASCAR gaming channel unlike any other. Clocking in at 50.5K subscribers, Michael Mrucz has combined over-the-top comedy with interesting and compelling videos. With a personality like his, you have more than likely seen one of his clips of X. Michael Mrucz has a series for almost any NASCAR game and continues to upload videos for NASCAR games that are remembered for reasons both good and bad. When NASCAR 2025 gets released, Michael Mrucz will be ready with gameplay and jokes for race fans and gamers.
Mark Leiffer
Mark Leiffer is not the traditional NASCAR gamer. With 6.24K subscribers, Mark Leiffer uploads videos of NASCAR games, both old and new. The videos range from reviews to gameplay series. Mark Leiffer has made a popular series where he revisits the old NASCAR EA Games. The videos consist of general reviews and attempts to beat all the Lighting Challenges in the old games. Mark Leiffer also has an entire video dedicated to unlocking the 31st Lighting Challenge in NASCAR Thunder 2003, which is no easy task. Alongside this, Mark Leiffer has also done reviews and play-throughs of some of the more obscure racing games, including the NASCAR Wii games. A great source of NASCAR gaming and humor, Mark Leiffer, will be a good channel for NASCAR 2025 content.
While these are not all the names in the NASCAR gaming community, these accounts are safe bets for quality content as we enter a new era of NASCAR console gaming. The future of NASCAR gaming is bright, and in 2025, the next game will once again unite those both online and offline.
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