iRacing Studios NASCAR 26 Review

iRacing Studios and Monster Games have made stock car racing more accessible, with better handling, more detailed tracks, and a rewarding career mode.

Monster Games and iRacing Studios are collaborating again on iRacing Studios NASCAR 26, following their first collaboration in the previous installment. The game brings the official NASCAR experience to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, combining licensed cars, drivers, tracks, and paint schemes with a career mode that takes you from the lower levels of stock car racing to the Cup Series.

The PC version is the same core racing experience, with career mode, practice sessions, AI opponents, and cross-platform multiplayer. The source material has gameplay footage of both PC and PS5 Pro, so platform-related performance details such as exact frame rates, optimization, and recommended graphics settings are not set in stone. 

iRacing Studios NASCAR 26 isn't trying to replace iRacing, nor does it try to follow the arcade style of NASCAR Arcade Rush. 

Instead, it sits between both approaches. You can use assists and a controller to make racing more approachable or connect a racing wheel for greater control and a more demanding experience. The game includes realistic elements like tire physics, track grip, dynamic rubber buildup, and vehicle handling, but it stays true to its accessibility.

The game features the NASCAR Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Craftsman Truck Series, and ARCA Menards Series. The ARCA series includes some missing circuits, but multiple levels give you a clear path through career mode. The visuals are powered by Unreal Engine, while the presentation highlights real-world NASCAR personalities. 

While iRacing Studios NASCAR 26 does not tell a traditional story, its career mode offers a personal racing journey. You build your own driver and team as you climb through the lower ranks of NASCAR racing. From there, you want to build your rep, upgrade your car, make money, and eventually make it to the Cup Series.

Your career begins with an introduction from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who helps set up the opportunity in front of you. Steve Letarte also appears as a guide, explaining the early steps you need to take before beginning your racing career. You enter information about yourself and your team, then visit the Peak Performance Training Center.

Your first major challenge takes place at Daytona International Speedway, where you must prepare for your first ARCA race. Because Daytona is a superspeedway, the game uses training sessions to introduce you to drafting, maintaining speed, and managing the car around the banking.

The training sessions give a definitive starting point for Career Mode. The game doesn’t simply drop you into a race and expect you to find your way around; it teaches you the basics through practical driving tasks. You have to hit your target lap times, stay with your drafting partner, and stay in contact with the pack.

The story isn't that deep, but the system adds a bit more structure to the early stages.

The real-world personalities help set the NASCAR mood, but the story doesn’t always meaningfully grow your character or team. Podcasts and other presentation elements try to inject personality, but some dialogue is contextless and repeats throughout your career.

You are judged mostly on how you perform on the track. You earn money, upgrade your car, unlock new series, and finish races, which motivates you to keep going. The game gives you a clear goal but doesn't offer the same level of personal team development or driver relationships as some other motorsport career modes.

iRacing Studios NASCAR 26 focuses on the driving experience. The PC version of the game is compatible with controller and racing wheel setups. The game is designed to be approachable, so you don’t need a full racing rig to enjoy it. But a wheel gives you more control over your steering inputs and helps you manage the car more smoothly, especially on banked tracks or if you are trying to hold a precise racing line.

The handling model has several realistic elements without being too demanding. It takes a little care to brake, especially when you are braking into corners at speed. The new tire model makes lockups easier to hear and feel, so you know when you’re applying too much brake pressure. The effect is more noticeable when you use a wheel, where small input changes can change how the car behaves.

The game still allows you to use a controller effectively. The default handling tends to produce front-end push, meaning the car wants to continue moving toward the outside of the corner instead of rotating as easily as you might expect. You can adjust the setup to loosen the car, allowing the rear end to move more freely.

Superspeedways present a different challenge. The car can feel a little unstable if you stray from the perfect racing line and you need smoother steering inputs to keep control when you’re driving through the banking. Having a wheel can help you control these motions, but it also makes the mistakes more visible.

Tracks are the best thing about the game.

Precise layouts, surface changes, and elevation differences benefit many types of circuits. Iowa Speedway is unique because the broken surface and different kinds of asphalt change the way the car feels under you. Even with a controller and assists on, you can still feel the track.

The Naval Base Coronado loop is also a fun drive. At first, its layout may seem plain, but the changing elevation and bumps make it more challenging once you start racing. The surface detail gives the circuit its character, and the accurate bumps make it more demanding than the surrounding visuals might suggest at first.

The competition among AIs has only made the race more intense. Your opponents aren't limited to one line or a predictable formation. They can run two or three wide, run different lines, try to bump drafts, and stick right behind you through the corners. If you move to the inside, another driver may stay on the outside line and then cut back across to the corner exit.

This behavior makes the races feel more alive, especially when the field is closely matched. You can't always assume you've taken the position just because you executed an inside move. Another car might stay with you or try to regain position before the next corner. The spotter also provides information on cars around you, but the calls don’t cover every situation.

While the difficulty settings are somewhat limited, you can still enjoy competitive races with a bit of tweaking. You may have to experiment with the various options until you find a combination that works for you. The races become more fun when the artificial intelligence can actually keep up with you. You fight for positions instead of just driving away from the field.

Career mode adds a progression system that encourages you to keep racing. You receive credits, work points, and reputation after each event. Credits let you buy parts and upgrades, while work points serve as crew resources. Reputation unlocks access to additional racing series, giving you a reason to keep improving your results.

Your parts also wear down after races across four main areas. 

So you need to balance repair spending with savings for upgrades. This satisfying progression loop starts with a slower car and works toward consistent top-20 results. You don't get a competitive car straight away, but you improve your equipment gradually.

This structure reflects the challenging process of building a racing career. When you have an underdeveloped car and many closely matched opponents in the field, a top-20 finish can feel meaningful. You start out trying to survive races and make enough money for maintenance. The better you get, the more you can achieve and the better results you can aim for.

The career system, however, isn't as detailed as it could be. You have little say in what direction you want your team to develop. No big department upgrades. No development resource allocations. No performance trends to track. Your main duties are to buy parts, look after the car, and manage your available money.

Sponsors have little say in your career. They happen occasionally, but the system doesn't strongly link your performance to your team's long-term development. The public relations features are similarly limited. Rewards are sometimes accepted rather than meaningful decisions that affect your career.

The absence of a driver market also impacts immersion. You don’t get to see drivers switch teams or the changing opportunities that keep a motorsport career feeling alive. It gives you the framework of a racing career but often feels like you are going through the motions rather than actively building your team's future.

iRacing Studios NASCAR 26 has no traditional puzzles or combat. Its greatest challenges are in terms of racing strategy, controlling the car, tire management, and positioning. The game is about deciding when to overtake, which racing line to take, how aggressively to defend, and when to save your tires.

Drafting is critical on superspeedways.

You want to be close enough to catch the draft, but not so close that you touch your partner or lose control. The training sessions teach you this mechanic by having you follow a drafting partner and keep your position right. You can lose the draft and have to work harder to catch up. This is a useful exercise to learn the basics of pack racing.

The racing line also varies with track conditions. The dynamic rubber build-up over the weekend creates multiple grooves, so the fastest line isn’t always the same throughout the race. You might find the inside line works well in one situation, while the outside line is better for momentum in another. This gives you more decisions to make during close battles.

The AI’s ability to run different lines supports this system. You might think you’ve completed an inside overtake, only for another car to stay alongside you on the high line. Racing can get particularly close when several cars run three wide, forcing you to judge gaps carefully.

However, the game’s tire behavior is not always convincing. In longer races, gaining fresher tires during a caution period can provide an unusually large advantage. A car struggling near 20th can sometimes move through the entire field after taking tires only a few laps fresher than the others. This makes the strategy feel unbalanced and reduces the importance of gradual tire management.

Damage modeling also needs more work. Visual damage has improved, but major crashes don't always produce the mechanical consequences you'd expect. This is important in multiplayer, where players may be less likely to avoid contact if collisions have little impact on their cars.

The progression system is more successful than some of these racing mechanics.

Earning credits and upgrading parts gives you a clear reason to keep participating in events. The system is simple, but it works because you can see the relationship between your results and your car’s improvement. The main problem is that the game offers too little control over how your team develops beyond buying and maintaining parts.

The PC version uses Unreal Engine to deliver improved visuals compared with the previous installment. Lighting is one of the clearest improvements, especially during races with low sunlight. The change gives the tracks a more natural look and helps create a stronger sense of atmosphere at different times of day.

The laser-scanned venues also improve the presentation. The track layouts and changes in surface and elevation add to the circuits' authenticity. Official licensing boosts the cars and paint schemes, while menu design and broadcast-style presentation give the game a familiar NASCAR identity.

However, the visuals still have several problems. Smoke effects can trigger too easily during races, sometimes making it obvious that an AI car is about to spin. The smoke looks better suited to post-race celebrations than to normal racing, where it can look exaggerated.

Trackside details can also pop in, particularly around Lime Rock. Shadows sometimes appear directly in front of the car, while rival vehicles can display a strange shimmer between the tires and the road. These issues don't completely prevent you from enjoying the racing, but they reduce visual consistency.

The replay system has a television-style camera option that’s nice if you ever want to watch a race from a broadcast perspective. However, switching between camera options can sometimes cause odd behavior, such as losing the selected view or changing the weather. It’s also a shame there’s no photo mode, especially given the game’s selection of licensed vehicles and plethora of customization options.

The audio presentation is good in races.

You hear the engines, spotter calls, and coaching instructions that help you understand what is happening around you. Licensed music helps create the NASCAR atmosphere, especially in the menus. Training audio cues can be confusing, and podcasts don’t always offer enough context.

The spotter is really helpful. It tells you when cars are beside you and helps you figure out when a lane is clear. The calls aren’t perfect, but they are enough information to enhance the racing experience. For PC players, a wheel and headset let you listen for these audio cues while staying focused on holding your line.

iRacing Studios NASCAR 26 offers an easy-to-use racing experience that balances realism with a simple control system. Depending on how serious you want to get, you can use a controller or racing wheel on PC. The wheel offers more precision, but the controller is still a great option for players who prefer a simpler setup.

The career mode is one of the game’s most appealing features.

Starting in ARCA and progressing toward the Cup Series gives you a clear goal, while credits, work points, reputation, and vehicle upgrades give you a reason to keep racing. The early training sessions also introduce important techniques such as drafting, braking, and maintaining a target lap time.

The game’s strongest moments come from the racing itself. The AI can battle for position, use multiple racing lines, and run closely together. Each venue is different with dynamic rubber buildup and detailed track surfaces, while the improved lighting provides the presentation a more polished look.

The game has a few issues that keep it from feeling fully finished. Career development feels limited, AI performance is unpredictable, and tire wear can make gaps seem unrealistic. Visual glitches, sparse damage effects, the absence of split-screen multiplayer, and no photo mode further compound the overall lack of polish.

iRacing Studios NASCAR 26 is a fun stock car racing game, especially if you want a career mode and accessible handling without investing in a dedicated simulation platform. The PC version is a good starting point, especially for those with racing wheels, but the game could still benefit from more polish in its supporting systems and technical presentation.