There are good racing and controls systems in NASCAR 25, but the online needs work.
NASCAR has gone through quite the strenuous couple of iterations when it comes to video games. There have been a few arcade-focused games, but when it comes to the core, if you want to call it “NASCAR fill-in-a-year” title, they haven’t been doing great. iRacing Studios has decided to take the reins, or wheel rather, to push the series back towards relevency.
iRacing are also working on an IndyCar game, and of course, they are also well known for their very popular iRacing online sim series. So with that pedigree, we welcome ourselves into NASCAR 25 here, which is not so much a heavy sim racer than it is more a general consumer approach to what I would consider simcade.
The game puts us in a career mode where we can start relatively anywhere we want, but if we do start at the bottom ranks and work our way up to the Cup series then it gives us a better understanding and long training of the controls and systems. There is a lot here, from earning sponsorships, events, hiring teams, and even a sort of meta story within the experience that can keep people occupied if they want to stay in single player, but it’s really the online that people will gravitate to.
Both in career and online the driving and controls are good, and the assists do a decent job of helping build us up from someone who punches the gas and runs into corners into someone who can slow down and get a feel for things. But there is no real training, and relies on us to copy the AI and draft off of them to understand the individual tracks, because they are all very different.
There are 40 racers online, and while that’s terrific for a meaty feature there are some immediate issues related to the rankings and mix. For instance we’re often paired with drivers who are good and clean and respectful, and those who just ram into the walls and into others all the time. We may be able to manage in individual races and tournaments, but the problem is really amplified in the game’s events. This past weekend there was a big race even with A-, B-, and C-rank lobbies. I started at B-rank because I had been racing on road courses and entered the event higher — I always thought it was funny how NASCAR drivers aren’t in love with road courses, and the online racers seemed to fare the same way, allowing me to really get the jump ahead.
The race is only 6 laps long, and as we continue competing in B-rank and paired with the mix of drivers our score actually keeps going down. This can be due to a ton of things, but in this case it is mostly because we can’t make enough points due to other racers not being as good. It causes us to drop into lower ranks quickly and hard to get back up. It’s unbalanced, and can be a deterrant for us to compete too much for what ultimately feels like an empty endeavor.
I think NASCAR 25 is good but it’s a learning experience for what could be NASCAR 26, if iRacing can learn from the rulesets and issues this game has. What’s here is good, from the controls to the career to the tracks, but the online relies on the lobbies and private races to be enjoyable rather than the open cups. NASCAR fans may like it for the NASCAR, but casual racing fans may be turned off for the unbalance.
This Review is based on a PlayStation 5 code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. Images and video courtesy publisher and SideQuesting. This video first appeared on The SideQuest Live for October 21, 2025
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