NASCAR 26 Review

NASCAR 26 is the second entry in iRacing Studios’ stock car series. Similar to the 2025 entry, this series does not aim to match the main iRacing service but rather appeal to a broader audience that plays on console only. All racing series on the flagship iRacing service run exclusively on PC and offer detailed simulations. The NASCAR-only series is available on PC and current-gen platforms as well. The goal is to expand the audience. As such, NASCAR 26 on the surface level is a competent racer somewhere in the sim/arcade spectrum, i.e. also known as a simcade racer.

The DNA design of NASCAR 25 can be seen in the 2026 menu design. The Career Mode, Quick Race, and Multiplayer modes are a copy-and-paste affair. What is new is the Peak Performance tutorial mode. A most welcome addition that, with instruction from former NASCAR crew chief and broadcaster Steve Letarte along with NASCAR veteran Jamie McMurray, oversees the training mode. With their input, players will learn about how to approach different oval types as well as road courses. Included in this mode are videos of real racing footage that highlight the differences.

The great thing about Peak Performance mode is that it serves as both a tutorial and an entry point into Career Mode. It does this by tracking your results through the track guides. These guides include braking points and other racecraft elements you should be aware of. A nifty feature is the live feedback you get from McMurray as you try to implement the racing tips given. Once you finish a Peak Performance setting, the game compares your results against a reference lap. By making this comparison, the game will recommend an AI difficulty setting for you to start with. This great feature allows immediate competitiveness while eliminating wasted time on experiments.

Apart from the inclusion of Peak Performance, the strong foundation established by NASCAR 25 is clearly visible. Since this series follows the same yearly release schedule as other sports games, that heritage comes as no surprise. However, such a release cadence means there is little opportunity for improvements. To iRacing’s credit, they were able to implement a solid foundation. Taking all their tracks and mechanics to create new core systems and transfer them to Unreal Engine 5 is no small feat.

Graphics and Glitches

They achieved all that and maintained a smooth, performant 60FPS game rate. This is especially true on the PS5 Pro. Unfortunately, PSVR 2 support is unavailable, and no plans exist to add it. Graphically, the game looks excellent. Grandstand crowds appear three-dimensional rather than the cardboard cutouts that have dominated sports games for too long.

All is not perfect. Some glitches include pop-in, odd shadow behavior, and smoke. Specifically, smoke that comes from cars that lose control. It’s not that the smoke looks bad, but it is overdone. Overdone to the point of being comical. The smoke spewed from crashing cars in great, voluminous billows. There is an additional funny bit with the smoke. It often starts before a car loses control. In a way, you could say the smoke acts like an early warning system.

Another graphical disappointment is the damage model. Whatever your opinion of NASCAR racing — it’s nothing but left turns! — multi-car crashes are one of the major draws. However, the damage models are pretty tame. To be fair, damage models in racing games often draw the most criticism from players. Rather than being a technical limitation, it is often an edict from car manufacturers to limit or ignore car damage, as they do not want their products displayed in unflattering ways. Unfair or fair, the door-to-door banging racing style of NASCAR racing makes the current damage model more noticeable.

The game truly shines in its audio. The engine and car sounds are top-notch. As is the ambient race atmosphere, background, and crowd sounds. The music in the game is also great, featuring major talent. Case in point, in an excellent mood setter, the game opens with Sweet Home Alabama by Leonard Skynyrd. You are instantly catapulted into the NASCAR racing vibe.

Greater Off-Track Depth

As expected with an annual sports series, rosters and race liveries are updated to the 2026 season. Track-wise, two new tracks have been added to the original roster: Naval Base Coronado in San Diego and St. Petersburg. There is the expected career progression across four series: ARCA, Trucks, Xfinity, and the Cup Series. There are stock cars for each series from Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota.

The 2025 release of the series focused on the on-track gameplay. This release adds more depth to career management. There is an increased depth to team management. Teams can be better customized to your preferences, plus a real bonus feature has been added: you can edit drive ratings. Great news for the more serious players.

The most important aspect for any serious racer is how the controls perform. You can play the game with either a joypad or a steering wheel. It’s great to see wheel support, especially on a console. On the joypad front, another developer again misses the chance to maximize the DualSense controller. On the plus side, the game does use the rumble feature when you crash or hit a wall. Sadly, it does not use the haptic abilities of the triggers. A missed opportunity to add immersion to the gas and brake pedals. The support for wheels is pretty minimal, too. Steering offers centering feedback but provides no road detail.

Gamers are incredible, and their skill to drive with joypads is impressive. No doubt the game is tuned to support joypads and deliver the best driving performance possible. However, precise control remains out of the grasp of a joypad. If you really want precision, real-to-life control, then a steering wheel is highly recommended.

NASCAR 26 Balancing Act

NASCAR 26 pulls off a difficult balancing act. It feels like a serious racing sim without alienating console players who just want to race. NASCAR 26 automates racing options and setups but allows you the leeway to micro-manage them. It is trying to satisfy casual console players and more demanding NASCAR fans at the same time. It performs well overall if you avoid going too deep into the underlying details that hardcore sim racers fuss about.

***PS5 code provided by publisher***

The Good

Solid racing gameplay foundation
Excellent audio for cars and ambience
Peak Performance tutorial great addition

75

The Bad

Poor damage model
Some AI behavior deficiencies
Failure to use DualSense adaptive triggers