NASCAR 25’s expansive career mode detailed, PC release confirmed

A third NASCAR 25 development update has been issued, alongside a set of fresh images, as the official game of America’s premier stock car motorsport nears completion.

This time, the single-player career mode is the focus. It follows the previous announcement that the ARCA Menards Series will be represented alongside the Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series and premier Cup Series.

Created by Monster Games under the stewardship of PC racing simulation iRacing, presumably the ARCA vehicles in the NASCAR 25 game will borrow the car models from the sim, which are being re-made for a March 2025 launch.

In this career mode, it is stated that your path begins in ARCA before making your way up the career ladder.

This will be visually represented by your garage setting, rising through four types, from something resembling the rear of an old gas station, to a larger building, then creating your own shop in Xfinity before entering the “Taj Mahal of raceshops,” according to Troy Harder, Lead Artist.

Balancing act

In-game user interface shots show some example tasks that presumably appear in between race events. So far, each has two options to pick from – one that could enhance your REP (so reputation) and one that boosts your overall ‘WP’ level.

Cash and ‘RD’ levels are also seen in the UI – seeing how these four levels work together will be key to a satisfying sense of progression.

“You’ll have to balance building your reputation and brand, and being successful on the racetrack,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr, the motorsport competitor turned NASCAR media personality and podcaster who is an Executive Director at iRacing.

“If you want to just concentrate on being a driver you can do that while mildly being involved in some of the decision-making, but if you want to get in there and manage every last little detail, you’re going to be able to do that as well,” said Mike Devault, Lead UX: Art and Design.

The menu screens also show off some form of sponsorship management system, alongside staff control and a profit and loss screen. Contextual social media posts will crop up, sounding analogous to the F1 game’s Braking Point mode or the current MotoGP game’s career offering.

The development team also talks about a driver’s relationship with their spotter “making it feel less like a UI screen, and more like an interaction between you and them,” although it’s not clear how, yet.

PC confirmed

When NASCAR 25 is released “this fall”, it has not been locked in that it would also make it to PC alongside consoles, by dint of Monster Games’ last title, the World of Outlaws games, not making it to that platform initially.

However, Dirt Racing ‘24 did just make it to PC, via Steam, and the press release Traxion received about today’s NASCAR 25 announcements reads: “Coming to PC and consoles this fall.”

Perhaps of note, steering wheels by both Logitech and Thrustmaster appeared in the latest background of the development progress video – hopefully, the game features robust wheel support to go alongside gamepad.