NASCAR Racing
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- This is about a NASCAR computer game. For the series, see NASCAR
| NASCAR Racing | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Papyrus Design Group |
| Publisher(s) | Papyrus Design Group, Sierra |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS, Macintosh, Playstation, |
| Release | 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | Single Player, Multiplayer using modem |
The NASCAR Racing series of video games, developed by Papyrus, started in 1994 and ended with the release of NASCAR Racing 2003 Season in 2003. Later NASCAR games were released by Electronic Arts who, through their EA Sports brand, took over the official NASCAR license. This article deals with the original series release, NASCAR Racing.
NASCAR Racing was released in the fall of 1994 for MS-DOS personal computers. It featured more than 25 of the 40 regular drivers in the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup season. Notable absences included Dale Earnhardt (who would go on to win the Winston Cup that year), Bill Elliott, Dale Jarrett, Kyle Petty and Darrell Waltrip, although the latter's brother, Michael, was included.
The game let the player race with up to 38 other cars (32 on shorter tracks like Bristol and Martinsville) and it also offered multiplayer action via direct links (one computer connected to another via a LAN) and also through an online system owned by Papyrus called Hawaii.
The CD-ROM version of the game also offered a SVGA graphics mode which was accessible through the command prompt (by entering "nascar -h"), but it was too demanding for many of the computers of its age, mostly 486 and early Pentium PCs. A hardware accelerated version was later created and bundled with the Matrox Mystique video card.
Tracks
NASCAR Racing included the following tracks:
- Atlanta Motor Speedway
- Bristol Motor Speedway
- Darlington Raceway
- Loudon (New Hampshire Motor Speedway)
- Martinsville Speedway
- Michigan International Speedway
- Phoenix International Raceway
- Talladega Superspeedway
- Watkins Glen International
Track Expansion Pack
A track expansion pack, released in 1995, added many more officially licensed tracks, including:
- Charlotte (now Lowe's Motor Speedway)
- Dover Downs (now Dover International Speedway)
- North Wilkesboro Speedway
- Pocono Raceway
- Richmond International Raceway
- Rockingham Speedway
- Sears Point (now Infineon Raceway)
Neither Daytona nor Indianapolis (where the Brickyard 400 was first held the year NASCAR Racing was released) were ever officially offered from Papyrus for the game.
Realism
Damage was realistically modeled, but could be turned off to make the player's car indestructible. Yellow flags could also be turned off and players could run any race distances of their choosing.
As previously noted, the game contained many real-life drivers. This was in stark contrast to early releases, which usually featured a single real-life personality and a bevy of fictional drivers. The game was also the first stock car racing simulator to include real sponsors on their respective cars.
NASCAR Racing also gave players the ability to set up their car in a realistic manner, be it adjusting the airdam height, rear spoiler angle, gear ratios, shocks, tire pressures and more.
Customization
A separate program called the Paintkit was included with NASCAR Racing, which allowed users to design their own race cars and import them into the game. As well as this, players could change the car type (Chevrolet Lumina, Ford Thunderbird or Pontiac Grand Prix) and the brand of tires used (Goodyear or Hoosier).
Soundtrack
Former racer-turned-broadcaster, Ned Jarrett loaned his voice to the game's title sequence, saying, "I'm Ned Jarrett. From Papyrus, this is NASCAR Racing." These were the only spoken words heard in the game as there was no in-race commentary or communication from the crew chief.
Music for the game was provided by members of Skid Row, including bass player Rachel Bolan who also appeared in the game as a driver of a green-and-purple #00 car with the letters "RB" on the hood.
Modifications
Several mods were made available through various websites, including updated NASCAR seasons and car shapes, the Rolex 24 Hour cars (with 3 car shapes), classic NASCAR seasons, Touring Cars and more.
Users created versions of Daytona Int'l Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway - edited from versions produced by Papyrus for later NASCAR Racing releases such as NASCAR 3 - for use in NASCAR 2.
Numerous utilities were developed for NASCAR Racing too, including AI editors, season editors and track editors.