Clear improvement over NASCAR 25
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“everything is better and it's superior to the previous game in just about every way.”
Steam review · 2.8 h played ↗
iRacing® Studios NASCAR 26
Worth buying? What 217 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 217 Steam reviews actually say.
Mostly Positive · 77%Mostly Positive · 77%iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations, LLC2026Racing · Driving · Simulation
$59.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 5 h ago
The verdict
A solid but incremental NASCAR sequel with great on-track feel, dynamic track wear and crossplay. Skip it at $60 if you own NASCAR 25 or want deep career, damage and wheel FFB polish.
Great for
NASCAR fans new to the series who want sim-cade racing with career mode, crossplay and controller or wheel
Main risk
Feels like a near-identical $60 roster update to NASCAR 25 with the same AI, career and damage flaws
What players love
Improved graphics and lighting
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“Excellent graphics. Big improvement from Nascar 25.”
Steam review · 10.1 h played ↗
Great driving physics and force feedback
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“FFB is actually giving you info and driving on the edge feels way more intuitive.”
Steam review · 1.8 h played ↗
Dynamic track wear
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“Dynamic track is neat and keeps longer races fresh.”
Steam review · 26.1 h played ↗
Crossplay and active online lobbies
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“thank you for crossplay, online play feels so much better with much more active lobbies.”
Steam review · 10.7 h played ↗
Runs on Steam Deck and modest hardware
Mentioned in ~1 in 19 positive reviews
“Appreciate that this years entry works on Steam Deck in SteamOS and is very playable.”
Steam review · 0.8 h played ↗
What players complain about
Too similar to NASCAR 25 for $60
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“It is the EXACT same game as NASCAR 25.”
Steam review · 0.9 h played ↗
Poor AI that sticks to its line
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“they refuse to budge from their race line no matter how much faster, or slower, you are.”
Steam review · 3.9 h played ↗
Shallow, buggy career mode
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“Career Mode is a joke. I mean laughably bad.”
Steam review · 10.6 h played ↗
Wheel FFB broken or shaking
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“greeted by a violently shaking steering wheel.”
Steam review · 0.9 h played ↗
Crashes, errors and lost saves
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“i consistently get a "fatal error" message after maybe 20-30 minutes of gameplay”
Steam review · 12 h played ↗
Weak damage model and crash physics
Mentioned in ~1 in 10 negative reviews
“if someone goes into the wall at 100mph the car isn’t just gonna have a small dent on the bumper and be fine”
Steam review · 29.3 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable65 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 10 64-Bit, Windows 11 64-Bit
Processor4 core CPU or better – Some examples (but not limited to): AMD FX-6300, Intel Core i5-4430, Intel Core i5-2320, AMD Ryzen 3 1200
Memory16 GB RAM
GraphicsA gaming graphics card with at least 4GB of DEDICATED memory – Some examples (but not limited to): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon 570 or better
Storage65 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 10 64-Bit, Windows 11 64-Bit
Processor8 core or more CPU (some examples but not limited to: Intel Core 9-10980XE @ 3.0GHz, Intel Core i9-9900KS @ 4.00GHz, AMD Ryzen 9 3900X, or AMD Ryzen 9 3950X)
Memory32 GB RAM
GraphicsGaming graphics card with at least 8GB of DEDICATED memory (some examples but not limited to Nvidia 2080 TI or AMD Radeon VII)
Storage100 GB available space
OSWindows 10 64-Bit, Windows 11 64-Bit
Processor4 core CPU or better – Some examples (but not limited to): AMD FX-6300, Intel Core i5-4430, Intel Core i5-2320, AMD Ryzen 3 1200
Memory16 GB RAM
GraphicsA gaming graphics card with at least 4GB of DEDICATED memory – Some examples (but not limited to): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon 570 or better
Storage65 GB available space
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