NASCAR ‘26 | PS5 Review

Another month has arrived, I still love racing games,  and I have been tempted with the next installment of the NASCAR franchise from our trusted friends at iRacing. NASCAR ’26 is the newest version promising more than just simple roster upgrades. We’re getting quality of life upgrades galore. But did I notice them?

If you recall, I love all forms of racing games. I am in the same NASCAR league that I’ve been in since 2017; we started on PS4 before moving to iRacing a few years back when NASCAR Heat 5 underwhelmed all of us. I wrote a review on NASCAR ’25 back in December and was excited to see what iRacing Studios would bring to us in 2026. 

Career Mode: From Start-Up to Domination

Career Mode returns with more to do between races. While NASCAR ’25 already had a solid foundation, NASCAR ’26 adds more systems to make the career feel like more than simply moving from one race to the next. Facility upgrades and hiring personnel to elevate your team give you a reason to pay attention to what happens away from the track, and more importantly, those upgrades have an immediate impact on your performance.

When I started my career, I was lucky to finish in the top 30. After making some upgrades and hiring the right personnel, I started challenging for top 20 finishes, then top 10s. By Race 12 of the season, I was challenging for wins and, in some cases, downright dominating. That sense of progression is exactly what I want from a career mode. I could see the work I was putting into my team paying off when I got back behind the wheel.

The Training and Performance Center adds another nice touch. High-quality videos featuring NASCAR crew chief legend Steve Letarte provide advice on setups and handling at different tracks, while Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray offers in-the-seat advice from the track. These videos are more than just filler between races. They provide useful information while giving the career mode some personality.

Between some races, the panel from the excellent NASCAR podcast Door Bumper Clear, sometimes including Dale Earnhardt Jr., also chimes in on the progress of my team and career. These appearances help make the season feel like an ongoing story rather than a collection of disconnected races.

The racing ladder remains one of the best parts of the experience. Moving between the different series still gives each step of the career its own feel, and the cars require different approaches. The jump from one series to another is noticeable, which helps keep the career from becoming a repetitive string of races. 

Gameplay: Keep It On the Racing Line

If you played NASCAR ’25, you will feel comfortable behind the wheel almost immediately. That is not necessarily a bad thing. The cars still have the weight and handling that made the previous game such a pleasant surprise, but there are some changes once you start paying attention to how the cars react.

Braking is one of those changes that I noticed quickly. The brakes feel much touchier than I remember from NASCAR ’25. The analog shoulder buttons on the PS5 controller attempt to recreate the feeling of pressure on the brake pedal, but I found it far too easy to lock the brakes. When the brakes lock, the tires stop turning, which means you stop turning as well. Hello, wall!

It took some adjustment, but once I learned to be more careful with the brake pedal, I appreciated the additional control it gave me. It adds another layer to getting a corner right, especially when you’re trying to carry speed without destroying the tires or overshooting the turn.

Tuning: Get Your Setup Together

Tuning also plays a bigger role than it did in my experience with NASCAR ’25. NASCAR ’26 allows you to adjust a wide range of settings, including brake bias, wedge, camber, tire pressure, and spring rate. These aren’t just numbers sitting in a menu for the sake of making the game look like a simulator. Changing the setup can have a noticeable effect on how the car behaves.

For someone like me who spends time racing on iRacing, I appreciate having this level of control. At the same time, you do not need to become a professional crew chief to enjoy the game. You can make basic adjustments and learn as you go, or dive deeper into the setup options if that is your thing.

Dynamic Track is another one of the bigger additions to NASCAR ’26. The racing surface changes throughout the weekend and during a race as rubber builds up and conditions change. It adds another variable to consider and can change how you approach a track as the race progresses.

The AI has also seen improvements, although this is one area where I still found myself shaking my head from time to time. In my NASCAR ’25 review, I complained about computer-controlled drivers making questionable decisions that could turn a clean race into a wreck. NASCAR ’26 is better in some areas, but there are still problems.

When I am lapping slower cars, the AI drivers still tend to follow the racing line regardless of where I am. That means they can drive directly into me rather than moving out of the way. Even more amusingly, they will sometimes complain about me on the game’s version of social media after the race. Apparently, getting wrecked by a lapped car is my fault.

The racing itself remains enjoyable, though. The cars feel responsive, the different series have their own characteristics, and the overall experience continues to sit somewhere between an arcade racer and a full simulator. It is accessible enough for someone who simply wants to race, while offering enough tuning and driving options for more experienced players to dig deeper.

Sound and Graphics: Turn It Up    

If you were hoping for a massive visual leap over NASCAR ’25, you may be disappointed. The game looks familiar, and that is not necessarily a criticism. NASCAR ’25 already looked good, so there was less room for iRacing Studios to make a dramatic improvement.

The cars still look great, the tracks have plenty of detail, and the sense of speed remains one of the game’s strengths. The lighting and track surfaces help sell the feeling that you are driving a real race car instead of moving a vehicle around a video game track. I especially loved the twilight-to-night transitions during the race. That eerie orange glow of the setting sun, combined with those strange shadows created by the light being so low on the horizon, is perfectly recreated here. I looked forward to every night race.

The presentation benefits from the PS5 hardware as well. Races remain smooth, and I did not run into the performance problems that can quickly ruin a racing game. When you are racing three-wide into a corner, the last thing you want is the game struggling to keep up.

The sound remains one of my favorite parts of the series. The engines have the growl and weight I expect from a NASCAR game, while tire noise gives you another indication of what the car is doing. The sound design continues to make the racing feel more alive. I recommend wearing headphones or, if you have one, bumping up the bass on your subwoofer. It enhances the feeling that you’re in the race car.

Final Verdict – NASCAR ’26 

NASCAR ’26 is an interesting follow-up to NASCAR ’25 because it does not attempt to reinvent what worked. Instead, iRacing Studios has spent another year improving the foundation it built with the previous game.

The differences may be harder to spot at first, but spend some time racing and the improvements start to add up. The driving feels refined, the career has more depth, Dynamic Track adds another variable to racing, and the additional tuning options give experienced players more control over their cars.

In terms of comparing the two games, I would give NASCAR ’26 the edge simply because of these improvements. However, the everyday gamer who just wants to play a racing game may not notice them as much as I did. If you are coming from NASCAR ’25 and have spent a lot of time with it, the changes are easier to appreciate because you know what you are comparing them against.

To hear me talk more about NASCAR ’26, be sure to listen to the October 6th episode of The Gaming Outsider Podcast.

This review is based on a PS5 demo of NASCAR ’26 provided by Sandbox Strategies for coverage purposes. The game is also available on Xbox and PC.