What's the best NASCAR game ever made?

[dasherHampton]

I was thinking about game genres I've never tried and NASCAR immediately came to mind. I've played lots of F1 and casual driving games but I've never even played a second of a NASCAR game on either PC or console.

Most importantly - does the format translate to gaming? In F1 every lap is a test of concentration (on higher levels of difficulty, at least) but NASCAR is basically going around ovals for a few hundred laps. It is actual "fun" to drive in circles repeatedly while trying to stay on the right line?

I have a three monitor setup with a good GPU so I don't see any limitations there and older graphics don't bother me a bit. I played some F1 2001 pretty recently and the visuals were fine to my eyes. I bet I could stomach a game from the 90's without any eye vomit.

So, is there a consensus "greatest NASCAR game ever", considering all factors like AI, driving era, pure "fun factor", and pitstops that are a challenge but not ridiculous?

 

[Zenoth]

The game I'm seeing popping up the most on Google with some searching on this is NASCAR Racing 2003 Season (PC exclusive it seems). There's two or three others that come up often enough, too. Like NASCAR Thunder 2004, or even one that I played myself long ago, namely NASCAR Rumble.

But I'm a nostalgic sometimes so I'll go with my good ol' arcade version of Daytona USA for a personal pick (I don't know enough about NASCAR in general to have a viable opinion about the other ones I mentioned except Rumble, that one I did like a lot but only rented it maybe two times). And who wouldn't remember the best song ever sung for starting a race?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmv4cLKyML8

Ahhh yes, yes my friends; good times, they were.

 

[shortylickens]

Since I dont particularly care: The NASCAR expansion in FM6.

 

[dasherHampton]

That Daytona game looks fun as hell. I wonder if the ROM is out there somewhere; does Sega even care enough about the old stuff to have it taken down?

The graphics remind me of the first racing game I ever played: Ridge Racer. Beating the mysterious back car was an obsession of mine.

So you played NASCAR games? Did you have fun going around in circles for hundreds of laps? I used to play 1/2 length F1 races.They would take like half an hour to complete.