iRacing -- The Next Step for NASCAR Gaming?

Among its current roster of road and kart courses, iRacing currently includes 25 oval racing circuits, including superspeedways like Talladega and short tracks like Bristol. The developers are currently working on rounding out the Sprint Cup Series track list, said Kaemmer. "We currently have built or are in the process of building all of the International Speedway Corp (ISC) and Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) tracks. Pocono, Indy and Dover are the only three independent tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit. We're in the process of building Pocono and we're in discussions with the other two."

Creating those courses involves a painstaking process of laser scanning that Kaemmer says requires the developers to only process only about a half-mile of track per day. As a result, it can take months to build a completed track. The result, Kaemmer says, are "millimeter-accurate virtual tracks", and it's that feature--along with realistic car handling and physics--that the game hangs its racing helmet on.

Ironically, it seems that iRacing's challenging realism might pose a problem for casual NASCAR fans looking to take a spin. With no new NASCAR videogame on the horizon in 2009, fans' only near-term option (beyond dipping in the back catalog) will be iRacing, a game whose reputation of demanding accuracy might turn off the casual drivers. How do Kaemmer & company plan on addressing the needs of the laid-back racers as well as the hardcore crowd? In a word: licenses.

"We assume that everyone who joins iRacing is a novice racer, at least in the virtual world, so the game is designed to be welcoming to new players while remaining committed to serious racing," said Kaemmer. "Our realism means that if you're in it for big crashes and fooling around, this probably isn't the game for you. And that's OK.

"While any member can drive any car in the iRacing garage, including the cars for NASCAR's top three divisions--NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Series--on any track in our inventory, you can only compete in officially-sanctioned multi-car events if you hold the appropriate license. All of our members begin on the oval-racing side of the service as rookies in a Legends Car and then, as their skills improve, they move up through the Late Model, etc. As they become more proficient in races and demonstrate their ability to drive safely with others, they will gain higher grade licenses, enabling them to race in faster and more demanding cars."

When asked if EA's decision not to release a NASCAR game this year affected (or accelerated) the relationship between NASCAR and iRacing, Kaemmer is adamant: "Not at all. We've always been oriented to the PC, and addressing an audience that is looking for fun--but serious fun. We're looking for members who find it fun to learn new skills and who are willing to make a longer-term commitment to the activity. It's more like taking up skiing or tennis, rather than going through the traditional console game lifecycle of a few weeks."

Of course, just like that skiing or tennis hobby, playing iRacing will cost you. Unlike most racing games, iRacing is based on a subscription model, which grants the user basic access to the game and a handful of cars and tracks. Members pay extra for access to additional cars and the lion's share of the extra tracks in the game but, as Kaemmer explains, access to the NASCAR online series won't cost anything extra: "We won't raise prices. There will be no additional fees to participate in any of the NASCAR-sanctioned series on iRacing beyond the regular membership charges. It's just another level of competition available to our members."

And unlike tennis or skiing, you can't injure yourself playing iRacing.

[UPDATE] I contacted NASCAR officials for a comment on the iRacing partnership and here's what Blake Davidson, NASCAR Managing Director, Licensed Products, had to say:

"We have known Dave Kaemmer, the co-founder of iRacing for nearly 15 years, dating back to when he was at Papyrus and created one of the first NASCAR-sim games for the PC. Our late former chairman, Bill France Jr., had the original vision more than 10 years ago to develop a NASCAR-sanctioned online series that people from all over the world could experience from their own homes. We made an initial attempt in 1998, but the technology was not advanced enough to provide for a positive user experience. We have been in contact with iRacing for the last several years and followed their progress closely. We are very excited that the their technology, coupled with the expansion of broadband connectivity has now given us the opportunity to form this partnership."

I also asked Blake about how EA Sports' decision not to release a console NASCAR game this year affected the iRacing partnership. His response:

"EA did release NASCAR Kart Racing on the Wii earlier this year, at title that we continue to be very excited about. However with regard to the other console platforms, we view what iRacing does as being very different from the console gaming offerings. Therefore, EA NASCAR's products played did not play a role in our decision to partner with iRacing."

--

What do you think of iRacing's partnership with NASCAR? Do you think NASCAR games have a future on consoles? Let me know what you think in the comments below…