Having played nearly every NASCAR game since Papyrus' NASCAR Racing from 1996, NASCAR Heat 4 is an interesting game. If there is one thing it excels at it is capturing some of the spectacle of the sport. It has images of nearly all the drivers in the top three series of the sport, as well as accurate paint schemes and teams. I particularly like the way they use actual NASCAR footage in the background of all the menus. It really looks slick and gets you excited, especially if you are already a fan of the sport.
However, the truth is the NASCAR games have evolved painfully slow on consoles. This is certainly no competitor to the pseudo-realistic physics of iRacing. But PC sims are expensive and for some simply not reasonable. Further, iRacing lacks any single-player career mode (just recently they enabled the ability to participate in AI races). Indeed, career mode is the real contribution of this game. It allows you to race your way up from dirt to the Cup series. As you progress you will get the opportunity to sign contracts with interested teams or even build your own. Further, how you race your competitors will lead to fake Twitter-like exchanges and ongoing reputation tracking with each individual driver you race against. It's a bit simplistic, but fun and does give some extra life to the game.
That said, the progression system (dirt late models, trucks, Xfinity, and then Cup series) is a bit inaccurate and misleading. First off, the dirt late model series presented here is largely made up of fictional tracks and drivers. It's also a bit out of place given most young NASCAR drivers will work their way up through the ARCA series. While some drivers have dirt experience it would be a stretch to imply this is a normal part of driver progression in pavement racing. Dirt even has its own (in a sense) progression system leading up to the World of Outlaws, with no connection to NASCAR whatsoever. So I find the inclusion of this fictional late model series a bit bizarre. It is a fun diversion though and provides some much needed variety. I believe Sprint Cars would have been more appropriate given several prominent NASCAR drivers are actively driving them (e.g., Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne).
In terms of physics the game overall feels flat and arcade-like. In terms of graphics, while the cars look quite good the overall view seems washed out (especially in the distance). Shadows also appear pixelated. Nonetheless, for a fun time it's certainly serviceable. If there is one thing iRacing could learn from NASCAR Heat 4 (as well as F1 2019) it is how to build a fun single-player career experience (unfortunately, it seems to be of little priority). There is one issue with career mode, it shouldn't go past one year given the sport changes so much from one year to the next. I'm not a fan of the multi-year career mode given it doesn't make any attempt to mirror the evolution of the sport. That is something I'd really like to see changed, especially since they release so many of these. Frankly, I only played this title because it was available through PS Now.