Here is a great article in The Athletic by their top beat writer for NASCAR, Jordan Bianchi. I am honored that he sought to interview me for the article, along with a few other guys you've probably heard of. 
It's a long, but very interesting read that I'm sure you will all enjoy.
The legacy of ‘NASCAR Racing,’ the old video game that still influences the sport
By Jordan Bianchi
Rewind nearly two decades and a common occurrence for Dale Earnhardt Jr. was to arrive home from whatever track NASCAR raced at that weekend, walk through the door, drop his bags and almost immediately fire up his desktop computer to begin playing his favorite video game. Often joining him were Martin Truex Jr. and T.J. Majors, the three good friends playing the game nearly every evening for the next four nights only to stop because they needed to head to the next weekend’s race.
Such was Earnhardt’s devotion to the game that not only did he set aside a room in his house dedicated solely to gaming, he
went a step further.
“They make these desks that you can put in the corner of the room — they were kind of shaped like a pie,” Earnhardt said. “So, I figured if you bought four of them you could build an octagon-shaped table and I would have four different stations for sim racing. I also bought four computers, four steering wheels, all identical, and we made a room in my house strictly for sim racing. And we’d get home from the race, then every Sunday night through Thursday that we were home, me, Martin and T.J. and anyone else we might want to invite to that fourth station, we would sit in that room and race. We’d race all night long. It
was a blast.”
The game Earnhardt, Truex, Majors and so many countless others were devoted to was “NASCAR Racing 2003 Season.” That game was the last in the popular “NASCAR Racing” series created by Papyrus, which released the first edition in the fall of 1994 and the last version in February 2003, and is one of the most influential motorsports games in history, still resonating
throughout NASCAR to this day.
“NASCAR Racing” accurately simulated what it was like to drive a Cup, Xfinity (then Busch) or Truck Series vehicle. No other game on the market at the time offered such realism, not to mention a plethora of options that immersed a player in the experience of racing in real life.
When Papyrus first released the game in the mid-1990s, the game’s realism made it revolutionary. And as each subsequent annual version incorporated new features, the game took further root among those seeking a realistic alternative to the vast majority of racing games then offered to consumers.
“It was ahead of its time, just so ahead of its time,” Earnhardt said. “It became such a big part of the user’s life when it came out. I could not believe that I was able to own this, that this existed, that it was in my house and that I could sit down and do this at the drop of a hat. There was nothing else in motorsports, and in gaming in motorsports, that this compared to. And
when you got involved in it, you became immersed in it and obsessed with it and addicted to it that it became such a hard thing
to walk away from.”
Earnhardt first began playing as a teenager living with his older brother, Kerry. It wasn’t long before the game became the central focus of his life; if he wasn’t going to school or working, he was most likely playing “NASCAR Racing.”
“I’m sitting at home when I’m racing and it was amazing. I’m having a blast,” Earnhardt said. “I’m doing it every second of the
day, every moment I can. And when they came out with dialup and you could race multiplayer, you had to call Massachusetts
long distance, and so our phone bill was usually around $20, we never used it, and so the first month I was racing online, I
didn’t know what I was doing. And our first phone bill was like $250. Kerry had a fit.”
Earnhardt’s love for “NASCAR Racing” never subsided, and eventually, occasions arose when he was able to take what he learned virtually and apply it to real-world situations. In a 2004 Xfinity race at Talladega, the preferred line was up against the wall, mirroring a line Earnhardt and Truex knew well from racing virtually on a customized version of Talladega where someone had additional grip up top. Seeing the similarities, the experienced Earnhardt passed along a message to Truex, who was driving for a team owned by Earnhardt and had never raced at Talladega previously.
“Probably one of the coolest things was we used to race at Talladega BR and someone had modified the track where you’d have to run up high against the wall,” Truex said. “And the first time I raced the Busch car at Talladega, Dale came on the radio and he’s like, ‘Talladega BR,’ and I knew to go high. And we went to the front, and I ended up winning the race.” (Earnhardt finished second.)
Among those in the “NASCAR Racing” community, the 2003 version that Earnhardt, Truex and Majors frequently played is especially revered. Partially because this was the final version before EA Sports obtained the exclusive rights to all NASCAR video games, but more so because of the depth of options offered to gamers.
Knowing this was the last year Papyrus could release a game, developers decided to go all out, “NASCAR Racing” lead designer Steve Myers said. This included a pathway where players, using third-party programs, could create their own sophisticated modifications where if someone had the time and ability, they could develop physics for vehicles that extended beyond NASCAR.
This provided an opportunity for gamers to further engross themselves. The community created mods for different forms of racing, adding IndyCar, sports cars, super late models, modifieds and seemingly just about all types of vehicles including NASCAR’s new Next Gen car that was implemented this season.
“Having seen the writing on the wall that this was going to be the end, we did release Sandbox, so that the community could build their own tracks,” Myers said. “And then we kind of snuck those three different physics models into the patch so that people could find it and create cars and mod off those.”
A byproduct of Myers’ decision then was that “NASCAR Racing” hasn’t completely slipped away into the ether, even as other games have come along that offer more realism. A community of players still exists to this day, many of whom remain just as devoted now as they were when the game was last released.
One such devotee is John “J.R.” Franklin, a 70-year-old Florida retiree transplanted from New Hampshire. A NASCAR fan who regularly attended races throughout New England, he was attracted to the accurate simulation of what he watched on the track as a fan sitting in the grandstand.
He first purchased “NASCAR Racing” sometime in the mid-1990s. Before long, Franklin found himself regularly playing. He then explored how to build his own tracks, initially focusing on New England-area short tracks.
When asked how many tracks he’s designed, Franklin laughed. Maybe 30, he said, but he can’t precisely recall. Each track build requires a heavy time commitment. His latest project is an updated version of New Smyrna Speedway, a half-mile short track located not too far from his home in Sorrento. Altogether Franklin estimates he spends on average four to five hours a day doing something related to “NASCAR Racing.”
“There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not sitting at the computer working on a new track or something with regard to the game,” Franklin said. “For a retired guy like myself, this is a great way to keep me busy.”
The contributions by Franklin and others have helped ensure that “NASCAR Racing” continues to have a presence online. But walking through a Cup or Xfinity garage, the legacy of the game takes on a context beyond the virtual world.
Without the game, Majors is adamant he would’ve never made the move from near Buffalo, N.Y., to North Carolina to pursue a career in NASCAR. But through competing online against one another beginning in the late 1990s, he and Earnhardt developed a friendship racing nonstop from around 11 p.m. to the wee hours of the morning multiple times a week. Initially, Majors didn’t know Earnhardt’s identity, only that he and this anonymous player often battled it out for wins.
Once their friendship sparked and he learned Majors’ ambitions, Earnhardt told him his best chance to make it was to move to North Carolina where nearly every prominent team is based. In 2001, three days after Christmas, Earnhardt drove a pickup truck up to New York and helped Majors relocate. Majors would later drive for a team Earnhardt owned at the grassroots level, even winning a few races. He began spotting full-time for Earnhardt in 2008, continuing in that role up until Earnhardt retired after the 2017 season. He now spots for Brad Keselowski and is one of NASCAR’s most well-known spotters.
“I literally would not be where I’m at today without that deal,” Majors said. “Honestly, the coolest part about it, to me, is just the community that has been built up and the opportunities that have been given because of this game. It’s pretty cool to be a kid from a small town in western New York where there were more cows than people in my town, graduated from a class of like 75 kids, never probably really had a chance to get out of there and do anything without some sort of luck or something, and all just by playing a video game, man.”
Majors is just one of many who developed a kinship with Earnhardt via “NASCAR Racing,” then used the game as a jumpingoff point to something bigger. Numerous employees at the Xfinity team Earnhardt co-owns, JR Motorsports, share similar stories. And there are many other folks within the industry who can trace their entry point into NASCAR to racing against Earnhart online.
One of those is Tyler Overstreet. Unlike Majors, Overstreet figured out Earnhardt’s “NASCAR Racing” username and purposely sought to enter online races against Earnhardt. Those races often included the likes of Truex, Majors and Denny Hamlin. Overstreet, then around age 16, got invited to participate in a “Madden” league Earnhardt formed, necessitating that they email to coordinate a time to play.
Armed with Earnhardt’s email address, a few years later Overstreet took a “shot in the dark” and emailed Earnhardt inquiring about a job at JRM. Earnhardt forwarded that email to the appropriate party and Overstreet got an internship, which evolved into a full-time job. He’s now a public relations representative at Joe Gibbs Racing, working closely with JGR drivers Truex and Hamlin.
“It all stemmed from that video game,” Overstreet said. “It’s insane. And not exactly how I thought my career and life was going to play out. But that game kind of put me on this path, and it’s worked out pretty well.”
Said Earnhardt: “One of the best things about being involved in sim racing is the community. I’ve met and made a lot of friends. And the way that this game has created friendships and relationships that have lasted forever is something I never saw coming.”
For a long stretch, “NASCAR Racing” was unquestionably the most realistic NASCAR video game. This distinction now belongs to “iRacing,” a virtual racing simulator so intricate Cup drivers use it to hone their skills on a given track while aspiring drivers without the opportunity to race in real-life use it as a developmental tool. There are now drivers within NASCAR who started their careers by first racing online.
“iRacing” taking the mantle from “NASCAR Racing” is not surprising: When Papyrus shut down in April 2004, almost immediately Myers began working at “iRacing,” which was formed the year prior, and by the end of the summer he had brought much of his former Papyrus team with him. He is currently the game’s executive vice president and executive producer.
Further solidifying the “NASCAR Racing” legacy is that NASCAR is increasingly relying on “iRacing” to virtually test out ideas related to track modifications and whole track-building projects. Two of the most recent projects were designing the layout for the quarter-mile track built inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the proposed road course in downtown Chicago.
Viewing “NASCAR Racing” as the spiritual successor to “iRacing” isn’t an exaggeration. Although the two sims are vastly different due to technological advancements, in many respects they share several similarities that make them intertwined.
“There isn’t a person that’s racing in the top three series of NASCAR that probably hasn’t played one of our games or grew up playing our games at this point,” Myers said. “Guys who used our products are now going into the (NASCAR) Hall of Fame. There is now a generation of drivers in the top three series that have never known a time where a product like that didn’t exist.”
Video games have come a long way over the years. Few actually stand the test of time.
“NASCAR Racing” is an exception. Those who played it when it was first released recognized this at that moment. And that appreciation has only grown deeper over the years.
“It was like stamping time for something changing drastically,” Truex said. “A monumental moment was for that game to come out and it kept going and going and going and those guys still have it going. Pretty cool.”
Jordan Bianchi is a motorsports reporter for The Athletic. He is a veteran sports reporter, having covered the NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball, college basketball, college football, NASCAR, IndyCar and sports business for several outlets. Follow Jordan on Twitter @jordan_bianchi
It's a long, but very interesting read that I'm sure you will all enjoy.
The legacy of ‘NASCAR Racing,’ the old video game that still influences the sport
By Jordan Bianchi
Rewind nearly two decades and a common occurrence for Dale Earnhardt Jr. was to arrive home from whatever track NASCAR raced at that weekend, walk through the door, drop his bags and almost immediately fire up his desktop computer to begin playing his favorite video game. Often joining him were Martin Truex Jr. and T.J. Majors, the three good friends playing the game nearly every evening for the next four nights only to stop because they needed to head to the next weekend’s race.
Such was Earnhardt’s devotion to the game that not only did he set aside a room in his house dedicated solely to gaming, he
went a step further.
“They make these desks that you can put in the corner of the room — they were kind of shaped like a pie,” Earnhardt said. “So, I figured if you bought four of them you could build an octagon-shaped table and I would have four different stations for sim racing. I also bought four computers, four steering wheels, all identical, and we made a room in my house strictly for sim racing. And we’d get home from the race, then every Sunday night through Thursday that we were home, me, Martin and T.J. and anyone else we might want to invite to that fourth station, we would sit in that room and race. We’d race all night long. It
was a blast.”
The game Earnhardt, Truex, Majors and so many countless others were devoted to was “NASCAR Racing 2003 Season.” That game was the last in the popular “NASCAR Racing” series created by Papyrus, which released the first edition in the fall of 1994 and the last version in February 2003, and is one of the most influential motorsports games in history, still resonating
throughout NASCAR to this day.
“NASCAR Racing” accurately simulated what it was like to drive a Cup, Xfinity (then Busch) or Truck Series vehicle. No other game on the market at the time offered such realism, not to mention a plethora of options that immersed a player in the experience of racing in real life.
When Papyrus first released the game in the mid-1990s, the game’s realism made it revolutionary. And as each subsequent annual version incorporated new features, the game took further root among those seeking a realistic alternative to the vast majority of racing games then offered to consumers.
“It was ahead of its time, just so ahead of its time,” Earnhardt said. “It became such a big part of the user’s life when it came out. I could not believe that I was able to own this, that this existed, that it was in my house and that I could sit down and do this at the drop of a hat. There was nothing else in motorsports, and in gaming in motorsports, that this compared to. And
when you got involved in it, you became immersed in it and obsessed with it and addicted to it that it became such a hard thing
to walk away from.”
Earnhardt first began playing as a teenager living with his older brother, Kerry. It wasn’t long before the game became the central focus of his life; if he wasn’t going to school or working, he was most likely playing “NASCAR Racing.”
“I’m sitting at home when I’m racing and it was amazing. I’m having a blast,” Earnhardt said. “I’m doing it every second of the
day, every moment I can. And when they came out with dialup and you could race multiplayer, you had to call Massachusetts
long distance, and so our phone bill was usually around $20, we never used it, and so the first month I was racing online, I
didn’t know what I was doing. And our first phone bill was like $250. Kerry had a fit.”
Earnhardt’s love for “NASCAR Racing” never subsided, and eventually, occasions arose when he was able to take what he learned virtually and apply it to real-world situations. In a 2004 Xfinity race at Talladega, the preferred line was up against the wall, mirroring a line Earnhardt and Truex knew well from racing virtually on a customized version of Talladega where someone had additional grip up top. Seeing the similarities, the experienced Earnhardt passed along a message to Truex, who was driving for a team owned by Earnhardt and had never raced at Talladega previously.
“Probably one of the coolest things was we used to race at Talladega BR and someone had modified the track where you’d have to run up high against the wall,” Truex said. “And the first time I raced the Busch car at Talladega, Dale came on the radio and he’s like, ‘Talladega BR,’ and I knew to go high. And we went to the front, and I ended up winning the race.” (Earnhardt finished second.)
Among those in the “NASCAR Racing” community, the 2003 version that Earnhardt, Truex and Majors frequently played is especially revered. Partially because this was the final version before EA Sports obtained the exclusive rights to all NASCAR video games, but more so because of the depth of options offered to gamers.
Knowing this was the last year Papyrus could release a game, developers decided to go all out, “NASCAR Racing” lead designer Steve Myers said. This included a pathway where players, using third-party programs, could create their own sophisticated modifications where if someone had the time and ability, they could develop physics for vehicles that extended beyond NASCAR.
This provided an opportunity for gamers to further engross themselves. The community created mods for different forms of racing, adding IndyCar, sports cars, super late models, modifieds and seemingly just about all types of vehicles including NASCAR’s new Next Gen car that was implemented this season.
“Having seen the writing on the wall that this was going to be the end, we did release Sandbox, so that the community could build their own tracks,” Myers said. “And then we kind of snuck those three different physics models into the patch so that people could find it and create cars and mod off those.”
A byproduct of Myers’ decision then was that “NASCAR Racing” hasn’t completely slipped away into the ether, even as other games have come along that offer more realism. A community of players still exists to this day, many of whom remain just as devoted now as they were when the game was last released.
One such devotee is John “J.R.” Franklin, a 70-year-old Florida retiree transplanted from New Hampshire. A NASCAR fan who regularly attended races throughout New England, he was attracted to the accurate simulation of what he watched on the track as a fan sitting in the grandstand.
He first purchased “NASCAR Racing” sometime in the mid-1990s. Before long, Franklin found himself regularly playing. He then explored how to build his own tracks, initially focusing on New England-area short tracks.
When asked how many tracks he’s designed, Franklin laughed. Maybe 30, he said, but he can’t precisely recall. Each track build requires a heavy time commitment. His latest project is an updated version of New Smyrna Speedway, a half-mile short track located not too far from his home in Sorrento. Altogether Franklin estimates he spends on average four to five hours a day doing something related to “NASCAR Racing.”
“There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not sitting at the computer working on a new track or something with regard to the game,” Franklin said. “For a retired guy like myself, this is a great way to keep me busy.”
The contributions by Franklin and others have helped ensure that “NASCAR Racing” continues to have a presence online. But walking through a Cup or Xfinity garage, the legacy of the game takes on a context beyond the virtual world.
Without the game, Majors is adamant he would’ve never made the move from near Buffalo, N.Y., to North Carolina to pursue a career in NASCAR. But through competing online against one another beginning in the late 1990s, he and Earnhardt developed a friendship racing nonstop from around 11 p.m. to the wee hours of the morning multiple times a week. Initially, Majors didn’t know Earnhardt’s identity, only that he and this anonymous player often battled it out for wins.
Once their friendship sparked and he learned Majors’ ambitions, Earnhardt told him his best chance to make it was to move to North Carolina where nearly every prominent team is based. In 2001, three days after Christmas, Earnhardt drove a pickup truck up to New York and helped Majors relocate. Majors would later drive for a team Earnhardt owned at the grassroots level, even winning a few races. He began spotting full-time for Earnhardt in 2008, continuing in that role up until Earnhardt retired after the 2017 season. He now spots for Brad Keselowski and is one of NASCAR’s most well-known spotters.
“I literally would not be where I’m at today without that deal,” Majors said. “Honestly, the coolest part about it, to me, is just the community that has been built up and the opportunities that have been given because of this game. It’s pretty cool to be a kid from a small town in western New York where there were more cows than people in my town, graduated from a class of like 75 kids, never probably really had a chance to get out of there and do anything without some sort of luck or something, and all just by playing a video game, man.”
Majors is just one of many who developed a kinship with Earnhardt via “NASCAR Racing,” then used the game as a jumpingoff point to something bigger. Numerous employees at the Xfinity team Earnhardt co-owns, JR Motorsports, share similar stories. And there are many other folks within the industry who can trace their entry point into NASCAR to racing against Earnhart online.
One of those is Tyler Overstreet. Unlike Majors, Overstreet figured out Earnhardt’s “NASCAR Racing” username and purposely sought to enter online races against Earnhardt. Those races often included the likes of Truex, Majors and Denny Hamlin. Overstreet, then around age 16, got invited to participate in a “Madden” league Earnhardt formed, necessitating that they email to coordinate a time to play.
Armed with Earnhardt’s email address, a few years later Overstreet took a “shot in the dark” and emailed Earnhardt inquiring about a job at JRM. Earnhardt forwarded that email to the appropriate party and Overstreet got an internship, which evolved into a full-time job. He’s now a public relations representative at Joe Gibbs Racing, working closely with JGR drivers Truex and Hamlin.
“It all stemmed from that video game,” Overstreet said. “It’s insane. And not exactly how I thought my career and life was going to play out. But that game kind of put me on this path, and it’s worked out pretty well.”
Said Earnhardt: “One of the best things about being involved in sim racing is the community. I’ve met and made a lot of friends. And the way that this game has created friendships and relationships that have lasted forever is something I never saw coming.”
For a long stretch, “NASCAR Racing” was unquestionably the most realistic NASCAR video game. This distinction now belongs to “iRacing,” a virtual racing simulator so intricate Cup drivers use it to hone their skills on a given track while aspiring drivers without the opportunity to race in real-life use it as a developmental tool. There are now drivers within NASCAR who started their careers by first racing online.
“iRacing” taking the mantle from “NASCAR Racing” is not surprising: When Papyrus shut down in April 2004, almost immediately Myers began working at “iRacing,” which was formed the year prior, and by the end of the summer he had brought much of his former Papyrus team with him. He is currently the game’s executive vice president and executive producer.
Further solidifying the “NASCAR Racing” legacy is that NASCAR is increasingly relying on “iRacing” to virtually test out ideas related to track modifications and whole track-building projects. Two of the most recent projects were designing the layout for the quarter-mile track built inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the proposed road course in downtown Chicago.
Viewing “NASCAR Racing” as the spiritual successor to “iRacing” isn’t an exaggeration. Although the two sims are vastly different due to technological advancements, in many respects they share several similarities that make them intertwined.
“There isn’t a person that’s racing in the top three series of NASCAR that probably hasn’t played one of our games or grew up playing our games at this point,” Myers said. “Guys who used our products are now going into the (NASCAR) Hall of Fame. There is now a generation of drivers in the top three series that have never known a time where a product like that didn’t exist.”
Video games have come a long way over the years. Few actually stand the test of time.
“NASCAR Racing” is an exception. Those who played it when it was first released recognized this at that moment. And that appreciation has only grown deeper over the years.
“It was like stamping time for something changing drastically,” Truex said. “A monumental moment was for that game to come out and it kept going and going and going and those guys still have it going. Pretty cool.”
Jordan Bianchi is a motorsports reporter for The Athletic. He is a veteran sports reporter, having covered the NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball, college basketball, college football, NASCAR, IndyCar and sports business for several outlets. Follow Jordan on Twitter @jordan_bianchi
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