There’s one sim racing platform that has dominated oval series for years, and that’s expanding as iRacing partners with the NASCAR Euro Series.
The combination of V8 stock cars and European circuits has been around since 2008 under various names, becoming an officially sanctioned series in 2012. EuroNASCAR cars and engines are built by Team FJ badged as various manufacturers, with 5.7 litre V8 engines, four speed manual or sequential gearboxes, and a power output of 450hp.
Two championships, EuroNASCAR Pro and EuroNASCAR 2 run at circuits across Europe, and the 2025 calendar includes Brands Hatch, Oschersleben and Zolder, which are already available on iRacing. It also runs at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain, which is confirmed as coming to iRacing in the future, along with Vallelunga and Most.
“We’re thrilled to partner with iRacing and give our fans, drivers, and simracers the opportunity to experience the unique feel of a EuroNASCAR car,” said Jerome Galpin, President of the NASCAR Euro Series. “This collaboration is a fantastic way to share our vision of Pure Racing with a global audience and open the door to new talents and future champions.”
“We have a long and deep relationship with NASCAR and we are excited to extend our partnership to the NASCAR Euro Series brand of motorsport. Our global membership of 325,000 members is going to love racing the V8 powered cars at some of Europe’s finest tracks on iRacing”, said Tony Gardner, iRacing president. “The iRacing community has been following the NASCAR Euro Series with great interest as one of our pro eSports drivers in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, Garrett Lowe, made the step from sim racer to real world racer this season, debuting in the series at Valencia this past April – now all of members will be able to experience the series for themselves.
As part of the partnership, all the cars competing in the NASCAR Euro Series will also feature iRacing branding.
Why EuroNASCAR could be interesting on iRacing
Aside from racing big V8 stock cars on tighter European circuits, a EuroNASCAR series on iRacing could help to bridge the gap between pure oval racers and their road racing contempories. While most of us probably dabble in other disciplines for fun, especially using free car and track combinations, there’s still a divide between mainly American oval sim racing, and European circuit-based competition.
It also suggests that a couple more European tracks could appear, with the potential of Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic, most famous as a venue for World Superbikes and World Touring Cars, or possibly less likely, Vallelunga in Italy (which is also the home of Kunos Simulazioni). Most does currently appear in RaceRoom, while Vallelunga was in the original Assetto Corsa and motorcycle titles including RIDE.
But other circuits available on iRacing have been used over the years, including Ledenon, Le Mans, Magny Cours, Hockenheimring and Magny Cours. And the now-closed Rockingham Motor Speedway circuit did host the previous ASCAR Racing Series and CART Champ cars in the past, so maybe it could finally make an appearance after iRacing scanned it back in 2015. If only to stop people like me bringing it up every so often.
And while you can already set up races on European circuits using Next Gen NASCAR cars, there are some differences between the two. The European versions are a little narrower (by 1.6 inches) and slightly longer. They’re also more than 200kg lighter, with a 2 inch shorter wheelbase, which should make them easier to get around tighter circuits, with a need for less power than the 510-670hp used in America.
You can sign up to iRacing, here (and credit your referral to ORD, which we’d appreciate!). And see all vehicles included in your basic subscription, or what you can access by paying more, in our full official iRacing car list, here. Or check out all of the included circuits, and the others you can buy, in our full official iRacing track list, here. And keep up with all the latest iRacing news, updates and eSports, here.
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