NASCAR 26’s latest Dev Diary outlines paint booth and drafting improvements

What the report says

Add us as your preferred news source on Google Add Traxion to your "Preferred Sources" on Google to make sure you get your sim racing news always from a trusted source ← NASCAR 26 • News 3 September 2026 — 3 minute read By Ross McGregorNASCAR 26 will have an improved paint booth, featuring more shapes and mirror optionSide-drafting implemented, with better smoke particle effectsPit stops said to have improved, and track cut penalties relaxedNASCAR 26’s latest Developer Diary episode has revealed more changes fans can expect to see in iRacing Studios’ second stab at creating an authentic stock car video game experience.Thus far, the list of improvements over NASCAR 25 has been fairly minor, with dynamic track rubbering arguably the biggest gameplay-affecting addition.

Paint booth updatesDeveloper Diary 3 was more of the same, with Producer Matt Lewis revealing players will now be able to mirror paint designs in the new game. I think we can categorise that under ‘things that should’ve been patched into NASCAR 25’…However, players are no longer limited to just seven shapes per paint job section, with the cap raised to 50, which should encourage a little more creativity with custom liveries (although it still feels rather stingy).Side-drafting and particle improvementsSide-drafting was also confirmed, which should make super-speedway racing more realistic, with a new particle system making tyre smoke generation visibly more voluminous.

So, the game’s post-race Victory Lane burnouts should look much better. Nice.Dynamic lighting was also showcased, making this year’s game look sharper than ‘25, although some Unreal Engine 5 foibles still remain, most notably wall shadow pop-in (especially at Lime Rock Park). However, car interiors have been overhauled and now look much more detailed and authentic.Pit stopsAlthough pit stop timings are said to have been improved greatly over ‘25, the video evidence seems to suggest there is a delay between stopping in your pit box and your crew changing tyres, with the whole operation still seemingly a glorified cutscene.Career mode and Jamie McMurray The game’s career mode appears to focus much more on long-term strategic decisions this time around, so allocating resources to team infrastructure will offer future benefits at the expense of short-term performance gains.The Chase will be playable as a separate game mode, with players able to choose the drivers they want to see competing in the final 10-race shootout for the Cup Series championship.

Key details

As revealed before, it will also be possible to alter driver ratings in-game, although it hasn’t yet been confirmed if this will apply to career mode.Players can also rely on 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 winner Jamie McMurray to improve their pace by viewing his telemetry and racing line data, with a new trophy room feature also added. A ‘best line’ feature is also now available.Multiplayer and track cutsIn terms of multiplayer advancements, it will be possible to boot players in ‘26’s cross-platform online mode, which should clean up some of the public servers, while the game’s previously egregious road course track cut penalty system is said to have been relaxed in the new game (the 750 bhp road course car package also makes its debut in the series) NASCAR 26 will be released on 18th September across PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, or 15th September for those who purchase the Gold Edition, and will feature all the cars and tracks of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series.

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