What’s Happening?

Matt Lewis, a producer for iRacing’s upcoming console game, NASCAR ’25, recently answered fans’ questions about the game as part of a Discord Q&A on Thursday. Here are some key takeaways from that Q&A.

• Though they have yet to set a release date for NASCAR ’25, as expected, the game will be released during the playoffs in late September or early October. We previously theorized that this could be the case, as five of the past six NASCAR games were released around that time.
• The game will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. Notably, it will not be released on the previous generation of consoles. This confirmation also clarifies that it will be available on PC, something non-simulation racing game fans were worried about.
• NASCAR ’25 will have an online mode featuring 36 (Truck Series) to 40 (Cup Series) entry fields and private lobbies. Alongside a release date, more information and visuals, such as in-game screenshots, series rosters, and gameplay footage, will be released in July and August.
• The roster includes roughly 190 drivers across the three NASCAR National Series: Truck, Xfinity, and Cup, alongside the ARCA Menards Series. With a roster this big, the game will have over 400 paint schemes.
• We have covered all the news and rumors about NASCAR ’25 and its development via the article linked above.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

What’s Happening?

Ahead of perhaps the most important race weekend of the 2025 season, travel issues have forced NASCAR to make crucial schedule changes to this weekend’s race at Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

During the Thunder Valley Nationals, Erica Enders had her fourth qualifying run disqualified due to a rule infraction that involved the rear wheels on her Camaro. The reason given was the wheels failed to meet NHRA’s approved specifications for Pro Stock. This incurred a 100-point deduction, a $5,000 fine, and kicked off a firestorm on social media.

After the event, the NHRA released the following revised statement to add clarity to the situation from its perspective:

Things get interesting when Richard Freeman, owner of Elite Motorsports, dropped his response in the comments section of the NHRA’s post on Facebook:

Where this starts to get sticky is the fact that the NHRA does have the final say on how rules are interpreted. Pro Stock is a brutally competitive class, so successful teams like Elite Motorsports are going to look at the rulebook and try to find ways to improve their program; that’s what top-tier teams do. The problem is, the NHRA feels like this conflicts with how the rules are written.

We will continue to follow this story and provide updates as they develop.

A bit of trouble for the NASCAR industry on the way to Mexico City. Two chartered flights have been held up in Charlotte. On Wednesday this week, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to change his travel plans after his plane was held up in another country.

Today is the day that drivers and team members are expected to arrive in Mexico City for the NASCAR weekend. It is a historic race weekend with the first international points race for the Cup Series since the 1958 season. So, all eyes are on the sport as they embark on this journey.

Ryan Ellis, driver of the No. 71 Chevy for DGM Racing, posted a photo from the Charlotte airport. Firefighters are seen on the tarmac as NASCAR industry members walk off the plane.

Amazon Prime Video’s debut season in NASCAR has seen the streaming giants make significant gains in key demographics after hosting three races on the platform in 2025. Prime Video carried the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte for its debut, which saw Kyle Larson suffer a double Indy 500-NASCAR DNF.

Nashville followed it, won by 2023 champion Ryan Blaney, and Michigan last weekend, won by one of the Championship favorites, Denny Hamlin. NASCAR has seen a drop in viewership from its more traditional, older viewers amid its stint on Prime Video, but it has seen the sport make significant gains in younger demographics and has earned praise for its coverage.

However, senior FOX Sports executive Michael Mulvihill has branded NASCAR’s gain in younger viewership at the expense of its traditional base a “predictable spin.” Overall, NASCAR’s viewership on Prime Video has been similar to that of the NFL’s debut on the streaming platform three years ago.

Viewership has been down double-digits overall — but up double-digits in the key young adult demographics, which is being touted as a significant win for NASCAR. Cup Series racing on Amazon Prime Video has averaged 2.27 million viewers through the three races in Charlotte, Nashville, and Michigan, which is a 21% decrease from last year’s three equivalent races on FOX and FS1 at Charlotte, St. Louis and Sonoma, which averaged a viewership of 2.88M.

The more positive numbers show that viewership is up nearly a third among adults 18-34, from 177,000 to 233,000, 11% among adults 18-49, from 475,000 to 600,000, and 21% among adults 25-54, from 642,000 to 706,000. As the demographics age, the stark drop rears its head.

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Viewership among adults 55+ is down 40% from 2.03M million last year to 1.21M this year. The previous year’s TNF on Prime Video yielded similar results, posting a 28% decrease from the prior year on FOX but an 11% increase in adults 18-34.

Nonetheless, some NASCAR fans align with the sport and believe there are positives to take from the latest figures. “This is a win for NASCAR. People will try to spin this as a negative, but in the long run, this is a win,” one tweeted.

“Showing the age streaming platforms and age of NASCAR fans, overall good to see younger people watching,” another said. “Massive win for NASCAR, the older generation will always complain but finally numbers moving in the right direction,” a third reacted.

DON’T MISS

“Sorry but the gains with younger viewers is a major win and worth the overall decline in viewership,” a fourth stated. “There’s a strong case that a double-digit drop in total viewership is worth it if it means a double-digit gain in the young demos,” a fifth reacted,

“Something the NHL should consider — though with about 350K avg viewership on cable, a move to Prime could make that overall number alarmingly small.”

This weekend at Le Mans, Ford has command of the spotlight. Not only has the Blue Oval amassed the largest gathering of Mustang race cars to ever compete at the Circuit de la Sarthe for its Mustang Challenge single-make series, but it will also campaign two Mustang GT3 race cars in Le Mans’ epic 24-hour race.

As if all this attention wasn’t enough, Ford also revealed a couple of key details for the company’s heavily anticipated Hypercar debut in 2027. Among the latest puzzle pieces to fall into place, FoMoCo announced that it would tab ORECA to lead chassis development on the car that will compete for overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In addition to naming its chassis developer, Ford announced Dan Sayers as lead for the Hypercar program. (More on him in a second.)

In January, Ford announced its intentions for the top step at Le Mans. The company will field a full factory effort in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s (WEC) Hypercar class, with the goal of capturing its first overall Le Mans victory since 1969—the final of four straight for the Ford GT40 sports car. Recall that the Ford GT’s Le Mans revival and subsequent Le Mans win in 2016 was a class win and not an overall victory.

This go around, things are different, and the message is direct.

“We’re here to win Le Mans,” asserted Farley in a sit-down with media on Thursday. The new car is set to make its debut at the season-opening round of WEC competition in less than two years. We don’t even know what it looks like yet, but we know the Ford Hypercar has one mission.

As Farley pointed out in the accompanying press announcement, it’s been over 50 years since Ford has climbed atop Le Mans’ overall podium. “That is long enough,” says Farley. “In 2027, we are coming with the same level of expectation, and we are entrusting ORECA to help us take on Ferrari and the other top-class teams as we did back in the 1960s.”

If you’re a fan of sports car racing, ORECA is a familiar name. To anyone else, read on.

Hugues de Chaunac, a math teacher turned race car driver, founded ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobile Motorsport) in 1973, first as a racing team. Now, the company designs, assembles, develops, and fine-tunes chassis, engines, and system architectures. It’s also responsible for nearly 240 victories in the undercard LMP2 series and 10 consecutive wins at the Le Mans 24 Hours. ORECA is one of four chassis suppliers for WEC’s top-tier Hypercar class, joined by Dallara, Ligier, and Multimatic.

So, who’s going to captain this new ship?

Meet Dan Sayers. Prior to his new position, Sayers was Program Director at Red Bull Ford Powertrains, where he helped develop the power unit for the new 2026 Formula 1 regulations. Before Ford, Sayer spent 10 years at Aston Martin’s racing team, Prodrive, where he captured multiple class victories at Le Mans as design and development lead and, eventually, technical director. He also worked at Ricardo, a transmission builder for multiple disciplines of auto racing.

“Ford Performance is taking on so many different challenges around the racing world, but to lead Ford back to its spiritual home at Le Mans was a challenge I could not turn down,” said Sayers.

It’s an exciting time for Ford Performance fans as the prospect of climbing endurance racing’s largest summit solidified a bit more this weekend. Still, Farley isn’t allowing himself to get swept up in the excitement.

“I’m just focused on the work that we have to do,” the Ford boss says of the Hypercar program. “I’m only excited when we win. And that hasn’t happened yet.”