Finding NASCAR content for racers who love a bit of oval racing has generally been pretty straightforward until recently, with there being two main avenues for it.
The first is by getting an iRacing subscription, as the title comes packed with the three official NASCAR national series content and the vast majority of the tracks, plus more. The second is by running NR2003, which has been lovingly modded over the years to feature a wide range of content.
Despite it being well over 20 years old now, its excellent oval AI and solid physics still hold up and make it a blast to drive to this day. If you fancy a more modern oval escape, then Automobilista 2 is rapidly becoming a strong alternative. AMS2’s recent Christmas 2025 update further expanded its increasing oval content with some new NASCAR toys to play with.
This Coach Dave Academy guide explores the current state of AMS2’s NASCAR-based content and what you can expect when you jump in.
How To Get It
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A range of oval vehicles and tracks are now featured in AMS2, though the vast majority of it is only available via paid DLC. Other than the Jacarepagua 2005 historic oval, the rest of the content explored during this guide requires the Racin’ USA expansion.
A total of three packs have been released so far, and all three can be purchased individually if you prefer, but you get the best deal by purchasing the full expansion, which includes all the content. The latter will set you back £16.99, whereas buying each on its own will add up to a total of £30.48. Once you’ve purchased the required content, you’ll be able to access it at your leisure.
The Cars
As far as the NASCAR-style cars are concerned, all four are included in the Racin’ USA Part 3 DLC. They were added to the pack upon release in December 2025, with each representing a different era of NASCAR competition. Three of the cars are offered in full oval specification, while the fourth is based on a special Le Mans racer that won over the hearts of racers around the world.
Stock USA Gen 1
The oldest of the three is the Stock USA Gen 1, which is based on a Chevrolet Monte Carlo stock car from the 1980s period of NASCAR. This is arguably the most difficult of the trio to drive, as it has the oldest tyre and suspension technology and the least amount of downforce. It tends to understeer when pushed into corners due to its extreme weight, and will spin the rear tyres up more easily due to the lack of downforce pressing it to the track.
It comes with a front-mounted 5.9-litre naturally aspirated V8, which sends 655 hp to the rear wheels via an old-school four-speed manual gearbox. The Gen 1 is also available with a wide range of fictional liveries based on real-life NASCAR schemes, such as Dale Earnhardt’s famous blue and yellow Wrangler job, Richard Petty’s blue and orange STP livery, and Harry Gant’s white and green Skoal Bandit scheme.
Stock USA Gen 2
The next vehicle is based on a Chevrolet Lumina that was commonplace in NASCAR during the early 1990s. While still very heavy, the Stock USA Gen 2 is more responsive due to its newer underpinnings, as well as a more sophisticated aero package that allows it to produce more downforce. It’s still not an F1 car though, so using its weight to carry corner speed will still generate the best results. Take care of those front tyres, too.
While retaining a 5.9-litre NA V8 like the older car, this one produces 720 hp. Like the Gen 1, the Gen 2’s engine fires this grunt to the rear axle through a four-speed H-pattern transmission. It also comes with a range of fictional paint schemes based on real-life designs, such as Ricky Rudd’s red, white and yellow Tide Ride, Dale Earnhardt’s fearsome black and red Goodwrench car, as well as Jeff Gordon’s multicoloured Dupont machine.
Stock USA Gen 3
The newest of the three oval NASCAR-inspired machines is the Gen 3, which is based on a current-spec Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Next Gen Cup car. With a five-speed sequential gearbox as opposed to the H-pattern units used by the older cars, as well as modern-day tyres, brakes and suspension, this is a very different beast to drive. Alongside these enhancements, the Gen 3 also has a vastly more advanced aerodynamic package, with the floor and diffuser helping to produce significantly more downforce.
This results in a more docile car to drive, and it more reflects an Aussie V8 Supercar in nature. Racing these can be more difficult in packs though, given that the dirty air effect caused by the aerodynamic surfaces will lead your car to understeer more in traffic than it will in the older machines.
The 5.8-litre V8 kicks out 677 hp to the rear wheels. Once again, a range of real-life-inspired liveries are available. The choices include a red, white and blue scheme that loosely resembles Kyle Larson’s Hendrick Cars job, as well as Austin Dillon’s camo Bass Pro Shops design.
Stock USA Gen 3 LM
The bonus car of the pack was the Gen 3 LM, which is based on the vehicle Chevrolet took to the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans as a Garage 56 entry. Based on the Chevy ZL1 NASCAR, the Gen 3 LM is developed to take on more conventional race tracks, rather than rounded ovals.
Chevrolet’s engineers put it on a diet to help make it more responsive, while its 5.8-litre V8 was tuned to produce in the region of 700 hp. Goodyear also supplied a range of wider slick and wet weather tyres to increase grip. An adjustable traction control system was also brought to the party.
To this end, a more extreme aero package was designed to increase downforce. The changes are most visible via the carbon front splitter and rear wings, which work together to make the vehicle 50 mm longer than the standard NASCAR-spec Camaro. These modifications make the Camaro feel much more capable through the bends than the NASCAR version, and much faster as a result.
Also, before you head out on track, it pays to have your wheelbase set up to take advantage of AMS2’s intuitive force feedback. Coach Dave Academy’s AMS2 FFB guide will help you get things dialled in.
The Tracks
While oval tracks are still a little limited as far as numbers go in AMS2, there are a good few to sink your teeth into, with more likely on the way in future. The current list consists of:
- Daytona International Speedway (Racin’ USA Part 1)
- Fontana Auto Club Speedway (Racin’ USA Part 3)
- Gateway WWT Raceway (Racin’ USA Part 3)
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Racin’ USA Part 3)
- Jacarepagua 2005 Historic Oval (Base Content)
- Pocono Oval (Racin’ USA Part 3)
The Racing
It’s all well and good having NASCAR-inspired content ready to enjoy, but there’s not much point if you can’t set up a NASCAR-style race to enjoy it with. Luckily, AMS2 developers Reiza Studios introduced an authentic Full Course Yellow system into the title when the first oval content landed back in 2022.
This means that if any cars have incidents during the race, the game will instigate a caution, or safety car period, which means you follow the pace car around the track for several laps until getting going again. This opens up different strategic options, with pit road rules in force.
The pits will be opened when deemed necessary by the officials, usually after the first full lap of a caution period, allowing you to pit for extra fuel or fresh tyres if you wish.
Reiza has also worked hard to continuously work on its oval racing AI so that players can enjoy close and competitive races; Races can be staged on a solo basis, or full AI championships can be created using AMS2’s built-in tool. Online oval races can be found via custom lobbies, structured leagues or through external racing fixtures such as SimGrid.
It should only get better too, with Reiza likely to add more vehicles and tracks, as well as make further improvements to the oval racing structure, with future updates.
One Subscription For All
Unlimited setups for Le Mans Ultimate, iRacing & ACC. AI Coaching, Pro Reference Laps, Telemetry & Leaderboards for 7 different sims. Everything you need to win.
