For decades, aspiring race car drivers followed a familiar path. Start in karting, work through local tracks, attract sponsors, and hope the opportunities eventually lead somewhere bigger.
According to NASCAR Senior Director of Sim Racing Ray Smith, that path is changing.
While traditional grassroots racing remains important, Smith believes simulator racing has become one of the most effective ways for aspiring drivers and motorsports professionals to break into the industry.
“You want to write music, you go to Nashville. You want to be a model, you go to New York. You want to be an actor, you go to L.A. You want to be in motorsports, you go to Indy or Charlotte,” Smith told Insider Gaming. “But nowadays, you want to be in motorsports, go to the sim, go to iRacing.”
It is a significant statement from one of the people overseeing NASCAR’s esports efforts, particularly as sim racing continues to grow following its explosion in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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While drivers such as William Byron and Rajah Caruth have become some of the most recognizable examples of competitors who used sim racing as a stepping stone toward real-world opportunities, Smith said the impact extends far beyond those headline stories.
“Four out of five of our last champions are now sim engineers in a Cup shop,” Smith said. “We have content creators coming out of our series.”
The opportunities created through sim racing are no longer limited to getting behind the wheel. Smith pointed to careers in engineering, media, content creation, and team operations that have emerged through connections built within the online racing community.
“We have guys that are journalists, content creators, engineers,” Smith said. “You can see it on our storyboard over there.”
Smith noted that Caruth’s rise through sim racing has become one of the sport’s most visible success stories. After seeing Byron’s path from iRacing to NASCAR, Caruth used a similar blueprint to launch his own racing career.
“William Byron, obviously, the biggest story, because that’s where Rajah got his playbook from,” Smith said. “He saw William do it. He’s like, ‘Oh, okay, that’s the roadmap.'”
For NASCAR, those examples are becoming an important recruiting tool as the organization works to attract younger audiences and future talent.
“I think that story, we’re working on telling that story more and more and more because we want that young Raja Pruth kid to see that roadmap,” Smith said.
The accessibility of sim racing is a major part of that appeal. Unlike traditional racing, which often requires significant travel, equipment, and financial investment from a young age, sim racing offers an opportunity for competitors to develop skills and make industry connections from home.
“You don’t have to move down [to Charlotte],” Smith said when discussing the advantages sim racing offers aspiring racers and their families.
Even drivers already competing in real-world racing are embracing simulators as a valuable training tool. Smith pointed to NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Caden Honeycutt and ARCA competitor Brenden “Butterbean” Queen as examples of racers using sim racing to supplement their on-track development.
As esports and traditional motorsports continue to intersect, Smith believes the simulator is no longer simply a game. It has become a legitimate entry point. And for many aspiring drivers, engineers, and creators, it may be the most accessible path available.
In other news, read about what the Project Motor Racing team is doing to regain players’ trust after a troubled launch. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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