We’ve just had our first sneak peek at the next official NASCAR game, likely to release at some point next year, but those wanting to get stuck in to the USA’s favourite motorsport on a console game won’t have that long to wait, as it’s just been announced that the latest range of NASCAR Cup cars are on their way to Forza Motorsport as part of Update 14.
The three new cars – the Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and Toyota Camry XSE – make up the current field of NASCAR’s top-flight Cup Series, and mark the first appearance in the Forza franchise of the series’ Next Gen regulations, introduced in 2022.
Chevrolet Camaro NASCAR in Forza Motorsport
It seems that rather than replicating the liveries of any particular teams, each car will, by default, wear a generic colour scheme representing its manufacturer. We give it about a day before the full 2024 field has been recreated in Forza’s livery editor, though.
This trio, along with a range of other race cars cherry-picked from the likes of the IMSA and ALMS championships, will be the game’s Spotlight Cars this month, meaning at various points, they’ll be available from the in-game showroom with a 30 per cent discount. One of these, the 2010 Lola-Mazda B09/86 LMP2 racer, is new to the title, having last appeared in Forza Motorsport 7.
Lola-Mazda B09/86 in Forza Motorsport
There are a couple of other new cars added as part of the update too, both with a yellow bowtie badge. Complete the Featured Tour, aptly titled American Thunder and exploring different US race series, and you’ll get hold of the wild 1988 Chevrolet Beretta Trans-Am racer.
The prize for the more open-ended Open Tour, meanwhile, is the 2019 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ‘Exorcist’, a last-gen example of the muscle car boosted to 1000bhp by Texan power merchants Hennessey.
Chevrolet Beretta Trans-Am in Forza Motorsport
There are no new tracks this month, although Mount Panorama is due to arrive in December. Homestead-Miami Speedway, though, has had a light visual update with some fresh NASCAR branding. It, along with Indianapolis, Daytona and Watkins Glen are all tracks featured in the game that NASCAR is visiting for real in 2024, while the fictional Eaglerock Speedway and Sunset Peninsula oval tracks add a bit more stock car racing flavour.
Other changes include the addition of rolling starts and tweaked oval AI, both aimed at improving the NASCAR experience, and a new advanced ghosting system for Featured Multiplayer races. That’ll automatically ghost players if they’re detected driving too slowly, going the wrong way or rejoining unsafely. Finally, the Lamborghini Murcielago SV and Sian FKP 37, as well as the McLaren P1, benefit from audio overhauls.
