GT5 NASCAR Thoughts

NASCAR in Gran Turismo was something you either wanted or didn't want. Some love NASCAR for the hard-fought racing; others disliked it for monotonous oval racing. Gran Turismo 5 basically introduced people to NASCAR. It introduced the cars and style of NASCAR that makes NASCAR so iconic in its own right. Despite its appeal in Gran Turismo 5, nobody said GT5 was the provider of the next best NASCAR simulation. Some people seemed disappointed in NASCAR in GT5. Even in the Extreme Series of races, the championship is called "NASCAR Series."

BEFORE I BEGIN:

This post officially marks my 100th post on John's Gran Turismo Space! I do all I can to keep this blog going strong. Thanks to everyone whom have viewed and contributed (in some way) to JGTS!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have another post to make for my viewing audience! :P

What Changes I Would Make.

Here are some changes I'd make (and I'm speaking as a casual NASCAR fan):

• Dodge!
There are absolutely NO Dodge stock cars in GT5. None. Mopar fans must have felt screwed to not see any Dodge stock cars. You don't want to have your Dodge NASCAR fans hanging now, do you, Polyphony Digital?


• feature Nationwide and Truck machines
When I first got into NASCAR in about 1999 or so, the Nationwide Series was known as the Busch Grand National Series. I still call it the Grand National series to avoid sponsorship mumbo jumbo. The NASCAR Truck series feature some hard-fought racing as the lower rung of NASCAR's top three touring series. Having these NASCAR trucks would be great. I wouldn't mind being Ron Hornaday Jr. or (Houston's own!) David Starr in GT.

If you're going to have and introduce NASCAR to the GT masses, why not introduce the other two series? Expand the NASCAR profile some.


• a few more tracks NASCAR races
Daytona and Indy are great, but I'd be interested in a more balanced amount of tracks. No short track? No mile-long? No intermediate? What about more road courses NASCAR races? Many people just get the feeling that NASCAR only does ovals. However, a true fan knows that NASCAR does do road racing. You do some road racing in GT5 with NASCAR stock cars.

But back to Daytona and Indy for a moment. Both of these are high-speed ovals. I think Gran Turismo 5 could have benefited from having a few more kinds of ovals. Which leads to this:


• Should Twin Ring Motegi Superspeedway been included in GT5?
The reason why I mention Motegi's oval is because it would provide that intermediate oval for the array of ovals in NASCAR. It wouldn't break up the oval array for Gran Turismo. Not all ovals are built equally.


• better specifications and capabilities of NASCAR stock cars?
Those more technically advanced with NASCAR can help me here. Some say that NASCAR stock cars in GT5 are fairly unrealistic in certain respects. Some talk about how unrealistic speeds and drafting are with NASCAR stock cars. Again- some of you are more qualified to discuss this element than I am, so feel free to comment.


• historic NASCAR stock cars?
It would be interesting (and wouldn't hurt) to see some classic NASCAR stock cars. Many people would look to cars like the black #3 cars of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. or even the Richard Petty #43 Plymouth Superbird during NASCAR's Aero Wars. I wonder what historic NASCAR stock cars would be nice to include as part of looking back in time.


These are some of the things I'd recommend in enhancing NASCAR in future GT titles.





Regardless of whatever posts get deleted or whatever, this is officially my 100th post on "John's Gran Turismo Space!" I still want to keep this blog rolling. Someone suggested I discuss more things on here, but I am trying to keep this blog post of and about the Gran Turismo series as well as about Tourist Trophy. Trying to keep this as much of a niche blog as possible.

Thank you for reading!

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