It always bothered me that people criticized the fact that Matt Kenseth won the title with only 1 win, to me that's exactly why the classic points system was so great, it rewarded consistent driving, not the all or nothing driving we see nowadays. The same thing happened in MotoGP in 2006, Nicky Hayden won the title with only 2 wins to Valentino Rossi's 5, Nicky had a good bike but it still felt like David slaying Goliath.
I totally agree - the whole point of the points system was to score the team's complete performance over the entire season including every race, not just the races they won. It's a season championship, not a race championship. I also miss the old ethic of teams scrambling in the garage to patch together a damaged car so that they could get it back out on the track to finish the race, just so they could gain a couple positions over the DNFs and get a few more points. I respected that. In today's racing it seems that if you aren't a threat to win then you're supposed to just quit. That goes against my upbringing and the brand of sportsmanship that I was taught, so it bothers me for the rules to now encourage that attitude. Admittedly I'm rather out of touch with the specifics of NASCAR today, because I started losing interest in it after the 90s. Seems like it's gotten very gimmicky in recent years. I do like that they're running more road courses though.
@@muhammadrizkisatria Keke Rosberg in 82 is one of my favourites because he won with a naturally aspirated engine against all the much faster turbo engined cars. Great example of why consistency and reliability matter.
Never forget $49 way out off my budget for me, the Friday after it released, I happened to visit a Half-Price bookstore they would buy old books and video games. I walked up to the checkout line to buy some books never even thinking about NASCAR 2003, As I was waiting to check out the two young guys in front of me had in their hands a copy of NASCAR 2003, my hands got sweaty and my heart was beating as fast as the night I first kissed Donna Williams. I asked the guy holding that beautiful disc, you trading that in ,He looked at me and said," Yea,it Sucks "I'm going to get cash for it, My heartrate increased, I knew he was not getting No where near the $49 he paid for it so I told him I'm going over here and stand to see what they give you for it ,Trust me I will beat that price..As I watched him turn to walk towards me with game in hand, I knew fate was on my side, As I sit here 20 year later with countless hours of races and laps countless hours of fun and racing .friends, I have in my hand that very disc I paid $15 for that fateful day, NASCAR 2003, The LEGEND truly does live on, Great video.
Been playing this for about 2 weeks. I only have a game pad. And it is by far the best racing game I’ve ever played. Currently running 100’s of laps Richmond trying to set it up, find a decent line. It’s INFURIATING!!! I love it.
The 1998 Winston Cup season was my favorite. There have been seasons where one driver was dominant, but to have two drivers/teams as good as Gordon and Martin were--I just knew I was watching excellence every week.
It was a storybook season for NASCAR's 50th anniversary; Dale Earnhardt finally winning the Daytona 500 really set the stage for the rest of that year, the way the Pepsi 400 got bumped later into the season with its first ever night race was also something special. My favorite drivers of that era were Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd (I share birthdays with him) and Dale Sr, and the fall Martinsville race was amazing the way Ricky bookended his yearly winning streak with a victory interview on a stretcher. They don't make 'em like they used to
just in case you didn't know while iracing is open if you have an nvidia gpu press alt+f3 and a reshade sort of thing will popup. you can remove the yellowness and then the game is almost unrecognizable
This is what I love about this channel, you talk about every kind of motorsport and you give it the respect it deserves. I'm european but I don't understand the hate some europeans throw at oval racing, particularly since I tried NR2003 and I couldn't keep the car straight for more than half a lap...
About a month or so ago I put all the BR tracks, the 98 Winston Cup mod, skins, and some other various graphic and sound enhancements on my Google drive and convinced a few friends on a discord server to give it a try. After I got a server set up for us to race on we had an amazing time, most of the guys were pretty avid sim racers over the past 10 years or so but not NASCAR fans and had never touched NR2003. It was a great experience to see their minds blown that a 20 year old game could still be so good. I am so glad people are still talking about NR and making great content about it.
20 years, I can't believe its been that long. it's been a long time since I played it but I have some fond memories. I remember when the cup 90 set came out I converted the aero 88 paints to the cup 90 cars. I battled Bobby Allison and DW down to the wire for the championship, nothing that has come out since has been able to replicate that immersion. You are so right about how the organic moments of excitement were so much more rewarding back then.
NR2003 is an amazing sim that I will always play for as long as it is supported If you are thinking about doing a full season in this sim, I will very happily watch all the videos. Fantastic content
I think it was one of the Project Wildfire patches (the folks that Papyrus worked with to give NR2003 added life when it became clear NR2003 was the end), but you can get really nice looking crowds in the grandstand, pit stall markings, etc. Worked automatically with the only user intervention being to install the patch. I believe it was Project Wildfire's "New Cup Series Damage" patch that enhanced the game's visual damage model for the stock Winston Cup cars, but it may have been connected to one of the mods that Papyrus made the physics for in their final weeks and which Project Wildfire made the vehicle models to go along with, such as the Trans-Am or Craftsman Truck series mods. But with almost 20 years having passed since this was happening in 2004 or so, my memories aren't 100% (And the site hosting the files doesn't have patch notes).
its actually insane that has being 20 years and basically no sim has come even close to the quality of the AI handling even when while crapping themselves a little bit here and there... they give that feel of them actually making mistakes or random crap happening to them for real... you just dont see this level of immersion on modern sims
Not sure how I found your channel, but it's very enjoyable. At the 11 something mark of this video you talk about having the 1998 season on the tv and is great background sound. Back then, I would have been 11. My grandpa used to have NASCAR coverage on the TV in his barber shop all the time. He'd record the races on Saturday and Sunday have them playing in the shop on Monday Tuesday Wednesday, and then would have qualifying and practice coverage on.
I previously mentioned on a GTR2 video how my sister indroduced me to sim racing with it. I had forgotten about NR2003. She had that too and man it also played an important part in my interest in racing. Man i need to go download this right now.
You came just a tiny bit short of getting the full late-90's Busch Series backmarker experience, you also needed to be spun by Buckshot Jones, Joe Bessey or one of the Krogh brothers to max it out. Fantastic video as always.
I have the 2002 version of this game and really appreciated all the training (narrated by Darryl Waltrip!) that really helped me understand how to actually drive the car. It was my first true racing simulator and I couldn't believe how hard it was!
@@DELIGHTFULDORITO yes I was wondering what he maybe called something typically good ‘ol boys- Randy Axelson, or JW Axelson. I’m sure Jake would find an appropriate family member 😆
Brings back fond memories. For four consecutive years I ran the old Papryus Nascar sims and did a whole season with races at 100% length. I tried to set the AI strength so that I'd run mid-pack at each track. So much fun. After watching this, I'll have to try and get the old Nascar sim running again.
I appreciate your millennial nostalgia for racing games and sim's in particular. I don't know how it was for you but my love of motorsports and racing games in the early 00s was a some what lonely affair, we didn't have you tube, or even top gear really living in the US, none of my friends where into racing and engine's like I was. So many of these memories that I cherish where things I experienced by myself and never talked to anyone else about, and these look backs are like experiencing it with friends all over again. Kids that love motorsports now don't know how good they have it, I'd kill for just a long inside of a NASCAR cockpit let alone seen entire video series on how the cars built up.
Until iRacing introduced AI, this was the greatest offline sim ever. Still holds its own and I'll probably do a 20th anniversary reinstall and a few nostalgic laps at some point this year. Thanks for featuring it.
I remember my bud getting this when it came out and even though I didnt know much about racing back then, it still blew me away. In fact...it was the first time I was jealous of gaming PC as I only had a non-3d accelerated PC and a Sega Dreamcast. It looked, sounded, and felt so real back then. Best sim I had seen up to that point. I can't believe how good it can still look two decades later. The liveries from that era are so nostalgic.
When GPLaps posts a video that's in full IMAX aspect, you know it's going to be epic. And this is no exception. Happy birthday to Nascar Racing 2003, and a happy anniversary to Nascar - celebrating 75 years of almost being as good as the BTCC. Speaking of, I had a copy of one of the Papyrus Nascar games back in the day (sadly not 2003, but still very good) and thanks to the livery editor I always tended to compete in a Chevrolet Lumina painted in the John Cleland Mobil 1 Vauxhall colours. The Phoenix track looks lovely, right down to the dramatic vistas, the Goodyear bridge, and the Purina Dog Chow advertising hoardings.
Great video. After GPL was such a great sim and got me very interested on historic motorsports, NR2003S was just as good but didn't get me into oval racing as I hoped. However, some of the mods released for it were just superb, and I still remember the GTP cars as some of the most enjoyable cars I tried in my ~25 years of sim racing.
Although I've only gotten into this sim in 2019, NR2003 has probably changed my life at least somewhat. Love seeing high-quality videos of the game like this
Wow, I gave this exe you mentioned a shot and it's absolutely amazing. It really does feel like the original game just with much more *realistically* forgiving tires. I had the exact same issue with NR2003 of impossible to save slides and this just fixes that. I agree with GPLaps everyone should give this thing a shot!
I would absolutely watch a full stream series of this game similar to your ICR2 streams! If not that, maybe a NR2 or NR3 stream series like your NR1 series (i.e multiple shorter races per stream)
The #47 car was driven in real life by Andy Santerre from my home state of Maine. I actually saw Andy win a race (albeit not NASCAR but a 100-lap pro stock open) at my home track of Spud Speedway in Caribou, ME in 1992. Andy made a name for himself in Busch North before moving to Busch South in 1998. His time in that series was shortened by injury and crappy luck but he did win at Pikes Peak in 1999. He moved back north and made a home for himself in the Busch North series again, winning four straight titles 2002-2005 before retiring.
A lot of the thing thats better about old races is differences in broadcast. You used to get more wider angle shots where you could see more, and it seems these days its constantly zoomed right in and you dont get a feel for whats going on in a wider sense. Also the modern day thing about 'todays storylines' and shoehorning everything in to that narrative regardless, as opposed to, you know, just describing whats going on. That goes for most sports really.
0:29 to 1:15 gives me major Sam Posey vibes, and a chill down my spine. You have a great way with words how you wrote that. The thing is, and I'd nee to go hunting since racing-reference nuked the comments and that's wher I saw it was NASCAR was going to bring in a playofs system before 2003, they just foun Kenseth a convenient scapegoat and with Winston bowing out and Nextel coming in they threw in the Chase. If you go back and look at why the Latford system was made, it still had a purpose and a reason even in 03 though. To me, the 2003 WC season was one of, if not the greatest not from every race being a 2003 Darlington, but because of the overall season. That's something NR2003 captures well, I've had across 20 years, door banging side by side finishes. I've had runs to the flag where I'm right there but can't pass. I've had last laps where I'm holding off someone. I've even had last laps where I've had the AI punt me, only for me to bounce off the wall an slide to the line and win, and it never felt scripted or artificial. I've had the gearbox give up in the pits when I was battling for a top ten, and I've seen the AI have sudden failures. Most unexpected was both DEI cars blowing up at Dega, somehow, some way, the NR2003 gods decided Jr an Waltrip were going to blow up running 1-2 with two lines behind them. That was a scary moment, everyone organically scattered and the Big One happened organically with cars finding a way through, or, not
I have 2 full installs of the game - one for 1990-1999 mods (cars, trucks and tracks) and one for 2000-2019 mods (cars, trucks and tracks). . Still play it for hours a week, still love it more than some of the new, more graphically superior games simply because the AI is awesome to race against, because mods and because nothing has come close to being this enjoyable for me since then.
Listens to GPLaps' misty eyed reminiscing over 'real' NASCAR a form of the sport I know not a lot about. Hears about 'playoffs' in an automobile race for the first time. Remembers an American company now owns F1. Dies a little inside.
My favorite part of the game is that you can add as many series mods, tracks, paint schemes, and more. You don't even have to pay for it because it's considered abandonware.
I wish I had gotten this game back when it released in 2003. I ended up finding a copy on Ebay in 2009 with the game disc and manual for nearly $90. But let me tell you, it was worth the price since this game is so customizable. I hope you installed AeroWar 88 and Cup90 for some late 80s-early/mid 90s NASCAR action.
One of my favorite games of all time was the first NASCAR Racing (1994). For some races I'd spend an entire evening just testing, practicing, and tweaking setups. I would get immersed in the challenge of trying to speed up my lap times in practice, and forget all about running a real race. Then it would be too late and I'd run the actual race the next night. I ran 3 seasons at increasing difficulty and race length each time. I was fortunate to have a very good quality joystick that had the precision needed to drive carefully and to be rewarded for practicing. I think that game was hard for many people to get into because in the mid-90s most people didn't have a precise enough controller for a sim. I didn't get into NASCAR 2 as much, but that game did add the spotter's voice which was a great addition. Strange thing I noticed in this video is that the spotter is needlessly chatty about cars that you didn't need to be told about, including some that you were passing at a high speed differential. NASCAR 2 was very good about not making spurious comments about the obvious, but I think it had an adjustment slider for that. Maybe there's an adjustment in this game also? I don't know. As much as I loved the earlier games in this series, I've never seen this game before. So this was the pinnacle? I really ought to check it out. A couple years ago I bought some old games for a retro PC and among them was NASCAR 99. I still haven't tried that one either.
I'm from Europe, never saw a Nascar race in my life, only saw that funny movie. Didn't play the game when it came out either, found it few years ago as an abandonware. But i'm hooked, the game is so damn good.
Oh the 98 season? no idea what happened then, completely blocked it out of my memory, I couldn't even tell you who won that year, certainly can't remember who finished second, was there even a NASCAR season in '98? I'm a Mark Martin fan btw
Definitely an oldie but a goodie. There is so much depth to it, with AI losing an engine at random points. The cars spin if you bump too hard into one. I still play this daily !
Hey @GPLaps, hope you are doing well! I came back to this video because it was such a great upload and representation of NR2003. I just wanted to let you know beginning on September 16th, NTG (Numb Thumbs Gaming) will be starting a Nascar Racing 2003 2023 Season with 10 Races set and nearly 20 Drivers already signed up. We'd love to have you! If you would like more information, please let me know!!!
Very inspiring video. I discovered NASCAR in the same era as you, and was overjoyed when I could finally flip cars with the release of N4. Have you ever tried the GTP Mod? I ended up entering many endurance races in it, and have so many good memories thanks to N2003. Thanks for producing such good content!
With all of the mods available for this sim, it's become the Skyrim of driving simulators. I spend more time tweaking AI, setting up rosters, races and championships than I do actual driving.
It's crazy how different Phoenix is now compared to back then, the racing at the current layout sounds great in concept but in practice it just leads to snoozefests. It is nice to have the Championship race in my backyard though
I recently started playing this, but I'm having issues when braking on road courses. I'm using the G27 with all driver aids off and when reaching a certain brake application point, there's some sort of judder or hopping. This can't be normal? On these road courses the AI is seconds faster per lap as they can brake way later than me.
Sad that 20 years ago we had top quality sims like nr2003, gtr2, Gpl and rfactor. Nothing has come even close in the past 5 years. Ac probably would be close but thats about it
Would you ever consider curating some playlists for spotify? I always find myself very impressed with your choice of music. Do you have a musical background?
I tried this 6 months ago after not driving it since 2007. It's a bit of a pain to get going with all the mods. FFB doesn't really work, and you have to run very low steering rotation angle. The setups need a lot of work, and I still can't complete a full race without a spin. The ai is hit and miss on certain tracks. But man, the game still has that nascar nostalgic feel. The setups really can help you win or lose, if you're setup is good on a long run you can dominate late. It's really too bad that there hasn't been anything better in 20 years!
Y’know, if you told me this was a mobile-focused race sim released in 2023, I’d have totally believed it. For 20 years on, it looks fantastic. Also, this really was the era that made me watch nascar religiously. Nowadays, I’d rather watch the 2014 formula 1 season in its totality on infinite loop than suffer through even one current nascar race….
The new car nascar introduced last year actually has provided great racing, a MAJOR step up from the overall awful racing of the high downforce 550hp package in years prior. The new car has made short tracks and road courses boring now, but the tracks 1 mile and bigger have provided incredible racing. I'd totally recommend tuning in to a race or two this season
It always bothered me that people criticized the fact that Matt Kenseth won the title with only 1 win, to me that's exactly why the classic points system was so great, it rewarded consistent driving, not the all or nothing driving we see nowadays. The same thing happened in MotoGP in 2006, Nicky Hayden won the title with only 2 wins to Valentino Rossi's 5, Nicky had a good bike but it still felt like David slaying Goliath.
I totally agree - the whole point of the points system was to score the team's complete performance over the entire season including every race, not just the races they won. It's a season championship, not a race championship.
I also miss the old ethic of teams scrambling in the garage to patch together a damaged car so that they could get it back out on the track to finish the race, just so they could gain a couple positions over the DNFs and get a few more points. I respected that.
In today's racing it seems that if you aren't a threat to win then you're supposed to just quit. That goes against my upbringing and the brand of sportsmanship that I was taught, so it bothers me for the rules to now encourage that attitude.
Admittedly I'm rather out of touch with the specifics of NASCAR today, because I started losing interest in it after the 90s. Seems like it's gotten very gimmicky in recent years. I do like that they're running more road courses though.
mir in 2020 (motogp)
hawthorn in 1958 and keke rosberg in 1982 (f1)
will power last year (indycar)
@@muhammadrizkisatria Keke Rosberg in 82 is one of my favourites because he won with a naturally aspirated engine against all the much faster turbo engined cars. Great example of why consistency and reliability matter.
10 top 5 , 2 wins or 3 wins i forget , 2 or 3 top 10 , 1 dnf from 17 races in motop gp 2006
Never forget $49 way out off my budget for me, the Friday after it released, I happened to visit a Half-Price bookstore they would buy old books and video games. I walked up to the checkout line to buy some books never even thinking about NASCAR 2003, As I was waiting to check out the two young guys in front of me had in their hands a copy of NASCAR 2003, my hands got sweaty and my heart was beating as fast as the night I first kissed Donna Williams. I asked the guy holding that beautiful disc, you trading that in ,He looked at me and said," Yea,it Sucks "I'm going to get cash for it, My heartrate increased, I knew he was not getting No where near the $49 he paid for it so I told him I'm going over here and stand to see what they give you for it ,Trust me I will beat that price..As I watched him turn to walk towards me with game in hand, I knew fate was on my side, As I sit here 20 year later with countless hours of races and laps countless hours of fun and racing .friends, I have in my hand that very disc I paid $15 for that fateful day, NASCAR 2003, The LEGEND truly does live on, Great video.
Ironically I found my physical copy of NR2003 About 8 years ago at a HPB.....for 30 bucks! It was a steal for a physical copy lol.
Been playing this for about 2 weeks. I only have a game pad. And it is by far the best racing game I’ve ever played. Currently running 100’s of laps Richmond trying to set it up, find a decent line. It’s INFURIATING!!! I love it.
The stock 'fast' setup +5 grill is enough to win. The base fast setups are actually too good.
The 1998 Winston Cup season was my favorite. There have been seasons where one driver was dominant, but to have two drivers/teams as good as Gordon and Martin were--I just knew I was watching excellence every week.
It was a storybook season for NASCAR's 50th anniversary; Dale Earnhardt finally winning the Daytona 500 really set the stage for the rest of that year, the way the Pepsi 400 got bumped later into the season with its first ever night race was also something special. My favorite drivers of that era were Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd (I share birthdays with him) and Dale Sr, and the fall Martinsville race was amazing the way Ricky bookended his yearly winning streak with a victory interview on a stretcher. They don't make 'em like they used to
Damage and collisions in this were so believable compared to anything else at the time
This game actually looks nicer to my eyes than iRacing simply because iRacing looks too yellow, and NR2003 was colorful and vibrant.
just in case you didn't know while iracing is open if you have an nvidia gpu press alt+f3 and a reshade sort of thing will popup. you can remove the yellowness and then the game is almost unrecognizable
That about sums up what's wrong with iRacing from every other perspective too, just a sort of, greedy yellow tinge to it.
@@GMetzo I'm dying for the day we get an AMD fix. :(
They literally fixed the yellow tint a year ago
@@rontgenpetersen1896 you are completely wrong
This is what I love about this channel, you talk about every kind of motorsport and you give it the respect it deserves. I'm european but I don't understand the hate some europeans throw at oval racing, particularly since I tried NR2003 and I couldn't keep the car straight for more than half a lap...
nr was what got me into sim racing but i still have to say it was wayyy too easy to spin out the tire slip model just isn’t what we have today
About a month or so ago I put all the BR tracks, the 98 Winston Cup mod, skins, and some other various graphic and sound enhancements on my Google drive and convinced a few friends on a discord server to give it a try. After I got a server set up for us to race on we had an amazing time, most of the guys were pretty avid sim racers over the past 10 years or so but not NASCAR fans and had never touched NR2003. It was a great experience to see their minds blown that a 20 year old game could still be so good. I am so glad people are still talking about NR and making great content about it.
It's crazy the last decent oval and rally sims are ~20 years old now.
Awesome sim, I miss early 2000s sims. GTR2 and Nascar Racing 2003 are two good examples.
20 years, I can't believe its been that long. it's been a long time since I played it but I have some fond memories. I remember when the cup 90 set came out I converted the aero 88 paints to the cup 90 cars. I battled Bobby Allison and DW down to the wire for the championship, nothing that has come out since has been able to replicate that immersion. You are so right about how the organic moments of excitement were so much more rewarding back then.
NR2003 is an amazing sim that I will always play for as long as it is supported
If you are thinking about doing a full season in this sim, I will very happily watch all the videos. Fantastic content
Still currently playing, such a great sim! Love it with the Trucks series set!
This is 20, GPL 25, RBR will be 20 next year…
We’re getting old lads…
Great Ride though
I think it was one of the Project Wildfire patches (the folks that Papyrus worked with to give NR2003 added life when it became clear NR2003 was the end), but you can get really nice looking crowds in the grandstand, pit stall markings, etc. Worked automatically with the only user intervention being to install the patch.
I believe it was Project Wildfire's "New Cup Series Damage" patch that enhanced the game's visual damage model for the stock Winston Cup cars, but it may have been connected to one of the mods that Papyrus made the physics for in their final weeks and which Project Wildfire made the vehicle models to go along with, such as the Trans-Am or Craftsman Truck series mods. But with almost 20 years having passed since this was happening in 2004 or so, my memories aren't 100% (And the site hosting the files doesn't have patch notes).
Getting home drunk after a dinner with friends, still gonna watch this before bed, love this videos!(1.20 am here)
its actually insane that has being 20 years and basically no sim has come even close to the quality of the AI handling even when while crapping themselves a little bit here and there... they give that feel of them actually making mistakes or random crap happening to them for real... you just dont see this level of immersion on modern sims
Can't believe its already been two decades... awesome coverage! I'm glad to see this sim is still alive and well after all these years :)
Not sure how I found your channel, but it's very enjoyable. At the 11 something mark of this video you talk about having the 1998 season on the tv and is great background sound. Back then, I would have been 11. My grandpa used to have NASCAR coverage on the TV in his barber shop all the time. He'd record the races on Saturday and Sunday have them playing in the shop on Monday Tuesday Wednesday, and then would have qualifying and practice coverage on.
I previously mentioned on a GTR2 video how my sister indroduced me to sim racing with it. I had forgotten about NR2003. She had that too and man it also played an important part in my interest in racing. Man i need to go download this right now.
Also currently watching the 1998 season. In the middle of the First Darlington race. When racing was still real, organic, racing.
Never was into NASCAR racing but love the Tach on the steering wheel and the sound of those powerful engines, you know how to entice!
So many great sims and mods hitting the street back then. Kyalami on N2003 is a blast.
You came just a tiny bit short of getting the full late-90's Busch Series backmarker experience, you also needed to be spun by Buckshot Jones, Joe Bessey or one of the Krogh brothers to max it out.
Fantastic video as always.
I have the 2002 version of this game and really appreciated all the training (narrated by Darryl Waltrip!) that really helped me understand how to actually drive the car. It was my first true racing simulator and I couldn't believe how hard it was!
+1 if there’s an Axelson family member that wants to do a full season and full length races of NASCAR I’ll happily sit and watch it!
His nephew, Dale Axelson
@@DELIGHTFULDORITO yes I was wondering what he maybe called something typically good ‘ol boys- Randy Axelson, or JW Axelson. I’m sure Jake would find an appropriate family member 😆
Brings back fond memories. For four consecutive years I ran the old Papryus Nascar sims and did a whole season with races at 100% length. I tried to set the AI strength so that I'd run mid-pack at each track. So much fun. After watching this, I'll have to try and get the old Nascar sim running again.
I appreciate your millennial nostalgia for racing games and sim's in particular. I don't know how it was for you but my love of motorsports and racing games in the early 00s was a some what lonely affair, we didn't have you tube, or even top gear really living in the US, none of my friends where into racing and engine's like I was. So many of these memories that I cherish where things I experienced by myself and never talked to anyone else about, and these look backs are like experiencing it with friends all over again. Kids that love motorsports now don't know how good they have it, I'd kill for just a long inside of a NASCAR cockpit let alone seen entire video series on how the cars built up.
Until iRacing introduced AI, this was the greatest offline sim ever. Still holds its own and I'll probably do a 20th anniversary reinstall and a few nostalgic laps at some point this year. Thanks for featuring it.
I remember my bud getting this when it came out and even though I didnt know much about racing back then, it still blew me away. In fact...it was the first time I was jealous of gaming PC as I only had a non-3d accelerated PC and a Sega Dreamcast. It looked, sounded, and felt so real back then. Best sim I had seen up to that point. I can't believe how good it can still look two decades later. The liveries from that era are so nostalgic.
When GPLaps posts a video that's in full IMAX aspect, you know it's going to be epic. And this is no exception. Happy birthday to Nascar Racing 2003, and a happy anniversary to Nascar - celebrating 75 years of almost being as good as the BTCC.
Speaking of, I had a copy of one of the Papyrus Nascar games back in the day (sadly not 2003, but still very good) and thanks to the livery editor I always tended to compete in a Chevrolet Lumina painted in the John Cleland Mobil 1 Vauxhall colours.
The Phoenix track looks lovely, right down to the dramatic vistas, the Goodyear bridge, and the Purina Dog Chow advertising hoardings.
Great video.
After GPL was such a great sim and got me very interested on historic motorsports, NR2003S was just as good but didn't get me into oval racing as I hoped. However, some of the mods released for it were just superb, and I still remember the GTP cars as some of the most enjoyable cars I tried in my ~25 years of sim racing.
I want to get more into NR2003, but my racing time is pretty limited by work, family, and other hobbies -- GPL eats most of my wheel time right now.
The GOAT
I've been playing it for 20 years, and I'm likely gonna be playing it in another 20
Although I've only gotten into this sim in 2019, NR2003 has probably changed my life at least somewhat. Love seeing high-quality videos of the game like this
woah no way ultrawide content that is actually encoded properly & without double black bars??? I must be dreaming!
Was not expecting you to cover this, but I'm glad you did!
Please do a full season on this one day! 2:50
I would love to see that as well.
Love your content Jake. One of the only sim racing channels that goes bk and plays great old games.
Even 20 years later nr2003 is still one of the most popular racing games of all time
god i love tour videos man. you indpired me to go into sim racing
You always produce beautiful quality visuals and have done a great job making this look as good as it still is. ❤
Wow, I gave this exe you mentioned a shot and it's absolutely amazing. It really does feel like the original game just with much more *realistically* forgiving tires. I had the exact same issue with NR2003 of impossible to save slides and this just fixes that. I agree with GPLaps everyone should give this thing a shot!
the ai on non plate tracks were so amazing on the sim
I would absolutely watch a full stream series of this game similar to your ICR2 streams! If not that, maybe a NR2 or NR3 stream series like your NR1 series (i.e multiple shorter races per stream)
"The Full Back-marker Experience" The title of my upcoming iracing centric biography.
i like that i as well before seeing your videos about the 98 year, got into playing again then watching the 98 season too
I’ve had a “career” mode going for like 10 years now. This game never gets old
That is amazing.
So many fond memories of this game (with mods)... I gotta go through some of my old zip disks to see if I have some of my old paint schemes.
The #47 car was driven in real life by Andy Santerre from my home state of Maine. I actually saw Andy win a race (albeit not NASCAR but a 100-lap pro stock open) at my home track of Spud Speedway in Caribou, ME in 1992. Andy made a name for himself in Busch North before moving to Busch South in 1998. His time in that series was shortened by injury and crappy luck but he did win at Pikes Peak in 1999. He moved back north and made a home for himself in the Busch North series again, winning four straight titles 2002-2005 before retiring.
Full 1998 Nascar Season...yes please!!!
Been obsessing over this sim recently
The simulators of the 2000’s are so amazing. I’ve only played 2 of which, DCS World and NR2003, but they’re amazing.
pls do a full season, love to watch ur stuff when I go to bed x
This is the real Phoenix. Not that foolishness we've got today. Amazing stuff as always mate.
I was never attracted by NASCAR or oval racing, but with GPLaps videos everything is possible.
A lot of the thing thats better about old races is differences in broadcast. You used to get more wider angle shots where you could see more, and it seems these days its constantly zoomed right in and you dont get a feel for whats going on in a wider sense. Also the modern day thing about 'todays storylines' and shoehorning everything in to that narrative regardless, as opposed to, you know, just describing whats going on.
That goes for most sports really.
0:29 to 1:15 gives me major Sam Posey vibes, and a chill down my spine. You have a great way with words how you wrote that.
The thing is, and I'd nee to go hunting since racing-reference nuked the comments and that's wher I saw it was NASCAR was going to bring in a playofs system before 2003, they just foun Kenseth a convenient scapegoat and with Winston bowing out and Nextel coming in they threw in the Chase. If you go back and look at why the Latford system was made, it still had a purpose and a reason even in 03 though. To me, the 2003 WC season was one of, if not the greatest not from every race being a 2003 Darlington, but because of the overall season. That's something NR2003 captures well, I've had across 20 years, door banging side by side finishes. I've had runs to the flag where I'm right there but can't pass. I've had last laps where I'm holding off someone. I've even had last laps where I've had the AI punt me, only for me to bounce off the wall an slide to the line and win, and it never felt scripted or artificial. I've had the gearbox give up in the pits when I was battling for a top ten, and I've seen the AI have sudden failures. Most unexpected was both DEI cars blowing up at Dega, somehow, some way, the NR2003 gods decided Jr an Waltrip were going to blow up running 1-2 with two lines behind them. That was a scary moment, everyone organically scattered and the Big One happened organically with cars finding a way through, or, not
between the game and the 98 busch series schemes. super nostalgia.
I have 2 full installs of the game - one for 1990-1999 mods (cars, trucks and tracks) and one for 2000-2019 mods (cars, trucks and tracks). . Still play it for hours a week, still love it more than some of the new, more graphically superior games simply because the AI is awesome to race against, because mods and because nothing has come close to being this enjoyable for me since then.
Listens to GPLaps' misty eyed reminiscing over 'real' NASCAR a form of the sport I know not a lot about.
Hears about 'playoffs' in an automobile race for the first time.
Remembers an American company now owns F1.
Dies a little inside.
Loved all the papy “games” I personally likes the driving of the nascar4 game. As far as the Taurus, I’ve yet too see a 2 door Taurus lol
My favorite part of the game is that you can add as many series mods, tracks, paint schemes, and more. You don't even have to pay for it because it's considered abandonware.
I wish I had gotten this game back when it released in 2003. I ended up finding a copy on Ebay in 2009 with the game disc and manual for nearly $90. But let me tell you, it was worth the price since this game is so customizable. I hope you installed AeroWar 88 and Cup90 for some late 80s-early/mid 90s NASCAR action.
One of my favorite games of all time was the first NASCAR Racing (1994). For some races I'd spend an entire evening just testing, practicing, and tweaking setups. I would get immersed in the challenge of trying to speed up my lap times in practice, and forget all about running a real race. Then it would be too late and I'd run the actual race the next night. I ran 3 seasons at increasing difficulty and race length each time.
I was fortunate to have a very good quality joystick that had the precision needed to drive carefully and to be rewarded for practicing. I think that game was hard for many people to get into because in the mid-90s most people didn't have a precise enough controller for a sim.
I didn't get into NASCAR 2 as much, but that game did add the spotter's voice which was a great addition.
Strange thing I noticed in this video is that the spotter is needlessly chatty about cars that you didn't need to be told about, including some that you were passing at a high speed differential. NASCAR 2 was very good about not making spurious comments about the obvious, but I think it had an adjustment slider for that. Maybe there's an adjustment in this game also? I don't know.
As much as I loved the earlier games in this series, I've never seen this game before. So this was the pinnacle? I really ought to check it out.
A couple years ago I bought some old games for a retro PC and among them was NASCAR 99. I still haven't tried that one either.
Definitely think a North Wilksbro race on nascar 2 is in order before the all star race
I'm from Europe, never saw a Nascar race in my life, only saw that funny movie. Didn't play the game when it came out either, found it few years ago as an abandonware. But i'm hooked, the game is so damn good.
Thinking of having a go on N2k3 at a full distance Daytona 500 with Qualifying and a Twin 125 race thrown in? :)
Oh the 98 season? no idea what happened then, completely blocked it out of my memory, I couldn't even tell you who won that year, certainly can't remember who finished second, was there even a NASCAR season in '98?
I'm a Mark Martin fan btw
Definitely an oldie but a goodie.
There is so much depth to it, with AI losing an engine at random points. The cars spin if you bump too hard into one.
I still play this daily !
NASCAR 2003 was the first sim where i "felt" the weight of the car.
Youd think we would have a good game since 03, i mean some of em are but those days are gone
Those engine sounds are amazing, even if the tire screech sounds like cleaning windows
12:36 I was at that race. Lots of action in that one
beautiful simulator, beautiful mods, never gets old
Hey @GPLaps, hope you are doing well! I came back to this video because it was such a great upload and representation of NR2003. I just wanted to let you know beginning on September 16th, NTG (Numb Thumbs Gaming) will be starting a Nascar Racing 2003 2023 Season with 10 Races set and nearly 20 Drivers already signed up. We'd love to have you! If you would like more information, please let me know!!!
Tenho o CD original pra PC até hoje 🤩
Very inspiring video. I discovered NASCAR in the same era as you, and was overjoyed when I could finally flip cars with the release of N4. Have you ever tried the GTP Mod? I ended up entering many endurance races in it, and have so many good memories thanks to N2003.
Thanks for producing such good content!
With all of the mods available for this sim, it's become the Skyrim of driving simulators. I spend more time tweaking AI, setting up rosters, races and championships than I do actual driving.
i know it can be difficult, but you should show us the menus of tyre wear and tyre temperature. I'm soooo curious to see how you manage them
NR2003 the cult classic
That mod is one of the best
It's crazy how different Phoenix is now compared to back then, the racing at the current layout sounds great in concept but in practice it just leads to snoozefests. It is nice to have the Championship race in my backyard though
and 20 years have passed...damn
good one👍
I recently started playing this, but I'm having issues when braking on road courses. I'm using the G27 with all driver aids off and when reaching a certain brake application point, there's some sort of judder or hopping. This can't be normal?
On these road courses the AI is seconds faster per lap as they can brake way later than me.
Great coverage, may I ask if this it totally vanilla with no crew chief? Thanks
I miss old Phoenix ngl
you should do a video on V8Factor Unleashed, one of the best looking rFactor mods I've ever seen
Sad that 20 years ago we had top quality sims like nr2003, gtr2, Gpl and rfactor. Nothing has come even close in the past 5 years. Ac probably would be close but thats about it
do you have a set up and mod vid for getting this game playable on win 10
I'm sick of trying to get AC to oval race and pack racing is out the question. What's the force feedback like here?
hell yes!
Would you ever consider curating some playlists for spotify? I always find myself very impressed with your choice of music. Do you have a musical background?
no stupid questions, but what is the next best available on steam (non iRacing) NASCAR game in terms of AI and car handling?
Excellent video 👍
good video,btw how to install this game @win10 64 bits? TGT2 Wheel have support this game?
Awesome video... as always... :) GPLaps at his best!
Did you turn off the realistic track shadows or does the track mod not have that?
I tried this 6 months ago after not driving it since 2007. It's a bit of a pain to get going with all the mods. FFB doesn't really work, and you have to run very low steering rotation angle. The setups need a lot of work, and I still can't complete a full race without a spin. The ai is hit and miss on certain tracks. But man, the game still has that nascar nostalgic feel. The setups really can help you win or lose, if you're setup is good on a long run you can dominate late. It's really too bad that there hasn't been anything better in 20 years!
Y’know, if you told me this was a mobile-focused race sim released in 2023, I’d have totally believed it. For 20 years on, it looks fantastic.
Also, this really was the era that made me watch nascar religiously. Nowadays, I’d rather watch the 2014 formula 1 season in its totality on infinite loop than suffer through even one current nascar race….
The new car nascar introduced last year actually has provided great racing, a MAJOR step up from the overall awful racing of the high downforce 550hp package in years prior. The new car has made short tracks and road courses boring now, but the tracks 1 mile and bigger have provided incredible racing. I'd totally recommend tuning in to a race or two this season
Can you provide a link to the physics your running?