The allure of auto racing has long boiled down to its inherent simplicity. A competition that’s a test of person and machine, with the roar of the engines as the soundtrack, and the smells of burning rubber and fuel overwhelming the senses.
In the 21st century, though, a new form of racing has emerged that involves people and machines yet seems worlds apart. Once considered an arcade novelty, racing simulators are now a permanent part of the racing landscape. Companies like iRacing and Assetto Corsa have spurred a $1.3 billion industry that includes virtual series sanctioned by NASCAR and Formula One.
Furthermore, racing simulators (or sims for short) aren’t a standalone racing option. They’ve launched many real-world racing careers, with other professionals using them to train between events. As someone who’s grown up alongside the development of racing sims, I wanted to look at how and why they’ve become an essential tool for driver development.
The Rise of Racing Simulators
Driving sims and games have been around a lot longer than you think. Mechanical and electrical methods of testing driving skills date back to the early 1900s, and the first arcade racing game to use a steering wheel and pedals was Atari’s Gran Trax 10 in 1974. Early racing games were purely for entertainment, with little attention paid to realism.
This began to shift in the 1980s. The 1982 Atari game Pole Position and its sequel introduced qualifying laps, and hitting other cars or hazards would slow your time. Then, Papyrus Design Group burst onto the scene with 1989’s Indianapolis 500: The Simulation. It set new standards for realism, including gauges, crash damage, handling physics, and even blown engines.
Papyrus became a 1990s mainstay with its IndyCar Racing and NASCAR Racing series (which I played the virtual wheels off of), plus standalone titles like Grand Prix Legends. Other important titles included MicroProse’s Formula One Grand Prix (1992), which introduced drafting and modem-based multiplayer, and Gran Turismo (1997) with its career mode and in-game vehicle tuning.
But for my money, the real pivot point came in the 2000s. When Papyrus lost its NASCAR license, co-founder Dave Kaemmer left to create what is now iRacing. Using the NASCAR Racing 2003 Season code, iRacing developed an online-only simulation that featured meticulous laser scanning of real-world cars and tracks. It has inspired every simulator since.
Why Racing Sims Help Drivers
I could keep going about the history of racing simulators, but that’s not the focus of this article. It’s how racing sims have become both a development ground for new talent and a way for existing talent to stay sharp. While there was initial skepticism about such potential, the many success stories have erased those doubts in all but the most hard-headed.
What is it about racing sims that makes them such a great development tool? Consider five of the ways that training in today’s hyper-realistic racing simulators can enhance your driving on real pavement, clay, off-road tracks, or even just while you’re doing errands in your daily driver.
They Let Drivers Work on Technique
There are many skills relevant to real-world racing that you can hone in a simulator. Some of them include hand-eye coordination, visual information processing, spatial awareness, and decision-making under pressure. Drivers also get to work on their car control, even more so if they have a seat and wheel that mimic the real-life forces of a race car.
Sims Accelerate the Learning Curve for New Tracks
You’ll feel more confident going to a racetrack for the first time if you have some virtual experience beforehand. A simulator lets you work on braking points, analyze corners, and more. My first sim eye-opener was learning that, when the NASCAR Cup Series first went to Homestead-Miami Speedway in 1999, drivers practiced for it using Papyrus NASCAR Racing 3.
They Let Drivers Encounter More Situations
There are some scenarios a driver may face only once or twice in their real-world careers, but making the right decision can be the difference between a win and a crash. Much like online poker lets people play more hands and face difficult decisions, a racing sim gives you virtual practice in key situations. When they come up in the real world, you’ll be ready.
Sims Are More Accessible
You don’t need to book a track day, buy or rent a race car, clear hours on your schedule, or wait out a rain delay to get some sim time. New memberships can start at less than $6/month. While there are plenty of expensive sim rigs, a decent starter setup costs $500 or less. There’s no age minimum, either, meaning a comparatively low barrier to entry.
There are Fewer Risks Associated with Mistakes
If you make a mistake with a real car, you could easily be staring at tens of thousands of dollars in damage and/or a serious injury. With a racing sim, you simply hit the reset button. This presents a unique opportunity to try things and see if they work before applying them in the real world.
Drivers Who Turned Sim Success into Professional Careers
Many real-world drivers have become successful in sim racing, including Max Verstappen, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Lando Norris, and Kyle Larson. Verstappen even owns and operates his own sim racing team with a mix of real and virtual racing standouts competing at the highest levels of esports.
What about when the pipeline goes the other way? Here are a few stories of drivers who parlayed their sim-racing prowess into opportunities and eventual success in real-world motorsports.
- Josh Berry: His virtual racing exploits led to a ride with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports. From there, Berry worked his way up the ladder and now drives for Wood Brothers Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.
- James Baldwin: For earning the “World’s Fastest Gamer” title in 2019, Baldwin was awarded a season driving in the British GT Championship, where he finished fourth in points. In 2026, the Brit was hired as a simulator driver for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team.
- William Byron: The North Carolina native won more than 100 iRacing events before he ever set foot in a real race car. He’s driven for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2018 and has 29 wins across all national NASCAR touring series.
- Jann Mardenborough: As an early sim-to-real-world convert, Mardenborough got his start by beating out 90,000-plus contestants to win the 2011 Nissan PlayStation GT Academy Europe competition. His rise from gamer to professional racer got the Hollywood treatment in the 2023 film Gran Turismo.
- Rajah Caruth: After scraping together the funds for an iRacing setup at age 16, Caruth’s results in the eNASCAR Ignite Series earned him a spot in the NASCAR Driver for Diversity development program. Now 24, Caruth has risen to a full-time racer in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Virtual Racing Meets Reality
The allure of racing games has soared beyond just a few hours of entertainment. Today’s cutting-edge racing sims are a key tool for real-world drivers, and they’re helping people get ready for the big time. Instead of years or decades spent climbing the ranks, drivers have experience they can apply at the national level before they’re old enough to legally drive on the streets.
People can also make a living as a racer without ever leaving the virtual circuit. The 2026 NASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series features a $100,000 championship prize, and races are streamed live on multiple channels, creating sponsorship and social media opportunities. Plus, there are many smaller series mirroring the real racing ladder. It’s a brave new racing world, and I’m here for it.
