Getting Down and Dirty On Sim Racing's Short Ovals

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Image Credit: UKOvals
Short Oval Racing is sometimes overlooked by sim racers across many different simulators. Whether it's the dirt stock series in iRacing or the crazy world of Wreckfest, short oval racing can be one of the most intense and high-octane racing disciplines.

It would be nearly impossible to include every single series in every title. So, let us know in the comments below what we missed!


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Online Wreckfest Banger Raicng. Image Credit: Online Bangers Wreckfest

iRacing Dirt short Ovals

Starting with one of the big hitters in the world of short ovals, iRacing. The sim is at the top of the pyramid when it comes to the representation of the genre. You have everything from the Dirt Midget Cup to Late models and the Legends series.

There is a free (ish) entry into the series. The UMP Modified is included with every base iRacing subscription and therefore, a well-populated series. Be warned, safety rating is especially hard to keep and grow for beginners in such a small and hectic environment!

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iRacing Rookies Legends Series. Image Credit: iRacing.com

iRacing has many different series across the safety and driver rating levels for Dirt Oval. The Legends cars are available for rookies at a 3.0 or above but you can go all the way up to the Pro/World Championship Dirt Oval Series.

Ever heard of the World of Outlaws? It's a real-world racing series represented within iRacing, that also has its own game, based on the real-life series (see below).

World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing​

Hailed as the best oval racing game to come to consoles in a very long time by many, World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing is a simulator created by Monster Games under the stewardship of iRacing. This has brought competitive dirt oval racing to both online competition and AI racing at long last for those on current PlayStations and Xboxes.

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Sprint Car Series. Image Credit: Worldofoutlawsgame.com

If this is the first time you've heard of World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing, or you want to learn more about it, check out our review for World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing on the OverTake.gg YouTube channel!

The car list strikes a great balance for a title based on one genre of motorsport. The cars vary from the Sprint Car Series to the Pro Late Models and street stocks. If you want the Big Block Modified series, DirtCar UMP Modified or the Midgets, you'll have to pay for the respective DLCs.

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Image Credit: Worldofoutlawsgame.com

With a tracklist of over 40 tracks and layouts, World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing has fantastic replayability and variety. The track list has only six registered DLC tracks on their official website. A variety of fantasy tracks are also available to keep even the most experienced short dirt oval driver on his or her toes!

Before this game, the team also made SRX: The Game - the official title of the short-lived real-world SRX series, and it too features several small oval layouts.

NASCAR Heat 5​

NASCAR Heat 5's latest major update was the Next Gen Car Update. While it was nothing groundbreaking, the update introduced the legendary Bristol short dirt track as a playable option. The other three dirt tracks included are at Las Vegas, Charlotte and Texas Motor Speedway. There is also one fictional track as well, Drebin Motor Speedway,

Tarmac Short ovals in NASCAR Heat 5 include Bristol Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Phoenix Raceway and Richmond Raceway. Check out Ross Chastain's incredible videogame-like wall ride to qualify for the Championship 4 at Martinsville as an example of what can be done on these short ovals!

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Image Credit: Paul Jeffrey

Tony Stewart Stock Car Racing​

Developed in collaboration with Sprint Car champion and NASCAR racing legend Tony Stewart, this racing game (another from Monster Games, but before its iRacing partnership) offers fans of dirt racing another alternative to World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing.

Race everything from TQ Midgets to the insanely powerful 900 HP 410 Winged Sprint Cars in Tony Stewart Stock Car Racing. Generally well received, the title has 24 Dirt Tracks to compete on across the country, from small-town rural tracks to elite stadiums.

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Sprint Car Series. Image Credit: Monster Games, Inc.

There are two DLCs available including, of all things, a road course. Palm Tree Motorsports Park provides a fresh challenge for the otherwise dirt-based game.

Gran Turismo 7 Short Oval​

Despite the simulator's popularity, Gran Turismo 7 leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to short oval racing and oval racing in general specifically. With no stockcars, sprint cars or modifieds the choices are few and far between. Classic hotrods are available so they are a great stand-in option if you are looking to recreate some short oval racing in Gran Turismo 7.

The track is called Northern Isle Speedway and it's a fictional track set in the USA. It's 0.56 miles long, meaning it can officially be classified as a 'Short Oval' in NASCAR terms.

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Northern Isle Speedway, Gran Turismo 7

Races can be held here during the day or at night. The recreation of races will need some creativity and imagination, but it certainly isn't impossible!

North Wilkesboro Speedway in Assetto Corsa​

Historic Sim Studios LLC have created some of the best mods for Assetto Corsa available on OverTake! Its rendition of North Wilkesboro Speedway is no outlier.

NASCAR will return to this iconic venue in May 2024 after a 25-year hiatus. Short oval racing within the series is highly rated and always throws up a fantastic spectacle.

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North Wilkesboro Speedway. Image Credit: Historic Sim Studios LLC

The team at Historic Sim Studio have started work on some of the legacy versions of North Wilkesboro Speedway alongside the 2023 layout. These versions are on dirt, a surface very rarely used or covered in Assetto Corsa!

Wreckfest: Banger Racing​

If you are from the UK or some parts of Europe, you will likely have heard of 'Banger Racing'. The sport consists of old and no longer road-worthy cars being painted and prepped for full-contact racing. There is no other sport like it and American demolition derby could certainly learn a few lessons!


The best bit? There's an entire community on the PC version of Wreckfest that allows you to race and recreate iconic banger race meetings and moments. Wreckfest Online Bangers has a discord community and Facebook community to organise racing.

The cars used in this huge mod pack replicate the real cars that are popular in real life. Expect to see Ford Granadas, old Volvo's, a plethora of Jaguars and the occasional supra!

Getting started is very easy. The steam workshop for Wreckfest has everything you need to get into the public lobbies and special events! Check out the 'How to get started' page for more details and a step-by-step process.

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Online Banger Racing Pileups.Image Credit: Online Bangers

The mod includes so much content it can be overwhelming. however, the installation and setup process is very easy and you will have full unrestricted access to:

- 42 Car additional car models with full customisation
- 200+ replica paint jobs
-13 Short oval tracks for use with the cars. Floodlit night racing on some of these tracks.
-Ai sets to split cars by year/country and size
-Custom damage, deform rates and collisions
-Custom surface physics
-Custom particle effects
-All assists disabled for competitive online balance

My Personal experience​

Banger racing holds a special place in my heart, growing up in rural Cornwall. Racetracks like Silverstone and Donington Park were always so far away. However, United Downs Raceway in Redruth gave me the racing bug and I've never looked back since!

I took part in an event at Greater Yarmouth for my University Degree video final project. If you are interested in seeing what banger racing is all about, check it out on my YouTube channel below!


Have you given short oval racing in your favourite simulator a go? Let us know your experiences on X @OverTake_gg or down in the comments below!
About author
Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

Comments

Premium
Great write up Connor:thumbsup:....but holy moly, respect for getting into the 'Banger Racing' for real:confused: and not much in the way of roll cages either :confused:...but glad to see there is just enough safety for protecting you and others trying this type of racing:)

Wreckfest is the Sim I enjoy for this type of action....in the comfy, warm and safe environment of my home Simulator:redface::D
 
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Great write up Connor:thumbsup:....but holy moly, respect for getting into the 'Banger Racing' for real:confused: and not much in the way of roll cages either :confused:...but glad to see there is just enough safety for protecting you and others trying this type of racing:)

Wreckfest is the Sim I enjoy for this type of action....in the comfy, warm and safe environment of my home Simulator:redface::D
It's not really without risk - I'm aware of one death and one extremely serious life changing injury during banger racing events at the Gt Yarmouth stadium, albeit these were respectively 20 - 25 years ago now.
 
I don't think the UMP modified is included free with iRacing as It's a B license car. Think the street stock is free.
 
Firstly, what is that car in the screenshot for Gran Turismo 7?

Secondly, I've had tons of fun on short ovals in rFactor 1—which had dozens of track mods for that, and also a variety of low-power stock cars mods. But the physics are rather unchallenging after AC and rF2. Please someone make a street-stocks mod for rF2!

P.S. My favorite one-mile oval in NR2003 is Rockingham of North Carolina—which is technically similar to Dover, but is rather different in feel. It's available for AC, from Damone13x, but not for rF2—and of course AC doesn't know anything about oval racing. If someone would be inspired to port the track, it would be so great!
 
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OverTake
Premium
Great write up Connor:thumbsup:....but holy moly, respect for getting into the 'Banger Racing' for real:confused: and not much in the way of roll cages either :confused:...but glad to see there is just enough safety for protecting you and others trying this type of racing:)

Wreckfest is the Sim I enjoy for this type of action....in the comfy, warm and safe environment of my home Simulator:redface::D
Thank you! It's certainly an adrenaline rush ;)
 
Mistakes in this article :
- There is no Tony Stewart's stock car racing game, it is Tony Stewart's Sprint Car Racing. The game wasn't really well received and I suggest Billie Strange Racing's review (who has real experience in Sprint cars) which points out a too unrealistic car behaviour. Available on consoles and PC.

- The sequel, Tony Stewart's All American Racing, from the same developper, is a much better game with cool categories (unfortunately not the Sprint cars) and more realistic behaviour. Available on consoles and PC.

- the 3rd dirt oval game from Monster Games was SRX the game, still in collaboration with Tony Stewart. Some improvements and road oval tracks. A solid game with the usual satisfying AI of Monster Games on ovals. Available on consoles and PC.

-Nascar Heat 5 is just a scam now. The last DLC brought an update which made the former (paid) DLC disappear and a never fixed issue with the 5th gear in a specific track (I think Atlanta). Just go read Steam's forums, I regularly read them to know whether the game has been fixed. It probably won't ever, unless MSG sells enough LMU copies and decide to respect their customers. For the record, Nascar Heat 5 is not a Monster Games' game, it is another MSG team which tried to update Nascar Heat 4 to make a new game (to be fair, the useful practice session has been implemented). The game was functional before the last DLC came out. You obviously can't recommend this game on PC (don't know whether these issues are on consoles). You can download some community's files to reinstall the former DLC but still get the gear issue. Go for Nascar Heat 4 instead, the games are identical except the practice session.
 
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Seriously Overtake, I wonder whether there is someone professional in your organisation. You have your readers helping you with your misinformation and none of your employees is reacting? What the hell? Does Porsche use the same management practices with its cars??? Is there anyone really doing his job in this company? I don't blame the content creator, although he really didn't take 5 minutes to check the facts, that's pure laziness, I blame his chieves who are as lazy as him with a better salary. That's the point, why making more efforts when your chief is a lazy better paid person?

At the end I don't see any simracing passion in this and it is just sad. Since a few months you are just a mod database for me, not an informative web site. I'll still be correcting your misinformation, because I don't want my fellow simracers wasting money because of you, but what a shame...
 

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