NASCAR Racing 2003 Season

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About

NASCAR Racing 2003 Season (often referred to as NR2003 for short) is a PC based racing simulation game published by Sierra Entertainment. The game has the player race as one of many NASCAR drivers in a realistic simulation of driving a stock car on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit along with racing online against 42 other racers. NR2003 is often heralded for its realistic racing physics and extensive modding community.

History

NR2003 was released on February 14, 2003, in North America.^[1] Developed by Papyrus Design Group, the game was the last game designed by the team before the NASCAR license was purchased by Electronic Arts, exclusively publishing and developing games under their moniker from 2004 to 2009 before being reacquired by Sierra's parent company, Activision.

Reception and Legacy

NR2003 was released to positive reception by critics. It holds a weighted score of 89 on Metacritic based on 18 reviews. The game was heavily praised for its realistic physics and driving.^[2] Despite its critical praise, it sold less than its predecessor NASCAR Racing 4 in total sales before being pulled from store shelves in 2004 due to licensing issues. NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin commented on the realism of NR2003's physics when he talked in an interview about how he used the racing sim to familiarize himself with Pocono Raceway, a track he had never raced on before his rookie season in 2006, and using said knowledge to grant him his first win in the Cup series at one of the most difficult racetracks for rookie drivers.

After Papyrus closed its doors in May 2004, the source code and assets of NR2003 were purchased by FIRST LLC. The source code would be utilized for the online, subscription-based racing sim iRacing, a racing sim utilized by developing and professional NASCAR drivers alike.

Fandom

NR2003 boasts a dedicated cult following online. The community has online racing leagues for the multitude of mods that can be added to the game's files.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Modding Community

NR2003 hosts a heavily dedicated modding community that has carried over from previous NASCAR Racing installments, that dates as far back as March 2000,^[6] and has run strong with multiple sites and forums dedicated to making and sharing mods with the community, ranging from paint schemes, racetracks (both real and fictional), physics applications, and car sets for different racing series of multiple racing circuits that are not just limited to NASCAR.^[7]^[8]^[9]