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Future NASCAR tracks will be designed virtually in iRacing

The popular sim racing video game will be home to NASCAR track design, thanks to a new partnership between the two entities.

Sean Szymkowski
It all started with Gran Turismo. From those early PlayStation days, Sean was drawn to anything with four wheels. Prior to joining the Roadshow team, he was a freelance contributor for Motor Authority, The Car Connection and Green Car Reports. As for what's in the garage, Sean owns a 2016 Chevrolet SS, and yes, it has Holden badges.
Sean Szymkowski
iRacing NASCAR
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iRacing NASCAR

iRacing's NASCAR eSports series have become incredibly popular of late. 

iRacing

The next time the NASCAR series debuts a new race track, it will have come from a video game first -- iRacing. On Tuesday, NASCAR announced a new partnership with the sim racing video game iRacing that will see all future race tracks designed virtually within the video game first. Then, the tracks will come to the real world.

The new partnership is actually an extension of past doings between the two entities. NASCAR's eNASCAR virtual series lives within iRacing, and it's been over 10 years since the video started licensing NASCAR for virtual racing purposes. In other words, the two are simply growing more tightly knit.

That should be a good thing for fans as they work to expand virtual racing series, lean on each other for the NextGen Race Car project, and as NASCAR uses iRacing as a training tool for NASCAR's Drive for Diversity class. Of course, the coolest part remains real-life race tracks starting life as courses for virtual racers first. That's just plain awesome.

Aside from the beefed up friendship between the two entities, this new partnership also earns iRacing a special title: "Official simulation partner of NASCAR."

Watch this: The 3 best wheels and pedal setups for iRacing