Imagine being a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, a legend of the sport, only to find out a video game thinks you're one of the worst drivers on the track. That's the reality Jimmie Johnson is facing after iRacing Studios dropped their new game, NASCAR 25. But is it a fair assessment, or a digital slap in the face? Let's dive in.
NASCAR 25, the latest offering from iRacing Studios, launched recently on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, marking the company's grand entrance into the console gaming world. This highly anticipated release immediately sparked debate among fans, particularly concerning the driver ratings assigned to current Cup Series competitors. While several ratings raised eyebrows, the one that truly ignited the NASCAR community was Jimmie Johnson's. He received a rating of just 54 out of 100, effectively ranking the seven-time champion as the eighth-worst active driver in the game.
Now, before you cry foul, it's important to understand the context. Unlike iRacing's PC platform, which focuses on real-time multiplayer competition, NASCAR 25 emphasizes a robust single-player experience. In this mode, you race against AI drivers programmed to mimic the performance of their real-world counterparts. To create a realistic and challenging game, these AI drivers aren't created equal. Their abilities are scaled to reflect real-world performance differences. Racing games often handle these adjustments behind the scenes, but lately, there's been a trend toward displaying driver ratings to the user, similar to sports games like Madden NFL.
This is where things get controversial... A driver's success on the track isn't solely determined by innate talent. It's a complex interplay of factors, including the quality of their equipment, the strength of their team, and even a little bit of luck. Jimmie Johnson, while undeniably a legend, isn't the same driver he was during his dominant years. Remember, he retired from full-time competition after the 2020 season. While he consistently finished respectably (18th in points in his last two full-time seasons), those results don't necessarily translate to being the 40th-highest-rated driver, as the game suggests.
And this is the part most people miss... Johnson's current role as a part-time driver and co-owner of Legacy Motor Club significantly impacts his performance. While his third-place finish at this year's Daytona 500 was impressive, Legacy Motor Club simply doesn't have the resources or infrastructure of a powerhouse team like Hendrick Motorsports, where Johnson achieved his greatest successes. The game developers likely factored this into his rating, attempting to reflect his current competitive reality rather than solely relying on his historical achievements.
iRacing Studios seemingly created a performance curve, assigning ratings from 40 to 100 across the active Cup Series drivers. William Byron, the 2025 regular season champion and a back-to-back Daytona 500 victor, received a perfect 100 rating, despite lacking a Cup Series championship. Byron's consistency and recent successes clearly positioned him as the top driver in the game's assessment. The developers applied the same logic to other series featured in NASCAR 25, such as the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the ARCA Menards Series. For instance, Brenden Queen, this year's ARCA champion, received a 99 rating. However, it's highly unlikely that Queen would maintain a 99 rating if directly compared to the Cup Series field. This highlights that the ratings are relative within each series, not absolute across all of NASCAR.
Ultimately, Jimmie Johnson's rating in NASCAR 25 sparks an important question: Should driver ratings reflect historical achievements, current performance, or a combination of both? Is it fair to penalize a legend for driving less competitive equipment? Or should the game prioritize reflecting the current competitive landscape, even if it means diminishing the perceived value of a racing icon? What do you think? Should legacy play a bigger role, or is current performance the only thing that matters? Let us know in the comments below!
