NASCAR Racing 2003 Season (commonly referred to as NR2003) is a PC game developed by Papyrus Entertainment Group and was released on February 4th, 2003. At first glance it may look like just another yearly sports title, distinguished by just a roster update. If you thought that, consider yourself wrong. Dead wrong.
You see, NR2003 is one of the greatest NASCAR games to be made, if not the greatest. For me, itās probably the racing game I have sunk the most time into in my life (although the sample size oughta to be a little bigger for me š). But why, why would a game about cars turning left over and over again activate neurons in a lot of peopleās brains, including mine?
Let me take you thorugh my journey with NR2003, and why me and so many others have held onto his game for years!
Growing up online, Iāve come across NR2003 before, primarily from crash compilation videos on YouTube. The magnum opus being āNR2003 at its Greatestā and the Idiots of NASCAR series. Although I had not played the game myself: our family PC at the time was not made for gaming, constraining my PC gaming experience to flash games. But the trigger to play came from a YouTuber named Griffdawg. He was (heās no longer active) a small YouTuber with only a few thousand subscribers. But his work wasā¦ I guess you can say influential to me at the time. I discovered his flagship series āWhat if Dale Earnhardt is Still Alive?ā, an alternate universe simulated with NR2003. The simulation wasnāt the most realistic but it was the most creative project that used a NASCAR video game.
That was the spark that motivated me to get NR2003 installed on the desktop (which later was replaced by a more modern but refurbished one). I was HOOKED on it with all the sorts of things you can do with this game
- making fantasy paint schemes with GIMP
- sharing and interacting with NR2003-oriented Discord servers and internet forums
- publishing YouTube videos of my own what-if series
- and of course, playing the game. Though I was stuck with a controller as wheels and pedals are quite expensive
There is so much you can do with this game and I havenāt even mentioned making your own tracks, making your own software mods, and participating in online leagues!
I still pick the game up from time to time eight years after my first encounter with NR2003. Right now, Iām going through a career mode that Iāve assembled myself, and Iām having quite a fun time with it.
And that is what makes NR2003 amazing: It is your playground. You can race with cars and tracks from the 50s to present day (never mind fictional tracks), with all sorts of disciplines like stock cars, open wheel cars, sprint cars, and sports cars. You can goof around making crash compilations or make your own campaign or narrative, itās all up to you! And for a game over 20 years old, it has a very active community of modders and players.
In the near future, Iāll be posting NR2003 content on this website, and maybe a guide with some useful links too.
Until then, happy racing!