NASCAR Racing 3

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NASCAR Racing 3 is a Windows racing simulation released in 1999 by Papyrus Design Group and Sierra Sports. Players compete in the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 1999 NASCAR Busch Series, with an optional Craftsman Truck Series Expansion. The game supports single-player and multiplayer modes, and patches were available on Sierra’s website. A 2000 Daytona 500 program CD included a demo of NASCAR Racing 3 (and NASCAR Legends) featuring Daytona International Speedway, which would officially debut in NASCAR Racing 4. The game was originally planned to use Grand Prix Legends–style physics and to release in late 1998, but those physics were moved to NASCAR Racing 4.

NASCAR Racing 3 received favorable reviews, with GameRankings aggregating positive scores. Edge reported US sales of at least 100,000 copies, behind NASCAR Racing 4’s 260,000. By August 2006, total US sales of NASCAR racing computer games released in the 2000s reached 900,000. The game won GameSpot’s 1999 Driving Game of the Year and was a nominee for CNET Gamecenter’s Best Racing Game (losing to Need for Speed: High Stakes).