Most people who have followed NASCAR are well aware of the exploits of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Aside from his on-track feats, he has also been a big follower and propagator of the simulation racing platform iRacing. He even joined iRacing as an executive director in 2020, making him an integral part of the game’s future plans. However, has he ever ventured into the popular Mario games spin-off, Mario Kart?
Answering the question to a fan’s inquiry on High Rock Vodka’s initiative, Dale Mail, Dale Jr, and his wife, Amy Earnhardt revealed their experience with Mario Kart. While Amy denies having any prior experience in the kart racing game, she felt that the game might have been too sensitive for her to approach.
Dale Earnhardt Jr reveals his choice in Mario games
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Dale Earnhardt Jr and his wife Amy’s brainchild, High Rock Vodka, has been gaining popularity across the country. The Dale Mail project, one of the brand’s initiatives, allows fans to send in their questions that the star couple would discuss on different episodes of the show. In the latest iteration of it, the popular video game series Mario took center stage as a fan asked a rather unexpected question.
A Dale Mail message for Junior read, “Who is your go-to Mario Kart driver?” to which Junior replied that he has not had much hands-on experience with the game. “I don’t think I’ve played a lot of Mario Kart.” The JR Motorsports owner then went on to ask the same question to his wife Amy.
Amy Earnhardt said that even though she was a big fan of the Mario franchise, she didn’t have any particular affinity toward the game. “I didn’t play Mario Kart. I was into other Mario games,” claimed Amy.
Recollecting the time of Mario Kart’s release, Amy said that steering through the track against other virtual players was “too sensitive” for her. Maybe she preferred the typical platform-based Mario games. “I feel like when Mario Kart came out, it was too sensitive for me. I couldn’t figure out how to steer it,” said Amy.
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As the conversation continued, Dale Jr reiterated his love for games that resembled real-life racing, which explains his love for iRacing. And things are looking pretty exciting for the firm. With IndyCar and NASCAR deciding not to renew their deal with Motorsports Games, iRacing sure looks like the next big thing in simulation racing.
IndyCar races could return to iRacing platforms
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A few weeks ago, NASCAR decided to search for a new gaming license and forego Motorsport Games. IndyCar management had a similar feeling about the partnership and announced a retraction from the virtual platform. This situation has opened up a window of opportunity for iRacing, which has been involved with IndyCar for over a decade.
IndyCar and iRacing ended their previous engagement in 2022 to switch to Motorsport Games, which ultimately met an untimely death owing to losses. With the search for a gaming license, this is a great chance for iRacing to grab some of the biggest racing circuits in the country. As for NASCAR, it has announced that the partnership with iRacing will birth a new game that will be made public in 2025.
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With its current licensing agreement with IndyCar set to expire at year's end, there are changes ahead for IndyCar representation on iRacing https://t.co/eo5gx8B2sj
— RACER (@RACERmag) December 21, 2022
IndyCar hoped to have an official and exclusive game ready by the end of 2023. However, with their vision not being realized, the interest has deflated by a big margin. Now, iRacing has come forward to grab that perfect opportunity that they were looking for, as mentioned earlier by the gaming firm’s Executive VP Steve Myers. In an email correspondence, Myers had written: “We would love our previous IndyCar [simulator] rights back for our iRacing product, but I’m guessing they still have much to consider.”
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With NASCAR already making its move, how IndyCar will respond to it remains to be seen. With the management of Motorsport games undergoing a big shuffle, the situation could be more stable and would need accurate assessment.
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