Daytona International Speedway for iRacing Receives 2021 Update


The next iRacing patch will update Daytona International Speedway to a 2021 laser scanned version.

Owners of Daytona International Speedway in iRacing will be receiving an improved version of the American circuit shortly.

iRacing is set to release a patch to the track imminently, updating Daytona using laser scan data collected last year. The notable updates include track textures, curbing, and fencing.

The update comes just before the iRacing ROAR, an event inspired by the real-world Roar Before the Rolex 24 race.

Daytona ranks among the most popular and well loved American tracks both in sim racing and real racing, owing in part to its versatility. The site hosts top level racing in its tri-oval racing format and multiple configurations of the road course. There are also dirt and mini-oval layouts of the track used for racing.

The update is scheduled to be released on the 11th of January, so you shouldn't have to wait long for the update. Let us know your thoughts on this update, or anything else Daytona related in the comments below.
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

iRacing has its pros and cons, and I identify as neither a fanboy or hater, but IMO no one can touch them as far as this kind of stuff goes. No one else in the market is even really trying, in fact.

Their content is expensive and some people will just never get past the "iRenting" model - I can respect that but, at the same time, you have to be open minded about acknowledging about what you are getting for your money when you are "investing" (lol) in an iRacing track vs what you are getting in a DLC drop in other sims.
 
iRacing has its pros and cons, and I identify as neither a fanboy or hater, but IMO no one can touch them as far as this kind of stuff goes. No one else in the market is even really trying, in fact.

Their content is expensive and some people will just never get past the "iRenting" model - I can respect that but, at the same time, you have to be open minded about acknowledging about what you are getting for your money when you are "investing" (lol) in an iRacing track vs what you are getting in a DLC drop in other sims.
Yes. Your summary is correct. But, I was reminded after having let my iRacing subscription lapse, that what you buy you don't 'own' forever as many would state. Well, you do, but the problem is you simply won't be able to use it anymore, thus rendering it useless. iRacing is the master of finding ways for you to rebuy everything over and over again. I know they state that 'Well, we're simply keeping up with real life changes to cars and tracks." I get that, but most of my cars, minus the Audi R8 are now considered 'Legacy' Meaning they're old, and you can't race them anymore. So when my friend was kind enough to purchase me a year's subscription recently I found that I basically need to buy all my cars' new versions again just to race. It's the same with some tracks and Daytona is an example of it. There is an older version out there that many bought, but it has also become 'legacy' and can't be raced. Therefore you would had to have bought the track again. There are other tracks this has happened to as well. That, is obnoxious.
 
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@protonv5 I think the legacy is available for use in AI, as I have let my subscription lapse and only recently returned for the AI experience and have been racing on the legacy Daytona.
 
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Premium
The 'New' Daytona was initially released in February 2012, and replaced the now Legacy version. It was a free upgrade to anyone owning the original track. Perhaps my memory fades, however I don't recall ever paying for any Daytona track update other than the initial buy.
 
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I do like iRacing and have bought already content for 300€ or so, but i do have to say that not being able to use this content for AI-Racing or 'offline' is a hard slap in the face. I am ok with the subscription model in order to take part in the online racing but i am not ok with it if i want to play 'offline'. They got from me already 6x the money or more that i payed for a game like ACC (that does some things better than iRacing for sure). Yes i am willing to pay the monthly subscription and the pretty insane prices for the cars and tracks that i want to race online, but man, just also let me play this content also 'offline' without a subscription if i feel like i would like to take a break from online racing.
 
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Yes. Your summary is correct. But, I was reminded after having let my iRacing subscription lapse, that what you buy you don't 'own' forever as many would state. Well, you do, but the problem is you simply won't be able to use it anymore, thus rendering it useless. iRacing is the master of finding ways for you to rebuy everything over and over again. I know they state that 'Well, we're simply keeping up with real life changes to cars and tracks." I get that, but most of my cars, minus the Audi R8 are now considered 'Legacy' Meaning they're old, and you can't race them anymore. So when my friend was kind enough to purchase me a year's subscription recently I found that I basically need to buy all my cars' new versions again just to race. It's the same with some tracks and Daytona is an example of it. There is an older version out there that many bought, but it has also become 'legacy' and can't be raced. Therefore you would had to have bought the track again. There are other tracks this has happened to as well. That, is obnoxious.
Wow that's like F2P. You just saved me a lot of money I imagine.
 
Yes. Your summary is correct. But, I was reminded after having let my iRacing subscription lapse, that what you buy you don't 'own' forever as many would state. Well, you do, but the problem is you simply won't be able to use it anymore, thus rendering it useless. iRacing is the master of finding ways for you to rebuy everything over and over again. I know they state that 'Well, we're simply keeping up with real life changes to cars and tracks." I get that, but most of my cars, minus the Audi R8 are now considered 'Legacy' Meaning they're old, and you can't race them anymore. So when my friend was kind enough to purchase me a year's subscription recently I found that I basically need to buy all my cars' new versions again just to race. It's the same with some tracks and Daytona is an example of it. There is an older version out there that many bought, but it has also become 'legacy' and can't be raced. Therefore you would had to have bought the track again. There are other tracks this has happened to as well. That, is obnoxious.
Yes, you make a fair point. All part of the iRacing experience, for better or worse.

It's not a good sim for people like me who like to bounce around and try lots of sims. With iRacing, I feel like you either need to be really committed to truly get your money's worth. I've got all kinds of cars/tracks that I don't think I've ever even raced on (just farted around with in practice). Kind of a waste, but I'll survive.
 
iRacing is the master of finding ways for you to rebuy everything over and over again
Now I understand what your saying mostly....
Asides from new models of nascar's what have you had to rebuy?
Daytona from what I'm aware of was free for me.
Several of the latest rescanned tracks like phoenix and Watkins were too.
The only track I've had to pay for was Silverstone due to the new layout.

Several cars like the mx-5, Skippy and a few others have been free as well.

iRacing apparently laser scans all there car models which I'm sure costs a bit more than how the other developers create there.

As for legacy content pretty much all the tracks get added as free base content and used in Rookie class.
As for the cars ya it sucks when a car gets retired from the service but at the same time it makes sense...
Servers cost money to run...running 3gen old nascar's are most likely gonna be dead series....that being said legacy cars are not useless as you can always search the thousands of leagues to see if someone is running it.
They also offer heavy discounts when a new version is available within 2yrs.

I'm also pretty sure at some point all content will be available to race against ai as well.

For what it's worth...
For a title running for over 13 yrs content is gonna come and go...most titles stop development before the content needs to be updated ex. AC and PC
I've had to rebuy (discounted) several cars in Raceroom
ACC and AmS2 are too new.
 
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The 'New' Daytona was initially released in February 2012, and replaced the now Legacy version. It was a free upgrade to anyone owning the original track. Perhaps my memory fades, however I don't recall ever paying for any Daytona track update other than the initial buy.
This is a new scan done last year. A couple of years ago there were numerous graphical updates for "Daytona Rising" but that still used the 2011 scan. The original 2007 scan version is still available for use too.
 
actually getting content constantly updated is one of the best points about iRacing, otherwise we'd be playing cras and tracks prepared for 13 year old PCs. The change was, for instance, amazing when the new version of Lime Rock was released about a year ago, took 8 or 9 years off the old model and for free. If cars get updated you usually get a free new one if you bought the old one within two years, so some of the updated cars I got for free, with others, the update meant I was now officially not using a car any more which I wasn't using any more any way. Also, as others stated, some of the legacy (i.e. free or almost free) content is used in the rookie series, so it is still around, even in official series. Some is also available for use with the AI. As others noted, the game is basically 13 years old, the amazing point is how they managed to keep it alive and relevant for so long, if you look at the release trailer above, does not look dated to me.
 
iRacing has the problem that the visual quality of the tracks can vary quite a bit depending on when that track received its last update pass.
for example hungaroring, latest daytona, atlanta, basically every track released in the last two years holds up pretty well, but a track like Sonoma or Zolder looks really bad by now as far as textures go or vegetation surrounding the track.
what does look top notch are the cars i have to say.
i was recently comparing the Porsche GT3 R with the ACC version and i do have to say the iRacing model is superior.
 
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iRacing has the problem that the visual quality of the tracks can vary quite a bit depending on when that track received its last update pass.
for example hungaroring, latest daytona, atlanta, basically every track released in the last two years holds up pretty well, but a track like Sonoma or Zolder looks really bad by now as far as textures go or vegetation surrounding the track.
That is exactly the reason why I am not joining iRacing at the moment. And how the clouds look.
 
That is exactly the reason why I am not joining iRacing at the moment. And how the clouds look.

Dont be too harsh: I can say that most of the content i play in iRacing looks very good and because its so clean its very pleasing to the eye. I used to play lots of ACC prior to getting into iRacing and i thought ACC was the pinnacle of visuals (also have a high end pc to run it maxed out) but while the underlying engine is better in ACC, the visual quality is worse because of all those micro stutters and the blur from the UE4, its simply way more noisy while iRacing offers such a pleasing image. I was more than surprised how good it looks despite the age of the engine, and the replays are second to none.
 
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That is exactly the reason why I am not joining iRacing at the moment. And how the clouds look.
It may be subjective but I think iRacing clouds are the best of any sim. The way they reform themselves and move across the sky is very life like. They also cast shadows onto the track which changes the feel of the track quite a bit when its a partly cloudy day.
iRacing clouds time lapse

I noticed in AMS 2 that the clouds are basically sprites that just move across the sky and do not reform, they do fade out and in but they do not reform like real clouds do.
 
iRacing has the problem that the visual quality of the tracks can vary quite a bit depending on when that track received its last update pass.
for example hungaroring, latest daytona, atlanta, basically every track released in the last two years holds up pretty well, but a track like Sonoma or Zolder looks really bad by now as far as textures go or vegetation surrounding the track.
what does look top notch are the cars i have to say.
i was recently comparing the Porsche GT3 R with the ACC version and i do have to say the iRacing model is superior.
One of the weakest point in graphics are the "8bit" trees and foliage, some tracks half of your image is filled with vegetation.
I know you need to look at the road, but still.
But being surrounded by cardboard trees with lousy textures still ruins the experience a bit.
Regardless of what new shaders they introduce, at many tracks the trees still look like they are made 2 decades ago.

But finally some 3D fencepoles is already a step ahead, was annoyed by those for a small decade already.
 
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Everything can't be for everyone. iRacing has its place in the sim racing pantheon, just like the other sim's do. For most who subscribe, it offers fair value for what is received. Those who don't value the title for what it is have a perfectly valid opinion, and they also have other options.
 
Does iR really need to get all the shiny and fancy graphics features? It's a competitive online title, you kind of want to make sure everyone can also run it competitively with their hardware. It's not completely crazy to keep the render a bit simple.
 
Does iR really need to get all the shiny and fancy graphics features? It's a competitive online title, you kind of want to make sure everyone can also run it competitively with their hardware. It's not completely crazy to keep the render a bit simple.

I think nobody says that here. But its ok to point out if some trees look like graphics from over 10 years ago. That does not take away from it being a hardcore sim if you make it a bit more pleasing to the eye. No one here expects iRacing to have the bells and whistles of the coming GT7 or Forza Horizon or Motorsport.
 

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