I've been trying to justify running various NR2003 tracks with a consistent carset that makes sense, and have a "ladder system" along side it. And as such have revisited a project idea for multiple carsets for each region/division.
So I've come up with several "Tours" that might comprise of such a project.
The first tour is the "Grand National Series," basically modern day NASCAR Cup series. Here is your big Multi-Car factory backed Goliath's and a few of your better funded smaller ogranisations such as Front Row, Kaulig, and JTG. The tracks run on this tour are the big name A list facilities familiar to modern NASCAR fans like Charlotte, Daytona, Bristol, Darlington, California, and Indianapolis
The second tour is the "National Series." This is essentially the Xfinity series equivalent, using the name used by EA Sports to bypass the inability to use Busch Series branding in their games, and maybe having a few top end Truck teams making up the mix. Expect teams linked to major NASCAR stars with factory affiliation, including the likes of JRM, KHI, KBM, and a bunch of multicar mid level teams like RSS, Jordan Anderson, Alpha Prime, Braun Racing, Team Rensi, etc. The tracks here will be a mix of major Cup Speedways with some more niche venues like Myrtle Beach, Nazareth and Pikes Peak, that are not quire cup level circuits, but are far from small time facilites either.
The third tour idea basically combines Trucks and the main ARCA series under the "NASCAR Lites Series" with top teams including Venturini, Thorsport, and TriCon, the apperance of some lesser Xfinity teams like Mike Harmons outfit and MBM, with most of the rest field being made up of smaller efforts like Niece, Reaume Bros. and Youngs, as well as various independant teams. The Lites Tour would mainly comprise of more noteworthy short tracks, dirt tracks, and the other lesser speedways used in the National ranks.
Now onto the reigonal tours, I have 4 planned. Compared to the National Touring series these series will have smaller car counts, likely around the 25-30 car range tops, and will run on tracks based in each reigon focusing on local short and dirt tracks.
First up is the West Tour, which consists of tracks on the west coast and interior US. Teams here are a mixture of traditional Winston/ARCA West teams and drivers, as well as local short track drivers from the area. Tracks include Irwindale, Mesa Marin, Pikes Peak, Portland, Las Vegas, and Riverside. This series might have more speedways than most Reigonal Tours, primarily to counteract the lack of Short Track representation of this reigon in NR2003 outside of California.
Next is the North Tour, which comprises of what used to be the BGN series before it merged into modern K&N/ARCA East. This will likewise comprise of teams and drivers based in the reigon, including North Eastern Modified outfits. Tracks include Stafford, New Hampshire, Thunder Road, Watkins Glen, as well as the potential of bigger tracks such as Pocono or Nazareth
The third divison would be the East Tour, a revival of the short lived 1970s Grand National East series, which was created to give races for smaller southeastern tracks kicked off the NASCAR calender when the schedule was standardized at the start of the Modern Era. CARS Tour and SMART Modified tour efforts will be cornerstones of this division. There will likely be a race or two at traditional speedway circuits such as Atlanta and Charlotte as well.
The final division in this category is the Midwest Tour, which consists of smaller ARCA outfits grounded in the area, and local drivers from both pavement and dirt ranks, on traditional ARCA tracks like Flat Rock, Winchester and Salem, as well as tracks such as Gateway and Michigan.
The final catagory of tours I'll call "International Tours." These are the loosest ideas I have, as many of these regions lack suitible non-road course facilities, or if they do have a solid selection, don't exist in NR2003.
First up is what I'll call the Southern Tour, which consists mostly of Mexico and South America. Teams will come from the Corona Mexico Series, Brazil Sprint Race, and Stock Car Pro. I've combined the reigon as while Mexico has a slew of ovals, only one exists for NR2003, which is the oval version of the Mexico City circuit, while the Rio Oval is the only other one, so this group would likely have to be filled by roadies (atleast until I get up the cajones to dive into NR2003 track building)
Next up is the "Arctic Tour" which is basically Canada + Alaska, because where else would I place Alaska? Pinty's Series drivers will rule the day in this division, with Ontario Sportsman and local late model teams filling out the pack. Luckily unlike Mexico, a bunch of Canadian tracks exist for NR2003, so this series will have a healthy amount of locations.
The European Tour will likewise consist of mainland Europe and the British Isles, with a slew of drivers both from the NASCAR Euro Series, but also local Touring Car stars. A fair few oval tracks for this area exist for NR2003, including Rockingham, Brooklands, Mallory Park, Venray, and Lausitz, along with adding the old Monza Oval.
Finally is the Pacific Tour, which is the shakiest of the tours. Ideally I'd seperate Asia from Australia/New Zealand, but both only have one oval track in NR2003(Australia did have the Adelaide Oval but that doesn't exist for NR2003, while the full Fuji Speedway oval was never built.) This series would be the most Road Course Heavy of the lot.
So that is my preliminary idea so far. It would be a big project, but I feel it would provide hours of fun. Definately will need to learn how to make NR2003 tracks to fill in some of the gaps.
