[4][5] In September 2010, Activision and Eutechnyx announced the development of NASCAR The Game: 2011 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii.
[4][7][13][14][15] In all iterations of the game, the Main Menu is presented as the interior of a team's home garage, with crew members working on cars, and fans observing from an upper balcony.
[4][7] Beginning with NTG: Inside Line, the race day menu was presented as the infield garage of each racetrack.
[4] The series features Cautions (and occasional Red Flags due to excessive wrecks), free pass and wave-arounds, double-file restarts, and Green–white–checker finishes.
This is improved over prior console games, though not as in-depth as simulators in-which the player controls the car during pace laps and pit-stops.
[16] The series' first installment, NASCAR The Game: 2011, features pre-race commentary from Performance Racing Network radio announcers Doug Rice and Mark Garrow.
[14] Later editions of the game feature commentary from NASCAR on Fox lead announcers Mike Joy and Darrell Waltrip (with Larry McReynolds absent).
In-car audio features former Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and current Michael Waltrip Racing executive Ty Norris as spotter.
Ray Evernham is featured as crew chief in NTG: Inside Line, replaced by Jeff Hammond in later games.
[18][19] For the game-controlled cars in single-player mode, the developers sought to replicate the real-life racing styles of the drivers, including differences in aggression and performance.
Individual car parts can be painted, and several decals from geometric shapes to patterns can be enlarged, skewed, and pasted to create custom designs.
The player assumes the role of a rookie Sprint Cup Series driver, managing the day-to-day operations of a startup single-car-team (though it is implied that there is a principal team owner).
[15][19][21] NASCAR Highlights is a game mode which takes the player through real-life situations from the preceding Sprint Cup Series season.
For example, David Ragan's 2012 Al's Liners/Scorpion Window Film scheme, which had minor changes over the course of the season, was designed in the game to replicate the version run in the Daytona 500.