Welcome to the official NASCAR 26 Career Mode walkthrough! In this series, we’ll give you the inside line on making the most out of your NASCAR 26 career, working your way up from a start-up team in the ARCA Menards Series to the upper echelons of the NASCAR Cup Series.

Today, we’re heading back to your Race Shop for an in-depth look at taking care of your vehicle, from repairing your existing parts to buying new ones.

Buying New Parts

An important part of your race prep is heading to the Parts shop. Each part on your car has a rating that ranges from 0 to 100, and these scores combine for your car’s overall rating. Your first ARCA car starts out with Level 1 parts in all four categories: Body, Chassis, Engine, and Suspension. Level 1 parts carry a maximum Performance rating of 40.

To get faster, you’ll want to upgrade each of these parts as much as you can, up to their top-end Level 5 versions (assuming you’ve upgraded your Facility enough to buy them). After buying an upgraded part, you’ll be asked if you’re ready to install it. (Chances are, you will be—good thing that even a poor finish at Daytona is usually lucrative enough to pick up something!)

As you browse through part options, make sure to note how many times a new part can be repaired, as noted by the wrench symbol. Higher-caliber parts can’t be repaired as many times as budget parts can, so they’re more likely to wear out first. When a part is marked as Worn, it can no longer be restored to full condition.

Performing Repairs

Next up is repairing your car in the Garage, which can either be done with the recommended plan provided by your Crew Chief or customized based on the amount of Work Points your crew has available. The better your crew, and the more Mechanics you have, the more work points you’ll have, which will come in handy if you finish a race with battered parts that you absolutely need the next time out.

If you choose to assign Work Points manually, you’ll be able to select each of your parts individually to explore their repairs. Each part’s rating is determined by its level and condition, and these scores combine for your overall car rating. Parts that are still in good condition will have a blue bar, while yellow or red condition bars suggest that repairs are more crucial.

Parts can take three levels of repairs: minimum, medium, and maximum (provided that you’ve installed a Vehicle Lift through Facility improvements). The more abuse a part takes in the previous race, the more work it’ll need to get back to top condition. You can buy new parts both before and after doing your repairs for the week, but different circumstances will dictate which strategy is best for you.

On one hand, buying and installing a new part won’t require you to spend Work Points, and you can use more of them on the parts in the worst condition. On the other, doing your repairs before buying a new part you want means that you can stash the repaired part in your Inventory as a backup for the future. Installing an Inventory part won’t cost you any Work Points, but you won’t be able to further improve its condition until after the next race.

Sometimes, there won’t be any way to repair all of your existing parts to 100% condition. If you’re not able (or willing) to buy new parts or change everything out for fresh spares, but feeling unsure about the best way to go about repairs, your Crew Chief’s recommended plan is a good place to start.

Managing Inventory

Upgrading your car is a costly exercise. Top-tier parts cost tens of thousands of dollars, and the only way to claim that much prize money at once is by taking a checkered flag. Big wins tend to come at a cost, though—you may have used your equipment up quite a bit to take them. Check out the Schedule tab in the Office to see how much money is on the line for each race.

Even if you’ve already got top-tier parts across the board for your car, it’s important to keep buying new ones and building up your Inventory. If you’ve got another part ready to go in Inventory when your existing part is Worn, you’ll be all set for the next race. You can buy one part per level in each category per race week.

You can also sell parts you’re not using to recoup a little bit of money. What you’ll get back is determined by the part’s condition and how many more times it can be repaired. Worn parts should also be sold to clear out inventory space. If you’ve got the Work Points to spare, it can be worth fully repairing a part before you replace and sell it in order to take home a few extra bucks.

Next time, we’ll have a look at how to land bigger and more lucrative sponsors for your team, and how to make your car look good to match. Stay tuned!

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Welcome to the official NASCAR 26 Career Mode walkthrough! In this series, we’ll give you the inside line on making the most out of your NASCAR 26 career, working your way up from a start-up team in the ARCA Menards Series to the upper echelons of the NASCAR Cup Series.

Today, we’re taking you to your fledgling Race Shop. Now that you’ve made it through your first ARCA Menards Series start, it’s time to get to know what makes your team tick as you prepare for the rest of your rookie season.

Preparing the Car

Your first order of business will be to prepare your car for the second race of the season, the General Tire 200 at Phoenix Raceway. After all, you can’t expect the Jerky Boys Chevrolet to be in perfect shape since you just raced it!

You’ll have two options to choose from to get started: Parts and Garage. Garage is where you’ll perform the maintenance work you need to restore your existing parts to full potential, or you can go to Parts to buy new ones.

If you’ve purchased the Gold Edition of NASCAR 26, this is where the first of your additional benefits will have an impact. The extra $10,000 that you start your career with will enable you to buy multiple higher-level parts, up to Level 3, to take to Phoenix. You won’t be a race winner right out of the gate, but you also won’t be stuck with the lowest-performance parts on the grid across the board.

Opening the Office

Once you’ve prepared your car for Phoenix, the Office opens, which will enable you to take a look at your Staff, including your Crew Chief and Agent. Crew Chiefs offer percentage bonuses to your Work Points, which are used to repair your car in the Garage, and Agents offer percentage bonuses to your earnings.

If you’ve purchased the Gold Edition of NASCAR 26, this is where you’ll be able to hire your new VIP Crew Chief and Agent for free. These employees provide larger bonuses that will give your career an additional kickstart. Be sure to hire them before heading to the next race so you don’t miss out on any bonuses moving forward!

You’ll also start out with one Mechanic to go alongside your Crew Chief and Agent. The better of a Mechanic you have, the more Work Points you’ll get. You’ll also see multiple spots on your staff for an additional Mechanic and PR Manager that you can hire as you continue to progress and grow your team.

Before you leave the Office, be sure to check out the other tabs, especially Sponsors. This is where you’ll choose an incentive from Jerky Boys that awards you bonus money on top of your weekly contract. If you don’t choose an incentive before Phoenix, you’ll simply be leaving money on the table. Pick an option that meets the performance level you think you can get out of your car before exiting the menu.

Look Your Best

Last up before you go back to the track is the Team section, where you can customize your look. Chances are you don’t want to stick with the all-black look you started the season with, so head here to choose from a variety of paint scheme, firesuit, and helmet options. This is also where you can admire your Trophies up close once you start winning races.

Next up, we’ll take a closer look at the all-new Facility Upgrade options. Stay tuned!

Welcome to the official NASCAR 26 Career Mode walkthrough! In this series, we’ll give you the inside line on making the most out of your NASCAR 26 career, working your way up from a start-up team in the ARCA Menards Series to the upper echelons of the NASCAR Cup Series.

Today, we’re starting from the beginning. We’ll guide you through your very first steps towards stardom, starting with getting your license to run your first ARCA Menards Series race at Daytona.

Get Licensed

There are all sorts of ways to work your way up to NASCAR superstardom, but it helps to have some big names in your corner. Fortunately, you’ll have three: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Steve Letarte, and Jamie McMurray. All three are past Daytona 500 winners, and that’s crucial, because before you can start your career in ARCA, you’ll need to get licensed to run at Daytona International Speedway.

With the coaching of McMurray, you’ll take the wheel at Daytona for a Peak Performance coaching session focused on drafting. You can either ride with Jamie for a lap or jump right into the cockpit, but either way the end goal is the same when you get behind the wheel: you’ll need to catch another car and meet a minimum lap time goal while following them to get your NASCAR license.

After you pass, you’ll be able to review your data to see where you excelled and where you might need to improve. From there, the stage is set: Dale’s lined up a season-long sponsorship for you from Jerky Boys, and you can focus on starting the season.

Dropping In

Now that you’ve had a taste, there’s no time to waste—we’re dropping you right into the General Tire 200 at Daytona to get your first ARCA season started. Again, you’ll have a straightforward goal: finish in the top 20, so you can lock in the best possible sponsor contract. Use the drafting skills you just practiced to navigate through the pack and meet the goal.

When the race wraps, you’ll get to see the results, your Driver Assessment, and what social media is saying. You’ll also learn more about your sponsorship, and finally, you’ll see a Week 1 Recap breakdown of the wear and tear you put on your car alongside your race earnings and the current championship standings.

Next up: we open up your Race Shop. Stay tuned!