NASCAR 26 does not ease you in. The first thing Career mode asks you to do is draft.

Before your first ARCA start you have to pass a Peak Performance licensing session at Daytona, where Jamie McMurray coaches you through drafting, and passing it is what grants the license for your first race.

Then the game drops you straight into the General Tire 200 at Daytona, and finishing inside the top 20 locks in a better sponsor deal for your new team. (You start with a season long sponsorship arranged for you, so a strong finish upgrades it rather than earning it from nothing.) Drafting is not an advanced skill here. It is literally the first thing standing between you and the money.

If you have already read our How to Win Races in NASCAR 26: Crack the Top 10 guide, you know the survival basics: stay flat, pick a lane, never lift in the pack. This page goes deeper into the actual techniques.

How Drafting Works in NASCAR 26

The short version: the car in front punches a hole in the air, and the car behind rides in that low pressure pocket with less drag. Two cars nose to tail are faster than either car alone, and a whole line of them is faster still.

At Daytona and Talladega, for example, that effect is everything. The cars are so evenly matched that raw speed barely matters, and every car in a drafting line runs several miles per hour faster than it could alone.

• The run. As you tuck in behind a car your speed climbs and you close the gap without touching anything. That building momentum is a run.
• Clean air is slow air. Pull out alone and you immediately feel the car stall as it hits the wall of air on its own.
• The draft works from behind too. A car tucked on your rear bumper also helps you, which is why a two car tandem can pull away from a single car.

Passing the Drafting License Test

The Daytona exercise asks you to catch another car, use its draft, and meet a minimum lap time target while following it. You can watch McMurray demonstrate it first or jump straight in. Here is how to pass it on the first or second try.

1. Watch the demo once. It costs you a lap and shows you how close McMurray runs to the car ahead. Most people who fail are simply following too far back.
2. Stay flat. At Daytona you should not need the brake. If you are lifting, you are losing the lap time the test is measuring.
3. Close the gap, then hold it. The first part is catching the car. Once you are within a few car lengths the draft pulls you in on its own. Your job is to keep that gap steady, not to ram the bumper.
4. Run the same line as the car ahead. The pocket of air is directly behind it. Drift a half lane to either side and you lose the tow.
5. Smooth inputs. Small, early steering corrections keep your speed up. Sawing at the wheel scrubs speed through the corners and can cost you the minimum lap time.

If you keep missing the time, it is almost always one of two things: you are following too far back, or you are drifting off the lead car's line in the corners. The game compares your run against a reference lap afterward, so check that comparison to see where the time is going.

Side Drafting

Side drafting is one of NASCAR 26's headline additions, listed as enhanced side drafting in the game's feature rundowns. Instead of sitting behind a car, you pull alongside its rear quarter panel. Your car disrupts the air flowing over its spoiler, which slows it down while you keep your momentum. It is the move that lets you finish a pass once you have pulled out of line.

• Pull even with the rear quarter, not the door. Line your front bumper up with the other car's back corner. Too far back and nothing happens. Too far forward and you are just racing side by side in clean air.
• Use it right after pulling out. When you swing out of line with a run you lose the draft almost immediately. A side draft on the car you are passing keeps it from pulling back away from you.
• Use it on restarts. Two lines side by side on a restart are the perfect setup. Hanging on the rear quarter of the car next to you can hold it back long enough for you to clear it.
• Do not get too close. Side drafting is inches of air. Drift any closer and you are rubbing doors at 190 miles per hour.

In my runs the effect is subtle rather than dramatic. You do not see the other car visibly lurch backward, you feel it stop pulling away, which is enough to complete a pass you would otherwise lose.

The AI will side draft you back at higher difficulty, though it is not aggressive about it. This is another spot where a wheel earns its keep, because holding that inch of air off a quarter panel without drifting into contact is finer than a thumbstick likes to be.

Bump Drafting

Bump drafting is the aggressive version: the trailing car closes in and actually makes contact with the rear bumper of the car ahead, pushing both cars faster than a normal draft. It works, and it is also the fastest way to start a wreck.

• Only push on the straights. Hitting a car in the middle of a corner, when it is loaded up and turning, is how you spin it and collect half the field.
• Push square. Line your nose up with the center of the car's rear bumper. Contact on one corner of the bumper turns the car instead of pushing it.
• Close the gap gently. You want to lean on the car, not hit it. A big closing rate turns a push into a crash.
• Back off before the corner. Ease off slightly into the turns so you are not still pushing when the car in front starts turning.

I will level with you here: when I race clean, I finish mid pack, and I am fine with that. The times I have tried to bump draft my way to the front aggressively are almost always the times I cause or catch a wreck and finish worse than if I had just held my line.

Bump drafting is a real tool, but treat it as a gentle nudge to complete a specific pass, not a strategy for the whole race. Lean on it too hard and the Big One finds you.

Making Your Run Late

On a superspeedway, leading every lap is a losing plan. The leader is in clean air, so they are the easiest car to pass.

The better plan is to sit in the top five, let the draft carry you, and make your move for the lead in the final lap or two when a run builds behind you, which is the same timing we stressed in our how to win guide.

• Do not pass alone. If you leave the line without anyone behind you, you give up the very advantage that let you catch up. Wait until a car is on your bumper so it goes with you.
• Pull out at the right time. Make your move at the end of the straight or on a corner exit, not in the middle of a turn.
• Side draft the car you are passing to finish the move.
• Block once, not five times. Once you are leading on the last lap, move to block the lane with the run. Swerving back and forth across the track is how the Big One starts behind you.

How NASCAR 26's AI Affects Drafting

As we covered in our NASCAR 26 review, the AI still bunches into one long line for most of the race. Raising the AI difficulty helps, but it does not eliminate it. That is a weakness in the game, but you can use it on the superspeedways.

• The single line is a free draft. Tuck into the train and you get a tow for the entire race without much effort.
• A second lane rarely forms on its own. If you pull out to make a run, you may have no one to go with you. That makes the do not pass alone rule even more important here.
• The move happens late. Since the train rarely breaks up, the race usually comes down to who times a run in the last few laps.

Drafting at Intermediate Tracks

At tracks like Kansas, Charlotte, and Las Vegas, the draft still matters, just less. You can pass on handling alone, and tire wear and grip changes matter more over a long run.

NASCAR 26's Dynamic Track system means grip evolves as rubber builds up and the fastest line changes, so blindly running the same groove all race may stop working.

• Down the long straights, a car ahead still gives you a tow to set up a pass into the next corner.
• On restarts, when the field is bunched up, side drafting works just like it does at Daytona.

Common Drafting Mistakes

• Passing alone. You leave the draft, stall in clean air, and get swallowed by the line you just left.
• Following too far back. A gap of more than a few car lengths is not really drafting.
• Sitting glued to a bumper too long. Running right up on the car ahead can hurt your own cooling and grip.
• Lifting in the pack. Cars behind you check up, and that is how the Big One starts.
• Bump drafting in the corners. Push on the straights only.
• Changing lanes over and over. Every lane change bleeds momentum.

FAQ

How do you pass the drafting license test in NASCAR 26?

Catch the car ahead, tuck in close (around two car lengths, on the edge of the tow), stay flat with no braking, and run the exact line of the car in front so you keep the draft. Most failures come from following too far back.

What is side drafting in NASCAR 26?

A new mechanic where you pull alongside a car's rear quarter panel to disrupt its air and slow it down while you keep your speed. It is how you finish a pass after pulling out of line.

Is bump drafting safe in NASCAR 26?

Only on the straights, and only as a gentle nudge to complete a pass. Bumping in the corners or closing too fast is one of the quickest ways to cause a wreck.

Why do all the AI cars run in one line?

NASCAR 26's superspeedway AI tends to form a single train for most of the race. Raising the difficulty helps, but plan for the race to come down to a late run rather than a second lane forming on its own.

Related Reads

• How to Win Races in NASCAR 26: Crack the Top 10
• NASCAR 26 Best Controller Settings
• NASCAR 26 Direct Drive Wheel Settings (Moza, Fanatec)
• NASCAR 26 Best PC Settings for High FPS
• NASCAR 26 Review: A Polished Step Forward
• NASCAR 26 Setup Guide: How to Tune Your Car (Tight vs Loose)