Dirt Track Racing has taken the dirt sim racing world by storm. Almost overnight it has become the most popular sim for dirt track racing, wiping out sims that have been used for years.

    What about the pavement sim racer looking for something different? Well, it does take quite a bit of practice to learn how to drive the late models. It's a lot like going from ICR2 to a NASCAR sim, or learning to drive SODA Off Road. The stocks are easier to drive, easy to learn and get use to. There's very little adjustments you can make, so online or against the AI you can be competitive with a little seat time.

    And with the career mode, you can start out driving stocks, work your way up through the various series it has, into the Pro Stocks and then Late Models. As you race, you get prize money and sponsor money to spend repairing and upgrading your car and entering events. And one day buying a car in a higher class.

    What may be a shock to us crusty hard-line simmers is that this game is coming from the creators of Powerslide, a game you'd expect to find on a sega or nintendo machine, not a PC.  Not only that but they're in Australia!!!  Hence, a lot of the designers refer to the racing as Speedway Racing, and have had some pro Australian Speedway Racers testing the sim engine.  Dirt Track Racing, however, looks like a real sim, and if the designers are doing as they claim, I think the turnout for the start of the Nascar 3 World 600 will be a little smaller with everyone back home running the Aussie Bullring 50.

    The bad side? Well, online you can only race 10 at once, without cautions, and the start is a little hairy with the cars in the back gaining speed before the ones in the front.

    Is it the best sim ever? A lot of dirt fans think so. It is an interesting sim for everyone else. It has it's advantages and disadvantages, just like every other sim out there. It's retailing for a fraction of the cost of other sims. Try the demo and see for yourself.