DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A week after locking up the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship, William Byron added another title to his resume: cover athlete.
Byron is featured on the cover of the NASCAR 25 video game, set for release later this year. His likeness and the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet are front and center on the game, the first platform game to be created by iRacing.
The official unveiling took place in the Fan Zone at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday afternoon prior to the running of the Cup Series regular season finale.
"It just feels full circle. Growing up racing on video games primarily, obviously, everyone knows that about my story so, yeah, just a very full circle moment for me personally and great for our partners and everybody," Byron said. "Excited for it. Hopefully the game is great. It feels good so far so hopefully everyone loves it and it'll always be something I can look back on over the years and be excited about."
As Byron alluded to, his start in racing came as a youngster on video games where he homed in the skills he'd one day use in the race car.
Now, his story isn't all that unique with drivers everywhere using games to get into racing or to practice in simulation with track time ever more precious in the world of racing.
"I think with the way tech has gone in the last decade it's really kind of taken over - virtual reality, iRacing, esports, everything," Byron said. "It's become big in the racing world. I think the effects of it will be more long term, seeing how kids get their start, but I think there's honestly a lot of it going already with people sim racing when they're not racing in their cars."
When does NASCAR 25 come out?
The NASCAR 25 release date is set for October 14.
Will NASCAR 25 be available on PC?
In addition to PlayStation 5 and XBox Series X|S, NASCAR 25 is available on PC via Steam.
Which series will be included in NASCAR 25?
NASCAR 25 will include the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and ARCA Series.