NASCAR has figured out that video games can be something worth mining for gold. Since racing in person isn’t going to happen for quite some time, several drivers went onto what has been dubbed the eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series, which drew the largest audience ever for an eSports event at 903,000 viewers, which actually compares with an actual Xfinity race in viewership. It’s not a bad idea…certainly, with tracks shut down, it’s a fantastic replacement for actual racing…but could it be better? Yeah, it can. And we have just the list of suggestions to make eNASCAR something to behold. Check it out:

11. Multiplayer Mode…Meet The Tryhards!

So far, and most likely for all future events, eNascar is going to be an “invitational-only” setup, where only approved racers are allowed into the lobby to race. Private lobbies eliminate one of the “fun” aspects of online gaming: trolls. Also dubbed “tryhards” because some will win at any cost whatsoever, they are the fastest way to spike blood pressure. Nothing says “rage quit” quite like being in first place forever only to have the dick that was drafting you the whole time punt you into a phone pole to take the win. Or learning that last year’s points champ just got spanked by an eleven-year-old playing on his brother’s console in the middle of Iowa.

10. YouTuber Rage Dynamics

If you don’t understand why anyone would watch someone else play video games, then all you need to know is that a good portion of the draw is watching somebody else’s reaction. They win, they celebrate. They lose, and the entertainment value goes up. They get bullied, trolled, or the game seems to have it out for them, and the entertainment factor goes up exponentially. Have these NASCAR drivers run a webcam with a microphone while attached. What will come out would make the Radioactive clips (the semi-censored radio chatter) seem like a Disney short.

9. Car 74, driver: “Little Mac”

Whether or not NASCAR themselves agree, one of the biggest draws to the races have been the likelihood of seeing a driver’s temper flare out of control. Ever since Cale Yarborough and the Allison brothers threw down at the 1979 Daytona 500, if a fight happens, it pretty much doesn’t matter who actually crossed the finish line first. Why not add to the fun? Call it “Brad Keselowski’s Punch-Out!!!” If two drivers decide that it’s time to settle a score, we leave a racing sim and move to a fighting game for an ass-kicking good time. And look, CDC, no physical contact!

8. Location, location, location!

If you’ve been to one track on the NASCAR circuit, you’ve been to most. Except for the road courses that are only there to screw with driver’s heads, every track is a left-turn-only circle-ish setup. If you’re in the digital world, why not change things up a little? Have a circle around the White House. Put NASCAR drivers on the Long Beach circuit. Stock cars on the Nurburgring Nordschliefe. Hell, let Mike Joy spin a wheel at the start of a program to determine where each day’s event is going to be held!

7. The more points you gain, the more power you can buy!

Given that every driver is making the switch from a real car to a sprite that emulates a real car, maybe the rewards should be incorporated into the video game world too. Win a race, get a prize. As I’m writing this, the second round of eNASCAR is going on and Alex Labbe (from the Canadian Pinty’s series) just took first in a qualifying race. Want to reward him? Allow him to ditch that pesky restrictor plate. Do it mid-race, even…did Alex Bowman make an incredible save that spared the field from a catastrophic wreck? Next time he pits, give him these extra-durable slicks!

6. Hit “X” for Nitrous!

Alright, this one is more for the gamers than the honest racers, but it was going to come up sooner or later. Nitrous. Banned in NASCAR, even though A.J. Foyt and Darrell Waltrip were both tagged as habitual offenders up through the mid-1970s, a bit of the spray might just be the thing to help along that pass, get away from the troll, or maybe be competitive at all. Nevermind the fun that could be had if those that run the eNASCAR tracks decide to take a clue from “Wreckfest” and start adding in jumps.

5. Ragdoll Effects

Ragdoll physics were created to provide an actual animated movement capability for a character in the middle of a…well, death sequence. Instead of the days of old, were either the gameplay simply stopped or an animated cut-scene was incorporated that the player never controlled, now the playable character has a kind of skeletal system that incorporates proper physical range of motion. Games such as “FlatOut” and “Grand Theft Auto” incorporated ragdoll physics into the world of cars…for example, in GTA, if you’re driving a car flat-out and you strike a heavier or immovable object at high speed, there’s a solid chance that you’re flying out of the window and ping-ponging off of everything between you and the gateway to the next dimension. It’s a bit macabre to think about NASCAR racers trying that out in legitimate races, but it might work as a way to qualify. Whoever launches their in-game likeness the furthest into the infield after striking a solid object gets the pole position?

4. Eight-Bit Speed

Going retro will always find an audience that appreciates a bit of the past. In the world of video games, it’s hard to get much more retro than 8-bit gameplay. There’s just enough detail to understand what’s going on, but enough pixelation for that tasty throwback feel. A field of 8-bit Thunderbirds, Monte Carlos, Grand Prix and hell, even an Imperial on a track that looks straight out of “Excitebike” would be cool, and the power-ups that appear on the track like a tiny wrench that fixes your car or a tire for a grippier new set of slicks would be welcomed. Bonus points if Mario is the flagman!

3. F**king modders!

Ah, mods. In this age of gaming on personal computers, it’s usually a matter of days before someone changes out certain points of a video game to suit their own needs. Putting real-life vehicles into games that didn’t have them before is a popular past time. This is where I’d suggest a move from iRacing directly to Grand Theft Auto: Online…GTA has had a NASCAR-like race series in the form of the “Southern San Andreas Supersport Series”, a race setup that’s filled with vehicles that look a lot like 1991 Chevrolet Lumina stockers battle. Perform a palette swap and make the cars whatever you want. Hatchbacks, garbage trucks, cops and robbers…the possibilities are endless. I’d love to see Aric Almirola in a Dodge Polara chasing after Joey Logano’s Ford Custom 500!

2. Have at it, boys!

Again, it’s not so much racing that brings spectators to NASCAR, it’s the violence of it all. For years, one of the most common statements I’ve ever heard about the series is, “I watch it for the crashes.” Interesting…there is an option for that. A popular game that incorporated racing and metal carnage was the “Burnout” series of games. You could race cleanly if you wanted to…but when you get free nitrous for shunting other racers into each other, into a bridge abutment, or through the face of a gas station, suddenly clean racing seems boring. Death Race 2000, baby…only the strong survive in the Thunderdome!

1. Grand Theft Auto “GTA Race” Setup…weapons hot!

Every race, it’s the same few names that are front-running and there are more who always seem to be the same names crossing the finish line in first place. In a field of twenty, thirty or more cars, it seems wrong that only maybe ten drivers seem to have a shot. Here, I have to take a play from the most child-friendly racing game on the market that still teaches that there are consequences for your actions: Mario Kart. There are three levels of throwable Koopa Troopa shells that the player can use as a missile: the standard green one requires aim, the red shell targets the first vehicle in front (or behind) the player directly, and then there is the nuclear option: the blue shell goes straight to first place and nukes them.

Another option comes from Grand Theft Auto. It’s called a “GTA Race”, and it’s a particular style of one: after a certain distance, drivers are weapons-free. That means all weapons. That means they can get out of the car and set up traps, take out tires while driving alongside their competitors, or go completely insane and dump grenades willy-nilly along the road surface. Again, somebody have webcam footage and a live microphone at the ready, because I promise you if a blue shell got dropped on the track by a backmarker, the rage will be glorious.