The NASCAR slot machine is a modern casino-floor slot from Bally Technologies, who are headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. This slot is based upon the extremely popular domestic US stock car racing league, famous for its high-octane actions and frequent collisions.
Bally may have been making casino slots since the 1940s, but that doesn’t mean their output today is dated. As well as an innovative 32-inch touch screen, NASCAR slot also features many official elements of the NASCAR franchise, including announcers, music, drivers and more.
| Game manufacturer: | Bally |
| Game theme: | Motor racing, NASCAR |
| Reels: | 5 |
| Min/Max bet: | $0.40 / $3.20 |
| Progressive jackpot: | Yes |
| Regular jackpots: | No |
| Maximum jackpot win: | Progressive |
Themes & visuals
If you love the rip-roaring action of a few days at a NASCAR meeting or just enjoy the full-throttle experience on TV, you’ll find a lot to like here. No less than five different NASCAR legends are available to help you on the way to a big-time jackpot win. They are:
- Clint Bowyer
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kevin Harvick
- Dale Earnhardt
- Jeff Gordon
The Car symbol on the reels, and the only number icon, will also change depending on what driver you choose. For example, select Jimmie Johnson, and you’ll get a short video message from the driver himself – and from then on Johnson’s iconic number 48 will appear on your spinning reels.
The bonus rounds take good advantage of the license and have a strong NASCAR theme. For example, the pick ‘em bonus here is designed to feel like a mid-race pit stop. A whole other bonus round is literally a virtual lap of a NASCAR circuit, where players select a car and earn prizes depending on where it finishes.
The basic symbols are all petrol-head-themed too and include speedometers, wrenches, tires and checkered race flags. The music is officially licensed as well and features the same heavy-riffing metal that soundtracks NASCAR action on TV. Even the sportscaster Eli Gold himself was brought in to provide some authentic voice lines.
In some casinos, the NASCAR slot even comes complete with a replica drivers’ seat, that has a built-in surround sound system. This makes the most of all the pedal-to-the-metal sound effects and vibrates when you pull a big win.
Betting options & paying combinations
Players can bet anywhere between $0.40 and $3.20 per spin. This is around average for casino-floor slots but can’t hold to a candle to the $400 spins available at some of Bally online slots.
Players cannot customize their bet per line in the NASCAR slot either, although an auto spin feature is available.
What about the jackpots?
The NASCAR slot has what Bally calls a ‘Wide Area Progressive’. This means that all the physical casinos that have this game in one particular state link up and share a jackpot that builds over time. It starts at $400,000 again after a win and has been known to go as high as $800,000.
This is not a scaling-bet jackpot, which means the full six-figure prize could be won by a $0.40 bettor.
Lucky players just need to pull all five of the NASCAR trophy symbols on one line to win the big-time jackpot. There are smaller jackpots available for pulling three or more.
Additional features & bonus rounds
There are three different bonus rounds, one wild symbol (which acts a bit differently in the bonus rounds) and four scatter symbols on the NASCAR slot. The bonus rounds offer quite a lot of variation within themselves, adding to the diverse array of features available here.
Wild Symbols
There’s only one Wild symbol here, and it doesn’t have any special qualities except the usual substituting for any other symbol to make a winning line.
However, in the Bonus Wheel Spin free games there are two ways in which the Wild symbol works: permanent and clumped.
In a set of clumped Wild free spins, each Wild symbol that normally appears on the reels will instead be two or three in a column. In the permanent round, any Wild symbol that is pulled will then remain in that position for the rest of your free spins. These can offer some big wins in the bonus rounds, especially when combined with multiplied paylines.
Scatter
There are four scatter symbols in the NASCAR slot, that are all connected to the different bonus rounds. These are:
- Pit-stop Bonus
- U-Race Bonus
- Burnout Bonus
- Jackpot NASCAR Trophy
Simply pull three of any one of these symbols to unlock the particular bonus round.
Bonus Rounds
So, you’ve been lucky and unlocked a bonus feature – expect one of two novel takes on classic casino slot bonuses or one completely unique game that offers a real selling point for the NASCAR slot.
The Pit-Stop Bonus brings up a screen with 15 lugs (or bolts) in a grid and a pit-stopped car above them with icons for four missing parts. Simply pick five of the bolts to reveal a prize under each one. These range from $12 up to $1500 on a maximum bet spin. Also found under the lugs are the upgrade parts of for the car:
- Engine
- Tires
- Fuel
- Wrench
Each one you unlock gives a progressively higher prize to add to your overall round bonus – going up to $8000 for unlocking all four at a max bet.
The U Race Bonus is completely unique to the NASCAR Slot and a real draw for this game. Pull this bonus round, and two things will appear on the screen: a set of reels for free spins and a virtual race circuit with five racing cars.
You get five free spins of the reels, but each time you do you also get to choose one of three directions for your race driver to move in the virtual race above. Depending on what direction you select, you get a multiplier on any wins on your next spin, and your car moves up, down, or remains in position in the race.
The multipliers start at x2 and go up as high as x8 on your next spin. At the end of the spins and the race, you’ll get an extra bonus depending on the position your driver finished. This can go as high as several thousand at max bet.
The Burnout Wheel is the most traditional of the bonuses on offer here. Spin the wheel and watch it burn rubber on the track. When it stops, you’ll unlock a varying number of free spins on the main wheel with a range of multipliers added. These include:
- 10 free spins
- 10 free spins with 5x wins
- 15 free spins, 2x wins
- 5 free spins with added Wilds
- 10 spins with locking Wilds
Unfortunately, you cannot win more free spins on top to extend your run.
Who is this game ideal for?
While not as popular as it was when this slot was released back in 2013, NASCAR still draws millions of viewers across the US on race days. Anyone who’s ever enjoyed the thrill of this 200-mile-an-hour sport will no doubt engage with the NASCAR slot as well.
However, even if you just like cars or racing in general, there’s a lot of appeal in this game too. No specific NASCAR knowledge is required to have some fun here.
The low maximum bet might put off some high-rolling players used to Bally’s online slots, but the $800,000 jackpot on offer makes up for this to some extent.
What’s hot
Massive License: NASCAR is one of the biggest sporting brands in the US, with a passionate fan base. Bally used the license extremely well and created a faithful representation of the sport’s biggest themes in a slot game format.
Plenty of Innovation: From the completely unique U Race bonus game to the replica driver’s seat or the reels that change when you choose a different driver, the NASCAR slot is packed with interesting and novel ideas.
Lots of Features: There are three different bonus games here, with a varying amount of depth to them. On top of that, you have a big jackpot, an auto spin feature, and a complete virtual race.
Great Value Jackpots: As a progressive jackpot, this has the potential to go extremely high. It’s also good to see that you can win the biggest prize with only a $0.40 per spin investment.
What’s Not
Fairly Low Maximum Bet: For players used to online slots, this could be a bit of a drawback – $3.50 a spin is very low when compared to 90% of internet-based games.
Only Available in Land-Based Casinos: Bally doesn’t offer any progressive jackpots like this online. Add to that the outstanding quality of this game, and you can see why it would be nice to see Bally transfer this over to a global audience.
Final ratings
- Graphics and design: 4.5/5 – Top quality and innovative design. Impressive accompaniments to the physical machine.
- Sound effects: 4/5 – Official NASCAR announcers and music. If you’re a fan of the sport, you’ll love this.
- Jackpot value: 4/5 – An $800,000-or-more win, possible off the back of a $0.40 bet, will always be a top-tier value jackpot in our eyes.
- Replay value: 4/5 – Plenty of variation in the bonus games and a progressive jackpot mean there are loads of reasons for players to come back to the NASCAR Slot.