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As of early 2000, N3 and NASCAR Legends represent the state of the art in stock car simulations, despite the fact that the driving model, which counts Papyrus' earliest sims among its ancestor, is now somewhat outdated.
Nevertheless, these NASCAR 2 derivitives contain significant upgrades and are clearly superior to their predecessors. Although the cars are not capable of fully three dimensional motion, the tire model has been considerably improved, and as a result the cars feel more realistic. The bias-ply tires of the Legends version make it possible to really hang the tail out, which is great fun.
Many other enhancements also help make driving these versions a far superior experience compared to the earlier versions. Graphical enhancements include a "groove", dynamic skid marks, vastly improved tire smoke and dust, and better-looking cars and tracks, along with hugely improved sounds, decent Force Feedback, better AI, smoother chassis rolling motion, and reasonably good Internet play.
When I recently reloaded N2 and N1999 for some testing, I couldn't believe how crude they seemed in comparison to N3 and NLegends.
On the downside, the old single-axis pedals remain, and the menu system is a bit clunky in places. The replay system is primitive compared to that of GPL, and various other details show this product line's age.
Both of theses sims serve as "donors" for conversion of some excellent tracks to GPL. See my GPL add-on tracks page for more information.
The Papyrus NASCAR series is the classic of the genre. Modern technology has passed these older editions by, but if you have an older, slower computer, you may find the earlier versions run better than the newer, more demanding NASCAR 3 and NASCAR Legends.
NASCAR 2 and (preferably) NASCAR 1999 do serve as "donors" for conversion of some excellent tracks to GPL. See my GPL add-on tracks page for more information.
See my NASCAR 2 page for more information about the original NASCAR 2 release.
This game advertised itself as having "realistic physics", but I found the driving model to be so abominable that I couldn't stand to drive it for more than a few minutes. Assorted design flaws further turned me off.
It did have flashy graphics, though.