Two very different rides: NASCAR and RC shake up The Crew Motorfest Season 9

Season 9 turns Motorfest into two games at once – and that’s the point

Season 9 for The Crew Motorfest launches a split-personality update: a simulation-leaning NASCAR Motorfest Tour arriving March 4, and a tiny, arcade-y RC Frenzy premium playlist due May 6. Between them Ubisoft drops TrackForge for community-made tracks and opens a new playground island, Kaho‘olawe. It’s the sort of seasonal refresh that reads as both experiment and product strategy – more playstyles to keep different player pockets interested, and new purchasable NASCAR skins to keep CC flowing.

• Two contrasting playstyles: NASCAR adds pit-stop strategy and drafting; RC Frenzy introduces a bespoke handling model and top-down events.
• TrackForge and a new island: Creative tools land March 4 on Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i while Kaho‘olawe brings a stadium designed for NASCAR races.
• Monetization is explicit: Multiple NASCAR cosmetic vehicle packs sell for CC; Ubisoft says skins are cosmetic-only.
• Rollout is staggered: NASCAR and TrackForge arrive March 4; RC Frenzy is gated until May 6 and is included in the Year 3 pass.

What this update actually changes

On paper Season 9 is big: new playlists, a brand-new island playground (Kaho‘olawe), TrackForge – the first full-featured user track creator — and a batch of new vehicles. Sources disagree on the exact vehicle count (Ubisoft material tied to the season lists 18 new vehicles, while other promotional copy mentions up to 31 across Year 3). The important bit isn’t the number so much as the variety: NASCAR Cup Cars are now a category you can take everywhere, and RCs get their own handling rules and event types.

Two very different rides — and why that matters

NASCAR Motorfest is the straight-faced half. Ubisoft teamed with NASCAR to drop official livery packs (Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota bundles) and a 10-event playlist built around qualifications, finals and a stadium on Kaho‘olawe. Gameplay additions are concrete: pit-stop management, tire wear and fuel considerations, plus drafting with new visual and audio cues. This pushes Motorfest toward a more simulation-aware experience in specific playlists — a welcome change for players who wanted more than open‑world sprint races.

RC Frenzy is the other half: tiny cars, a new handling model, top-down events and platform-friendly shenanigans. It’s almost intentionally whimsical, designed to flip the scale of the islands so curbs feel like cliffs and rooftops become circuits. Ubisoft is putting this behind the Year 3 pass, which makes RCs a carrot for committed players rather than a broad free update.

TrackForge is the quiet win — if Ubisoft gets moderation and discovery right

TrackForge lands March 4 with three templates — Authentic Motorsports, Unleashed Motorsports, and Coaster tracks — and two islands for creation: Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i. This is the feature that can give Motorfest legs beyond Ubisoft’s seasonal roadmap by letting players build and share content. But community tools are only as good as discovery, moderation and search. The real metric won’t be how many tracks are made; it’ll be how many are played and upvoted. If TrackForge has a decent UX and a way to surface great creations, it changes the game’s long-term value proposition.

The uncomfortable bits Ubisoft isn’t leading with

Ubisoft is explicit that NASCAR vehicle packs are cosmetic only. That’s honest — and also exactly the monetization move you’d expect. The packs are priced in CC and sold individually or as a full bundle. What the PR glosses over: slotting a licensed motorsport into seasonal content risks creating a thin-life cycle — a short peak of interest around launch, then a few weeks of playlists before attention moves on. The smaller RC playlist being pass-gated suggests Ubisoft prefers to reward players who already bought into Year 3, rather than using RCs to lure new players.

If I were on the PR call I’d ask: how will vehicle performance be balanced across licensed NASCAR entries and existing cars? And what discovery tools will TrackForge creators get to prevent great community tracks from getting lost?

What to watch next

• Player counts and community creation — steam discount earlier in March already drove a spike (SteamDB recorded a 12,355 concurrent peak during a recent 90% sale); will Season 9 keep those players?
• TrackForge discovery tools and moderation — if search and curation are poor, the feature will underdeliver.
• Actual balance of NASCAR gameplay versus cosmetic focus — look for patch notes and community feedback on competitive playlists.
• RC Frenzy uptake when it lands May 6 — paywalled content that becomes a missed opportunity if engagement is low.

Patch note side‑notes: the update sizes vary by platform (huge on PC), and the Steam notes list multiple audio, handling and UI fixes alongside the new content — so expect a technical refresh as well as new toys.

TL;DR

Season 9 splits Motorfest into a simulation-ish NASCAR tour and a playful RC mode, adds TrackForge plus a dedicated NASCAR stadium on Kaho‘olawe, and pushes licensed cosmetic packs behind CC. It’s an ambitious mix — TrackForge could be the long-term win, while NASCAR and RC are immediate engagement levers (and monetization opportunities). Watch community uptake, TrackForge discovery, and whether NASCAR’s licensed sheen translates into sustained play rather than a short spike.