Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 4/10 [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 57 [965]
- Online: 4 [35]
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 35-40 Hours [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 4 Career Seasons Required + Cleanup
- Missable achievements: N/A
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No, play on the lowest AI difficulty
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: N/A
- Extra equipment needed: Yes, two controllers will be needed for "Head to Head Winner" and "Couch Champion".

Copyright Disclaimer
This guide and all of its contents are of my own writing, originally posted to playstationtrophies.org under my username AerisFlowerGirl. Any work not of my own will be credited properly in red. As I spent a lot of free time writing this guide, please do not use any of its content as your own without the consent of myself or xboxachievements.com.

Introduction:
Welcome to my guide for NASCAR Heat 3 by 704games. This achievement list is very similar to the previous installment; however, the amount of time required for the 100% has been cut in half thanks to the ability to simulate races as well as the lack of speed point achievements. If you’ve played previous installments, you’ll have a new Xtreme Dirt Tour series to look forward to. There are also more challenges this time around, some much tougher than the previous installments (but not as hard as pre-NASCAR 14, for all you veterans out there). Each of the following steps can be completed in any order; nothing is missable. I will provide you with a general outline of how to obtain every achievement in as few steps as possible.

Step 1: Career Mode
Load up Career Mode from the main menu and get comfortable, as this is where the majority of the achievements lie. Try to win as many races as possible as your work your way to the top. You’ll need to do at least one full season of each series while making the playoffs and winning the championship in each. It’s also a good idea to win at each new track you visit, because there is a achievement related to winning on all track types. During or after your initial four seasons, you’ll need to purchase your own team and obtain all related achievements. It’s recommended to dive down to the lower series for that, as things are very expensive in the Cup series. However, make sure you stay in Cup long enough to earn 50 million dollars. Lastly, you can either complete or simulate races until you have completed 10 seasons. Keep in mind that Career Mode is locked to 4% or higher race length, so you may find it quicker to simulate career mode and continue working on your 200 wins achievement elsewhere.

Step 2: Challenge Mode
There are 38 challenges that need to be completed in NASCAR Heat 3. Some of them are a bit tough, so see my tips in the achievement guide if you get stuck. Don’t forget there’s no penalty for being reckless so do whatever it takes to complete the challenge, even if it means dumping the competition. If all else fails, search up a NASCAR Heat 3 setup for the track you’re struggling.

Step 3: Multiplayer
You’ll need to win 10 races in multiplayer to earn all these achievements. Competition is pretty tough in NASCAR lobbies and they may be barren as this game is two years old. Feel free to head over to the Official XBA Boosting Session Information & Discussion thread r grab a friend and boost these in private matches.

Step 4: Mop-Up
Under the My Driver tab, create a character and custom paint job if you haven’t already. Fire up a second controller and grab the two split screen achievements. Load up the shortest Xtreme Dirt series race, set to 100% length, and win the race for the endurance achievements. Lastly, round out 200 wins using whatever method you prefer. Congrats on your new completion!

Conclusion:
The added ability to simulate races literally cuts the time to complete NASCAR Heat 3 in half compared to the previous installment. However, this time around the challenges are a bit harder that NH2 and may require a few attempts. Similar to other sports games, this game is more or less the 2018 version of NASCAR with updated rosters and teams.

[XBA would like to thank Puppys for this Roadmap]

NASCAR Heat 3 Achievement Guide

Printable Guide
Show completed achievements
Show secret achievements

There are 61 achievements with a total of 1000 points

  • Win a race

    Self-explanatory. See "Long Live the King" for more info.

  • Win 10 races

    Self-explanatory. See "Long Live the King" for more info.

  • Win 25 races

    Self-explanatory. See "Long Live the King" for more info.

  • Win 56 races

    Self-explanatory. See "Long Live the King" for more info.

  • Win 77 races

    Self-explanatory. See "Long Live the King" for more info.

  • Win 94 races

    Self-explanatory. See "Long Live the King" for more info.

  • Win 200 races

    As is tradition in a NASCAR game, you must win 200 races across all four series to earn this and subsequent achievements. You can do this however you like: Quick Race, Championship, Online, and Career all count. It would be a good idea to win as many as possible during your four required Career Mode playthroughs. Remember that the shortest possible length is locked to 4%, so you may find it more beneficial to simulate the rest of your career mode after earning everything and instead race in Championship mode. The AI difficulty can also be lowered in Championship mode to 85%, which will allow you to easily win every race set to 2% length without even having to qualify. The only exceptions are the superspeedways, but they can still be won without having to qualify if you’re good enough.

    If you’re looking to rack up wins as fast as possible, the Xtreme Dirt Series has the fastest races. I found Jefferson Raceway to be the quickest overall, because you do not have to qualify in order to get to the front before the race is over. Simply set the difficulty to custom (85%) and the race length to the lowest (2%). The race will only be one lap and takes about a minute and a half to complete. With the AI on 85%, you’ll have no problem making it to 1st place before the lap is over. From here, you can restart the race and repeat however many times you need.

  • Complete a race with 100% race length

    Please see "Endurance Champion" for more info.

  • Win a race with 100% race length

    Go into Quick Race and chose the Xtreme Dirt Series. Pick any track you want, as they are all pretty short. Set the AI difficulty to custom (85%), set the length to 100%, and then win the race. This achievement shouldn’t take more than an hour to complete using this series. You can also make it even shorter by setting yellow flags to full and wreck opponents for the first 95% of the race, as it will advance the race by a few laps each time. Just make sure you’re in first at the end of the race to unlock this and "Test of Endurance."

  • Race at every track

    This will unlock as you play through career mode. Complete a race at all 38 unique tracks across all four series to unlock this. Simulating races do not count as completing them, so you'll have to show up to each track at least once. Here’s a list of every track, by series:

    Cup Level (most of these show up in multiple series):

    • Atlanta
    • Auto Club
    • Bristol
    • Charlotte
    • Charlotte Roval
    • Chicagoland
    • Darlington
    • Daytona
    • Homestead
    • Indianapolis
    • Kansas
    • Kentucky
    • Las Vegas
    • Martinsville
    • Michigan
    • New Hampshire
    • Phoenix (ISM Raceway)
    • Pocono
    • Richmond
    • Sonoma
    • Talladega
    • Texas
    • Watkins Glen

    Xfinity Exclusives:

    • Iowa (also in Truck series)
    • Mid-Ohio
    • Road America

    Truck Exclusives:

    • Canadian Tire Park
    • Eldora (also in Dirt Series)
    • Gateway

    Dirt Exclusives:

    • Bristol
    • Charlotte
    • Drebin
    • Eldora
    • Jefferson
    • Las Vegas
    • Richmond
    • Taggart
    • Texas
  • Win a race at every dirt track

    There are 9 unique dirt tracks in the Xtreme Dirt series that you must win in order to unlock this achievement. They are as follows:

    • Bristol
    • Charlotte
    • Drebin
    • Eldora
    • Jefferson
    • Las Vegas
    • Richmond
    • Taggart
    • Texas
  • Win a race at every road course

    There are 6 unique road courses you must win at in order to unlock this achievement. Most of them are exclusive to a series, while others can be found in multiple. This can be done in any mode, and you can always browse Quick Race to see which tracks you have yet to win at, so check all three series if you’re still missing this achievement.

    Here are the tracks you need:

    • Canadian Tire Park – Truck exclusive
    • Charlotte Roval – Cup or Xfinity
    • Mid-Ohio – Xfinity exclusive
    • Road America – Xfinity exclusive
    • Sonoma – Cup exclusive
    • Watkins Glen – Cup or Xfinity
  • Win a race at every short track

    There are 7 tracks required for this achievement. Most of these tracks are in multiple series, while a select few are exclusive. This can be done in any mode, and you can always browse Quick Race to see which tracks you have yet to win at, so check all three series if you’re still missing this achievement.

    Here are the tracks you need:

    • Bristol
    • Dover
    • Eldora (Truck exclusive)
    • Iowa (Xfinity or Truck)
    • Martinsville
    • Phoenix (ISM Raceway)
    • Richmond
  • Win a race at every speedway

    There are 15 speedways required for this achievement. Nearly all of these tracks are in multiple series, with Gateway being exclusive to the Truck Series. This can be done in any mode, and you can always browse Quick Race to see which tracks you have yet to win at, so check each series if you’re still missing this achievement.

    • Atlanta
    • Auto Club
    • Charlotte
    • Chicagoland
    • Darlington
    • Gateway (Truck exclusive)
    • Homestead-Miami
    • Indianapolis
    • Kansas
    • Kentucky
    • Las Vegas
    • Michigan
    • New Hampshire
    • Pocono
    • Texas
  • Win a race at every super speedway

    There are only 2 super speedways on the circuit, and they are both in all three series. As always, these wins can be done in any series and any mode.

    • Daytona
    • Talladega
  • Win a Split Screen race

    Two controllers required

    Load up split screen with two controllers and win a race. See "Couch Champion" for more info.

  • Be the Split Screen champion after 4 races

    Two controllers required

    Load up split screen with two controllers and it will ask you to pick a track. You can set the race length to lowest and choose the Extreme Dirt series for even faster races. After a race is complete, the loser gets to choose the next track. Repeat for four races and win them all over your idle opponent to score this achievement.

  • Create a character

    At any time, you can create a character under the My Driver tab on the home screen. You can also create a character when you begin career mode.

  • Create a custom paint job

    You can create a custom paint job under the My Driver tab on the home screen at any time. You should also be able to unlock this achievement during career mode by choosing to drive your own custom car.

  • Complete an Xtreme Dirt Tour season

    Self-explanatory, simply complete any Xtreme Dirt Tour season in Championship or Career mode to unlock this achievement.

  • Completed a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season

    Self-explanatory, simply complete any Truck season in Championship or Career mode to unlock this achievement.

  • Complete a full NASCAR Xfinity Series season

    Self-explanatory, simply complete any Xfinity season in Championship or Career mode to unlock this achievement.

  • Complete a full Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Season

    Self-explanatory, simply complete any Cup season in Championship or Career mode to unlock this achievement.

  • Win an Xtreme Dirt Tour championship

    Self-explanatory, simply win the championship for the Xtreme Dirt series in Championship or Career mode to unlock this achievement. You’ll need to play one season of each series in career mode, so it’s recommended to unlock these there. It's worth mentioning that if a series has championship rounds, you need to be above the cut line to advance each round. You can immediately advance a round by winning a race, so that's the easiest way to insure you survive all rounds. The highest finisher of the championship four in the final race is declared the champion, so make sure that's you!

  • Win a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship

    Self-explanatory, simply win the championship for the Truck series in Championship or Career mode to unlock this achievement. You’ll need to play one season of each series in career mode, so it’s recommended to unlock these there. It's worth mentioning that if a series has championship rounds, you need to be above the cut line to advance each round. You can immediately advance a round by winning a race, so that's the easiest way to insure you survive all rounds. The highest finisher of the championship four in the final race is declared the champion, so make sure that's you!

  • Win a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship

    Self-explanatory, simply win the championship for the Xfinity series in Championship or Career mode to unlock this achievement. You’ll need to play one season of each series in career mode, so it’s recommended to unlock these there. It's worth mentioning that if a series has championship rounds, you need to be above the cut line to advance each round. You can immediately advance a round by winning a race, so that's the easiest way to insure you survive all rounds. The highest finisher of the championship four in the final race is declared the champion, so make sure that's you!

  • Win a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship

    Self-explanatory, simply win the championship for the Cup series in Championship or Career mode to unlock this achievement. You’ll need to play one season of each series in career mode, so it’s recommended to unlock these there. It's worth mentioning that if a series has championship rounds, you need to be above the cut line to advance each round. You can immediately advance a round by winning a race, so that's the easiest way to insure you survive all rounds. The highest finisher of the championship four in the final race is declared the champion, so make sure that's you!

  • Win the Xtreme Dirt Tour playoffs

    This is the exact same thing as winning the championship. Simply win the championship for the Xtreme Dirt series in Championship or Career mode, and this will unlock alongside "Dirty Winner."

  • Win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoffs

    This is the exact same thing as winning the championship. Simply win the championship for the Truck series in Championship or Career mode, and this will unlock alongside "V is for Victory."

  • Win the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs

    This is the exact same thing as winning the championship. Simply win the championship for the Xfinity series in Championship or Career mode, and this will unlock alongside "Unstoppable."

  • Win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs

    This is the exact same thing as winning the championship. Simply win the championship for the Cup series in Championship or Career mode, and this will unlock alongside "The Peak."

  • Get a rival

    After each race in Career Mode, a random selection of drivers will compliment you if you raced them clean, or insult you if drove dirty around them. You can then select them to apologize or provoke them, causing their meter to go up or down. For this achievement, select a few drivers that you don’t like and put them in the wall a few times. If they call you out, provoke them until the meter is all the way to the left. They will become a rival and this achievement will unlock.

  • Get a friend

    After each race in Career Mode, a random selection of drivers will compliment you if you raced them clean, or insult you if drove dirty around them. You can then select them to apologize or provoke them, causing their meter to go up or down. For this achievement, try to race as clean as possible and then compliment drivers who send you nice messages. As soon as their meter is all the way to the right, they become your friend and this achievement will unlock.

  • Complete one career season

    Please see "Grizzled Veteran" for more info.

  • Complete 5 career seasons

    Please see "Grizzled Veteran" for more info.

  • Complete 10 career seasons

    Completing 10 career seasons will unlock this achievement. The addition of a simulate race feature makes this achievement much, much quicker to obtain than the previous game. After you obtain every other career mode achievement, you can chose to race in the Xtreme Dirt series at the beginning of a new season to make the simulation quicker. You can do this by first choosing to skip your current series, and then select the Xtreme Dirt series to race. There are only 19 races to simulate here, which includes the 5 Truck series Hotseats. Simply choose to race Hotseats at a later time, then you can simulate them.

  • Earn a spot in the Xtreme Dirt Tour playoffs

    At the end of the regular season (9 races for the Xtreme Dirt series), the top eight drivers with the most wins or points will make the playoffs. Simply win as many races as possible during the regular season and you will make the playoffs without any issues. The four achievements for earning a spot in the playoffs will only unlock in Career Mode, not Championship mode!

  • Earn a spot in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoffs

    At the end of the regular season (16 races for the Truck series), the top eight drivers with the most wins or points will make the playoffs. Simply win as many races as possible during the regular season and you will make the playoffs without any issues. The four achievements for earning a spot in the playoffs will only unlock in Career Mode, not Championship mode!

  • Earn a spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs

    At the end of the regular season (25 races for the Xfinity series), the top twelve drivers with the most wins or points will make the playoffs. Simply win as many races as possible during the regular season and you will make the playoffs without any issues. The four achievements for earning a spot in the playoffs will only unlock in Career Mode, not Championship mode!

  • Earn a spot in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs

    At the end of the regular season (26 races for the Cup series), the top sixteen drivers with the most wins or points will make the playoffs. Simply win as many races as possible during the regular season and you will make the playoffs without any issues. The four achievements for earning a spot in the playoffs will only unlock in Career Mode, not Championship mode!

  • Race in the Xtreme Dirt Tour on a team

    This will be one of the first achievements you unlock during career mode. After a couple of introductory races, you'll be able to sign or join your first team.

  • Race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on a team

    After completing a full season of the Xtreme Dirt series, you will have the option to move up to the Truck series. The rides available will be based on your Hotseat performance in fill-in Truck races during your previous Xtreme Dirt series playthrough. Simply sign onto a team, or create your own, to earn this.

  • Race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on a team

    After completing a full season of the Truck series, you will have the option to move up to the Xfinity series. The rides available will be based on your Hot Seat performance in fill-in Xfinity races during your previous Truck series playthrough. Simply sign onto a team, or create your own, to earn this.

  • Race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on a team

    After completing a full season of the Xfinity series, you will have the option to move up to the Cup series. The rides available will be based on your Hot Seat performance in fill-in Cup races during your previous Truck series playthrough. Simply sign onto a team, or create your own, to earn this. Be wary that owning your own team at the Cup level is extremely expensive and not recommended, especially the first time you make it to this level.

  • Win a race in Career

    Another very easy achievement, just win any race in any series while competing in Career Mode.

  • Earn 50 million dollars

    This is cumulative across all seasons. As you work your way to the Cup series, you will be earning fans at a faster rate each year. Earning fans are key to earning more money, because they generate merchandise revenue. Once you make it to Cup, you will be earning close to a million dollars per race thanks to your merchandise sales. You can also earn money while simulating races, so if you don’t get this achievement by the end of your first Cup season, feel free to simulate an additional season of Cup to get this achievement, before moving back down to the Dirt series to finish off Career Mode, if you so choose.

  • Own 6 cars in any single series

    At the beginning of any Career Mode season, you will need to create your own team, rather than joining one. It will cost a certain amount of money to buy a team, and that cost severely increases as you reach higher levels of competition. For example, a team and set of cars may only cost you $100k in the Xtreme Dirt series, while the same team and cars will cost you tens of millions at the Cup level. PST.org user DrEvilGuapo has been kind enough to mention that just a second car at the Cup level is 6.1 million dollars, while a third car is 7.1 million. This definitely proves that all team related achievements are worth doing at a lower level, rather than Cup.

    After purchasing a team in the series of your choice, you can then purchase cars/trucks, hire employees, and upgrade departments. You can also increase the stats of your employees, so that they do better work on your cars/trucks. Once again, the cost of doing business is much higher in the Cup series than say the Dirt series, so it’s up to you when you want to go for them. I personally did mine during season two (my first Truck series season) and was able to get every career-related achievement around the time I reached the playoffs. You could also wait until you are rolling in cash and purchase everything outright; it’s up to you.

    For this particular achievement, you will need to purchase all six cars/trucks available to you. Each one gets more expensive, with the final one costing me around $100k (Truck series). PST.org user Quickey has also mentioned that the achievement did not unlock when they purchased six cars without purchasing one of each (short track/speedway/road course). It would be a good idea to make sure to purchase one of each chassis before filling out your stable.

  • Hire 12 employees in any single series

    You are able to hire two employees for every car you own. Once you purchase all six cars, you can hire the last of the employees needed for this achievement. Each employee costs more or less depending on their starting statistics, so you can choose based on their cost if you like. It's worth spending the extra cash to get an employee with higher stats, as you will need to max out at least one employee's stats later down the road. See "Car Collector" for more information on owning your own team.

  • Max out all departments (any series)

    There are three departments you can increase at any time: Engine, Aerodynamics, and Suspension. Each one has six levels of increasing cost that you need to purchase to earn this. This is the most expensive cost associated with owning your own team (at the Truck level, at least), so feel free to save up a while before upgrading departments. See "Car Collector" for more information on owning your own team.

  • Max out all stats on one employee (any series)

    Once you hire an employee, you can increase any of their stats to 15. Choose your favorite employee and upgrade all of his/her stats to 15 and this will unlock. See "Car Collector" for more information on owning your own team.

  • Hire your first employee

    Once you purchase your first car, you will need to hire employees to maintain it. Hire your first employee to unlock this. See "Car Collector" for more information on owning your own team.

  • Train your first employee

    This achievement will unlock once you increase any stat of any employee by one. See "Car Collector" for more information on owning your own team.

  • Max out a single stat on an employee

    You will earn this achievement when you max out that stat of a single employee, which is 15. You must pay for their training, hiring an employee with a maxed out stat will not unlock the achievement. See "Car Collector" for more information on owning your own team.

  • Max out a single department

    There are three departments you can increase at any time: Engine, Aerodynamics, and Suspension. Purchase all six upgrades of a single department to earn this one. See "Car Collector" for more information on owning your own team.

  • Complete a challenge

    Please see "King of the Hill" for more information.

  • Complete half of the challenges

    Please see "King of the Hill" for more information.

  • Complete all challenges

    There are 38 challenges in Nascar Heat 3. The majority of them are straightforward, as you relive or recreate history at each track. Don’t be afraid to cheese them, as there is no penalty for driving recklessly. For example, there is a 1v1 challenge against John Hunter Nemechek I struggled with until I just dumped him into the grass. The same goes if you need to block the field to win, just try to wreck a few of them until they fall too far behind to catch up. Below I have listed a few challenges that took me multiple attempts. I will explain what I did to finally pass the challenges, in hopes that it’ll help you if you’re struggling.

    If you need to, you can actually use custom setups in the challenges, making them much easier to complete. To do this, you need to first enable setups in the settings menu. Under settings, turn off stability help and then choose to always use custom setups. You also need to have practice/qualify enabled in the settings menu (it's enabled by default). After that, you can go to that specific track in Quick Race and setup your car. For example, if the challenge is a Cup challenge at Pocono, load up Pocono in the Cup series in Quick Race and the copy the setup. Make sure you save before exiting! You will automatically use the setup saved in Challenge Mode. I did all but one challenge without a setup, but if you want to make your life easier, try that. I personally used Knee Pit Gaming’s setups on Youtube. CLICK HERE for a link to his channel. Keep in mind that he uses a race wheel, so his setups may be a tad tough to control. If you are struggling to control his setups, try changing the tire chamber from -10/10 to -5/5.

    Tips for specific challenges:

    • #14: Here’s Johnny – You start dead last and have 10 laps to make it to the front at Eldora. You’ll need to find the preferred line, which is around the middle of the corners. Take a look at where the AI are running, to give you an idea of where to run. You can also get away with never letting off the gas the entire way around the track. You need to be absolutely perfect for 10 consecutive laps, never once slightly spinning your tires.
       
    • #18: Phoenix Rising – This might seem like common knowledge, but make sure you only take fuel, and not tires. You need to manually put no tires when the pit screen comes up. If you take tires, on accident or purpose, you will not make it to 5th place in time to complete the challenge.
       
    • #24: Lady Luck – This one is an interesting one. I kept restarting the challenge because I could never get better than 3rd. I decided to play it to the end since I was so close, and it turns out the leaders all wreck in the final corner! I tested it a second time, making my way to 5th, and all four leaders wrecked again! I’m not sure how far you actually have to make it before the final corner, but at least fifth will do as the leaders will wreck.
       
    • #29: Iconic – This one is actually pretty tough. If you’re not good at Pocono, I’d recommend practicing as each of the three corners are completely different. At the beginning of the challenge, perfect your corners and keep calm if you feel like you’re not making up any time. Kahne falls off extremely hard in the last couple of laps of this challenge. Even then, you might get passed for 2nd before even catching Kahne and lose that way. What I had to do was let 3rd place pass me, and then draft him the entire challenge. You will both catch Kahne on the final lap, in which you need to make a crazy good corner to pass both of them. It took me over an hour to beat this challenge, and I got lucky because I needed to plow Kahne in the final corner, and he took out first place as well. Once again, if you cannot seem to get close to securing this challenge, look into a Pocono setup.
      • It has also been brought to my attention by PST.org user Marchrius75 that you do not actually have to win the race to pass the challenge. As long as you pass Kasey Kahne, you can finish at least second and you will get credit for the challenge.
    • #34: Leapfrog – This is the hardest challenge by far, and I seriously do not think it can be completed without a setup. I must have tried at least 20 times, never getting close (3rd was my best). As soon as I put on Knee Pit Gaming’s Taggart setup, I beat it first try, and by a mile. Save yourself the pain and just put the setup on immediately, and you won’t struggle with this one at all.

    Do note that there are free DLC challenges that are not required for these achievements; you only need to complete the original 38.

  • Complete a Multiplayer race

    Online Required

    Please see "Online Domination" for more info.

  • Complete 10 Multiplayer races

    Online Required

    Please see "Online Domination" for more info.

  • Win a Multiplayer race

    Online Required

    Please see "Online Domination" for more info.

  • Win 10 Multiplayer races

    Online Required

    You’ll need to win 10 multiplayer races for this one. Multiplayer can be found in the main menu under the Esports tab. You can grind this out with one other person in private races, so head over to the Official XBA Boosting Session Information & Discussion thread and post if you need help.

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