Street Racing

The (former) street racing pad in Kensington showing the special race for that pad, "Cross Country".

Overview

Street Racing is a game feature that allows players to complete a distance between two specific points in-game while being timed. This feature was first introduced in August 10th, 2018, allowing players to street race in-game. Racing also allows for players to compete with other players to see who can drive the fastest between two points. No races require a map change. Prior to this addition, street races were always impromptu and were not as common due to the lack of high-performance vehicles in the game.

This example shows the time a player took to drive between Nomtauk and South Beach on I-76.

Once a race is complete, the first-place winner, their vehicle and the time logged in minutes, seconds and milliseconds is shown in the chat. The notice will also show the two points the vehicle was raced between. If the player breaks an existing record for their statistics, a notice for that will be posted in line of the first-place winner in the chatbox.

Most players will drive sports cars and having boost equipped will help to increase their vehicle's speed, therefore reducing the time needed in the race. Many vehicles drive at top speed while racing so be alert of your surroundings if you are not racing, especially on narrower roads and highways; participating vehicles may be driving over 100 MPH (160 KM/H) while in a race and will use probably use their boost if equipped. The fastest vehicles in game can reach top speeds of over 300 mph (480 km/h) and can pass you in the blink of an eye.

Updates

On March 20th, 2020, bounty was added to make street racing seem more realistic since street racing in real life is illegal. You automatically receive bounty after a street race, regardless of how fast you went or how many traffic violations took place during the race. Even races in legal settings, such as inside the Delancydrome Speed Complex and along airstrips may be subject to bounty.

On February 27th, 2021, street racing was given another update which included more major changes. Street Racing pads have been moved into parking lots away from the roads to prevent large groups of vehicles from blocking traffic. The street racing start areas thus also received cosmetic changes to the pad itself similar to Victory and racing GUIs similar to Victory Road's race pads. Once all players in your group are ready, you will be immediately teleported to be in position for any race depending on the direction of the destination. A new trait was introduced to the current street racing feature, known as special races which establishes new circuit, point-to-point, and drag races at selected locations, therefore allowing to players to circulate around and throughout the whole map by hitting checkpoints till the finish line. Players are now rewarded with credits whenever finishing a sprint or special race. Solo races give only half of a party race. (If the GUI says 4,000 credits for completing a street race, but you did it in Solo, you receive 2,000.)

On July 31st, 2021, another update was given to the Special Races. It added 3 new races, and checkpoints were also updated with sign arrow prompts for the purpose of navigation.

On August 14th, 2021, the street racing pad was given another update. A big GUI can be seen on top indicating the location of the race pad now and the list of special races players can do with the rewards at the bottom. A background song will now play when initiating a street race. A chime will also play when hitting a checkpoint.

In October 2022, street racing was completely overhauled. New races were added, and some were removed. Some others were modified. Solo races have been temporarily removed expect for the Airstrip Drag Race.

How to Race

v3

1. Drive to the race you would like to do. Races are indicated by large circles with a small yellow ring around it and information about the race.
2. Once there are enough players, the race will initiate and the time will begin to elapse. All vehicles involved will also be timed.
3. During the race, you must hit every checkpoint, which is indicated by a green sphere.
4. Once you’ve finished the race, you will be awarded with a set number of Credits and XP.

v2 (Sprint Races)

1. Drive to the point where you would like to start the race. Racing points are indicated by large circles with a yellow ring around it and a small checkered flag on top.
2. Press "E" to host your own race or join a race with nearby players. (Or tap the screen, if you're on mobile.)
3. Choose your sprint race destination
4. Once you've selected your race, you will be greeted with a new GUI that shows all players (including yourself) to be ready.
5. Once all players are ready, the race will initiate and the time will begin to elapse. All vehicles involved will also be timed.
6. Drive to the destination or finish line and the race will automatically end once you pass the finish point. You will be rewarded with Credits, XP, and Bounty for completing the race.

v2 (Special Races)

1. Like you would always do to host a sprint race, head to the nearest racing pad. Press "E" and select any of the available special races. These races are indicated a gold yellow color. You may also join any of the special races hosted by other players which are indicated in a dark blue color.
2. Once you've selected your race, you will be greeted with a new GUI that shows all players (including yourself) to be ready.
3. Once all players are ready, the race will initiate and the time will begin to elapse. Unlike sprint races, you must hit every checkpoint on the road which is indicated by a green sphere until the finish line.
4. Once you've finished the race, you will be awarded with Credits, XP and Bounty.

v1
WIP

List of Special Races

Name	Distance (in miles)	Credits Reward	Notes
Westover Island Grand Prix (Westover)	7.7	20,000	One of the original special races
Beach Bash (Kensington Dunes State Park Parking Lot)	2	10,000	One of the original special races
Back Road Blitz (Palm Shores)	6.7	20,000	One of the original special races
Mount Astley Hillclimb (Near the Missile Dropoff Area)	1.8	20,000	Replaced the Astley Mountain Crawl race in the v5.0.14 update
Airstrip Drag Race (South Beach Airstrip Race)	1.4	2,500	Added in the v4.5.6 update along with the rest of the airstrip
Welcome to Westover (Westover)	4.1	15,000	Added in the v5.0.15 update
Interstate Sprint (Western end of I-76 (in UD: Westover Islands))	12	15,000	Added in the v4.5.13 update
Autocross Extravaganza (Near the Transit Team Spawn)	WIP	WIP	Replaced the 24kGoldn concert event in the v5.0.14 update, replaced by the Downtown Dash race in the v5.2 update
Downtown Dash (Near the Transit Team Spawn)	2.2	8,000	Replaced the Autocross Extravaganza in the v5.2 update
Rodanthe Sprint (Near the intersection of Tidewater and Irving Streets)	10.3	15,000	Added in the v5.0.14 update, known as the Beach Sprint until v5.0.15 and South Beach Sprint until v5.4
Delancydrome Circuit	WIP	WIP	The only special race not located in UD: Westover Islands

Former Special Races

• Westover Brawl (Westover)
• Cross Country (Kensington)
• Astley Mountain Crawl (Woodbury Point Lighthouse)
  • This race was replaced by the Mount Astley Hillclimb in the v5.0.14 update.
• Down Hill Smash (Mount Astley Summit)
• Point to Point to Point (Cape Henlopen State Park Parking Lot)

Gallery

• Current
• Previous

v3

WIP

v2 (General)

The street race pad before the August 14th, 2021 update.

The finish line point.

The GUI to choosing your destination.

The race details GUI.

The high scores GUI.

The racing player rank list GUI.

The current rank winners GUI.

The rewards GUI whenever players finish a race.

The GUI pointing out players to return to their vehicle before getting disqualified from the race.

v2 (Special Races)

A GUI list showcasing two of the available special races.

A general checkpoint from one of the special races.

Straight Arrow checkpoint

Slight left checkpoint

Slight right checkpoint

Sharp left checkpoint

Sharp right checkpoint

Slight dogleg left checkpoint

Slight dogleg right checkpoint

Checkpoint 180Left.png

180-degree left checkpoint

Checkpoint 180Right.png

180-degree right checkpoint

v1

The oldest prompt and race pad whenever hosting a race.

The oldest GUI to selecting your race point destination.

The oldest GUI to adding players to your race.

The oldest GUI to viewing highest player record scores. (Note: This was photoshopped due to the amount of exploiters on this GUI.)

The oldest GUI to reviewing players whenever they're ready.

The oldest rewards whenever a player finishes a race.

Trivia

• Whenever you view High Scores GUI, you will see exploiters on the list with the shortest time on some races.
• Since the racing update on August of 2018, there has been a more notable increase of high-end performance cars being added to and used in the game, with players also equipping boost to their vehicle. In addition, this update specifically turned UD into more of a racing game than a standard driving RP, with high-end sports cars often dominating the roads and game thumbnails.
• Your vehicle will have a "Boost" sound when the race starts, regardless if your vehicle is equipped with it to accelerate faster.
• After being disqualified from the race, the sad trombone sound effect will play.
• During the countdown of a race, everyone participating will be unable to move their vehicle to make sure that they all start at the same time.
• The Welcome to Westover race is two laps long.
  • Before the v5.2 update, the Autocross Extravaganza was also two laps long.
• The checkpoint navigation aid signs that were added on July 31st, 2021, use yellow MUTCD diamond warning signs that you can find on most roads in Ultimate Driving.
• Whenever you hit a checkpoint in Ultimate Driving, the small sound played is a high-pitched version of the boost recharge sound.
• Sometime in mid 2021, the racing pad in Cape Henlopen was moved from the southern parking lot in the state park, to the northern parking lot. This change was probably made to prevent interference with the Cape Henlopen Wind Farm Construction drop off point for the Trucker Team (and also prevent semi truck operators from initiating street races in that area).