Long time PC gamers remember the terrific racing simulation created by Papyrus Racing, the developer behind a number of exceptional and highly popular NASCAR and IndyCar racing games for Sierra. Papyrus shut down in 2003 but a number of its former team members have been working for the past few years to launch a PC-based racing sim game available for download.

That time finally came this week when iRacing.com finally made its public debut. The company, co-founded by Papyrus co-founder Dave Kaemmer and Boston Red Sox principal owner John Henry, has signed agreements with a number of race tracks across the US. People who want to join iRacing can do so for $20; that gets them two cars and access to seven tracks. As players get more experience they will gain access to more cars and IRacing will be adding more tracks to the service. It should be interesting to see if this new business model for racing sims will work.