[1] Papyrus, consisting of David Kaemmer and Omar Khudari,[2] previously developed Indianapolis 500: The Simulation, released in 1989.

The game was intended as a realistic simulation of IndyCar's 1993 PPG Indy Car World Series.

The game featured a selection of the contemporary chassis and engines and eight circuits which could be raced individually or as part of a championship season.

The simulation offers the ability to race in single events or a full Championship season (made up of all the tracks installed and available on the player's computer); to take part in associated practice, qualifying and warm-up sessions; to set up and customize the car both on-track and in a dedicated "garage" feature; and to race head-to-head against another player by connecting two computers, either via modems running at least 9600 bit/s or via a null-modem cable attached to the computers' serial ports.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway expansion included a paint shop allowing the user to create liveries.

In all cases, the player starts the qualifying session from the pit lane, and is automatically in last place on the grid for the race.

Cars which crash or retire late in a race, and are still in the top 12 at the end, are still classified and awarded the appropriate number of points.

IndyCar Racing moved on significantly from the innovative but limited instant replay feature in Indianapolis 500: The Simulation.

[8] Computer Gaming World in 1994 called IndyCar Racing "the only current driving sim where 180 mph feels like 180 mph", praising the simulation of drafting, AI drivers' behavior, and accurate depictions of racing tracks, while criticizing the documentation.