Particularly with Automobilista 2, the latest update is amazing, and the developers, called Reiza, are more of an indie studio instead of a big player. But the end result is nothing short of AAA quality.
Other titles we enjoy are Automobilista 1, rFactor2, iRacing, and Asetto Corsa Competizione.
A racing title seems especially easy to limit scope in. Compare your titles with the F1 games. There's no fancy campaign with voice acting and 3D modeled faces. But it plays really nice and the used assets are pristine. Indie no longer has to imply "2D pixel art".
Speaking from experience, it's not that hard to teach some artist friends how to use blender. Then it's just a matter of compensating them fairly and you're off to the races. Plus it's fun. If you haven't tried 3D art, it's surprisingly intuitive. Like a sculpting with magic hands and clay that isn't annoying.