There are plenty of places on this planet where you can rent a real sports car and race around a real track against real people for real.
Until your VR headset emits the smell of burning fuel, rumbles your body so hard that you feel it for hours afterward, deafens you with engine and tire noise, throws so much mud on the screen that your pit crew uses tear-off sheets of plastic to clear it because wipers are useless, and provides a non-zero chance of actually being hurt or dying, your video game is just game.
IRL > VR
The way the view tilts and moves with one's head, combined with the audio alignment, creates a surreal experience.
Whether IRL is better or worse than VR is entirely subjective.
Now, I do agree that real life can provide things that VR can't. Many, many things even. That was not the subject however; it was: "Why would anyone want to give themselves motion sickness for a VR game?"
Your racecar example is a perfect example. It would be dangerous and costly. Would it be better than VR racing? I think so. Would I be able to actually do it? Hell no. I suspect most people would answer the same.
Yes, I know expensive and costly are basically the same thing.
VR can be amazing. There is nothing on this planet that can provide the same experiences it can. That includes real life.
Something like experiencing floating through space, gazing at an alien sunset and feeling like your body is actually there* without having to deal with pesky things like inventing FTL, radiation shielding, and artificial gravity and whatnot is pretty cool.
* It's amazing how easily our senses are fooled, even with imperfect hardware.