Tommy Gontkof and Bryce Swarm might tell you their new sim racing business is not a game. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun.

The partners are opening P1 Sim Racing on Saturday, a proof-of-concept virtual racing center tucked into an industrial park in Annapolis.

Inside the darkened space, six race car simulators combine high-tech steering wheels and pedals, a moving cockpit, high-def video and sound through a robust computer system that serves as a physics generator.

As drivers speed around a track, any track, the computer links the controls with the seat and screen to provide a realistic sense of what it is like to drive a F1, NASCAR or GTE car.

“The skill sets from racing on a simulator directly translate to racing in a real car,” said Swarm, who grew up around racing kart tracks. “You’re not using a controller, you’re using a steering wheel, pedals, hitting the buttons, doing everything and controlling essentially what would be the exact same thing, just without G forces.

“We try to bridge that gap even further with motion.”

Professional drivers use systems like these for training, learning a new vehicle setup or getting the feel of a new track. Recreational sim racing is intended for fun, but there are plenty of people who take it seriously.

“What we’re trying to do is bridge the gap between the ‘esport’ and real racing,” Swarm said.

Gran Turismo, a sim racing system developed for PlayStation 25 years ago, pioneered a lot of this. Esport races were televised, with winners invited to race real cars.

Industry projections say sim racing centers, already popular in Europe, could be a $1.1 billion business by 2030.

PS1 Racing offers one-off racing and time trials, as well as leagues, party rentals and corporate events. There is also professional coaching for anyone serious about this as a hobby. All sessions are booked through the website.

Gontkof and Swarm are looking forward to this weekend, when their first race event, 2.4 Hours of Daytona, runs concurrently with one of the great American endurance races, 24 Hours of Daytona.

Gontkof’s name sits atop the leader board in their private runs of the course.

“He’s just really fast,” Swarm said.

Prices for a 20-minute session in one of PS1 Annapolis’ three race car styles are $20, or $65 for an hour of simulation divided among all three. The center offers monthly passes for $100 that include seven racing sessions.

Participating in a race requires a license for $15, and entering events such as the 2.4 Hours of Daytona costs $80.

If the business takes off, Gontkof and Swarm hope to move to a bigger space and expand the number of racing stations — creating space for bigger, more exciting races.

“You can really feel when the car starts to move, especially in these rigs that give you that yaw,” Gontkof said. “You can see how far sideways this screen goes when it goes through a corner.”

Here are some other great things to do in the week through Wednesday.

The brothers return

8 p.m. Thursday

The Bacon Brothers are a well-known act in Annapolis.

Actor Kevin Bacon, whose early films include the 1982 Baltimore coming-of-age comedy “Diner,” and his brother, composer Michael Bacon, have made Rams Head on Stage a regular stop on their national tours for almost 30 years.

“Believe it or not, they first played our room in April of 1998, and they’ve been back just about every year since,” said Laura Price, a spokesperson for the club.

It got to be such a regular thing that Kevin and Michael were known to drop into shops and restaurants, where staff would address them by name and not make a huge deal out of their celebrity.

Their last appearance was a sold-out show in June 2023. Their return, rescheduled from August, will be their first at Maryland Hall and looks to be just as popular.

The brothers will be performing music from their 2024 release, “Ballad of the Brothers.”

Admission is $75 plus taxes and fees, with a dollar from every sale going to the actor’s charity. No dates have been released for 2027 by the band, so who knows when they’ll be back.

Silent suffering

6-9 p.m. Friday

AND Creative’s monthly screening of hidden cinema gems goes back to the silent age this month, with Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 film “The Passion of Joan of Arc.”

The film is considered a landmark of early movies, creating techniques and styles still in use today.

Adrian Bond, an Annapolis musician and electronica composer, prepared the score for the screening.

“It is a beautiful and affecting work of early cinema and I hope the music I’ve prepared for it is appropriately dignified,” he wrote last month on Facebook. “This is by far the most ambitious live score I’ve attempted so far.”

Admission is $15 plus taxes and fees. Gallery-quality posters by Joseph Karr will be for sale at the screening.

If I Die

7:30 p.m. Saturday

Philadelphia-based BigKid Dance launches its world premiere of “If I Die Before the Revolution” at Maryland Hall.

Led by choreographer and artistic director Mark Caserta, the theatrical dance explores themes of love, identity crisis and a yearning for unrealized dreams.

“As a daring world premiere presented in a city that values both artistic excellence and inclusivity, ‘If I Die Before the Revolution’ offers a timely reflection on what it means to live openly, love fiercely, and fight for visibility right now,“ said Tolu Soniregun, a spokesperson for Maryland Hall.

Admission is $35 to $45, plus taxes and fees.

Chilly farmers

9 a.m. Sunday

More than two dozen vendors turn out at the Anne Arundel County Farmers’ Market, selling everything from eggs and meat to jams and jellies to vodka and beer.

The market is located in an open-air pavilion on Riva Road.

Songbirds

12:30 p.m. Sunday

The Songbird Collective will present “A Tribute to Aretha,” featuring a dozen Annapolis performers and the music of Aretha Franklin.

The show will benefit the Annapolis Musicians Fund for Musicians and the Songbird Festival, a free community event showcasing women and nonbinary musicians and artists on May 3.

The show will feature Davonne Dneil, Leslie Webber, Heather Britt, Natalie Carrasco Coa, Nan Ana, Meg Murray, Laura Brino, Angie Miller, Michelle Heaton and Mac Heat, The Stansbury Sisters and Radio City featuring Najibah Almadi and Noelle Packett.

Admission is $30 plus taxes and fees.

Ignore the slots

11 a.m. Monday

Live! Casino and Hotel is more than a place to blow a few bucks on the odds of hitting an inside straight or a slot machine jackpot.

The casino in Hanover is in the midst of its annual Restaurant Week, 10 days of special menus at four restaurants priced from $35-$65.

Reservations are recommended, but c’mon. It’s Monday. Restaurant opening times vary, with Luk Fu opening earliest at 11 a.m.