Unfortunatly, i dont have an idea what *caused* this either. But here goes what i would try.
Remove the pedals, launch the game and see if you still have that problem.
If yes, backup your settings folder, then delete it and try again, without and then with the pedals.
If that works, copy the settings files back in one by one.
My guess would be that its some corrupt settings file. If not, then im afraid im running out of ideas here.