No offense to drag racing enthusiasts, but Sick Week needs to be nerfed.

After failing to crack the top ten in 2025, King of the Hammers finished seventh in voting for the Best Motorsports Race in USA Today‘s annual 10BEST series. KOH was the only off-road race nominated unless one counts the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which used to be mixed surface but nowadays takes place solely on paved roads. Incidentally, Ultra4 cars will run the upcoming Pikes Peak in June.

The PPIHC was also nominated for 2026 but didn’t make the top ten.

The category is one of several related to motoring alongside those like the Best Attraction for Car Lovers. It is overseen by a panel headed by Elana Scherr and Skye Rodgers.

Its description is as follows:

IndyCar and IMSA sports car racing to drag racing, motorsports races offer high octane thrills in spades, as drivers push themselves and their vehicles to the limits. High speeds, tight corners, and cars just inches apart trying to overtake the competition combine to create a nail-biting experience where high-speed crashes aren’t uncommon.

An expert panel nominated their top picks for the best motorsports races in the U.S., then readers voted to decide the winners. Here are the 10 best motorsports races in the country.

“King of the Hammers is touted as ‘the toughest week of one-day, off-road races in the world,’” reads the 10BEST bio for the race. “Spectators gather in Johnson Valley, California, to watch a series of races over several days. Ultra4 vehicles can reach over 100 miles per hour through the desert sections of the course but slow down considerably for the boulders and mountain foothills areas.”

Sick Week, an event for street drags, won for the third year in a row. It is followed in the voting by F1’s United States Grand Prix, the Knoxville Nationals (dirt track racing, while also not on pavement, is considered a different discipline from off-road racing), Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500, and SCCA National Championship Runoffs.

Rounding out the top ten behind Hammers are the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, Chili Bowl, and Petit Le Mans.

Featured image credit: Art Eugenio / Red Bull Content Pool