Motorsport is all about improvement, but often if the original result was strong, a repeat performance is still something to celebrate. Therein, the SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® has once again cracked the top half in USA Today’s 10Best Reader’s Choice Award for Best Motorsports Race.
The original list of 20 contenders for the 10Best Motorsports Race was curated by USA Today’s editors before USA Today opened the list to reader voting. Over the course of a month, readers voted for who they thought deserved a spot in the top 10.
Last year marked the debut for the SCCA Runoffs as a contender in USA Today’s 10Best listing, and that year the Club’s winner-take-all road racing event scored a solid fourth, coming in behind Sick Week, NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals, and King of the Hammers. This year, the results are similar, although one event did drop from the top three with another event shifting up a few spots from eighth to third.
Here's the 2025 USA Today 10Best Reader’s Choice Award for Best Motorsports Race rankings:
- Sick Week
- NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals
- Indianapolis 500
- SCCA National Championship Runoffs
- Pikes Peak Hill Climb
- Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
- NHRA U.S. Nationals
- Holley LS Fest West
- Daytona 500
- MOTUL Petit Le Mans
While we appreciate the King of the Hammers and truly believe it deserves a spot in this 10Best list, we can’t say we disagree with the Indianapolis 500 making a podium finish – and we’re not sad the Indy 500 kept us from that podium. While we were aiming to crack the top three, the company the SCCA Runoffs shares on this 10Best list is a testament to the stature of SCCA’s most prestigious race in the Summit Racing Equipment SCCA Road Racing series.
More information about the 2025 USA Today’s 10Best Reader’s Choice Award for Best Motorsports Race can be viewed here.
What the SCCA Runoffs Is
The SCCA National Championship Runoffs has evolved into what is now commonly agreed to be the pinnacle of amateur American motorsports. The Runoffs was named by Car and Driver magazine as one of the Top 10 racing events in motorsports and Edmunds called the event “an institution.”
Several hundred drivers compete for National Championship medals in 18 classes. Every year, the event produces close, competitive racing and provides a glimpse at future road racing stars. Starting in 2014, the Runoffs began a rotation of tracks hosting the event for just one or two years at a time, like golf’s U.S. Open or the Super Bowl. In 2025 and 2026, the Runoffs will take place at Road America just outside of Elkhart Lake, WI.
Here’s a taste of the Runoffs from when it was held at Road America in 2024:
Photo by Adam Brooks
