Best Motorsports Race (2021)

Billed as the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, the Indy 500 has been a cornerstone of American sports for over 100 years and serves as one of the biggest races in the world, raking in nearly 300,000 spectators on race day. Average lap speeds of over 220 miles per hour also make this race the fastest circle-track event on our list.
Photo courtesy of Dana Garrett / IndyCar Series

Sebring International Raceway was originally an Air Force training base during World War II, but in the post-war years the base was bought from the US government and transformed into the cathedral of American endurance racing that it is today. Sebring hosts a twelve hour event in March that serves as one of the benchmark races to determine who has what it takes to win the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Photo courtesy of IMSA

The SCORE Baja 1000 is a rally race from one end of the California peninsula to the other that changes configurations from year to year. Most of the time, the event consists of a point-to-point race from Ensenada to La Paz, Mexico, but a slightly shorter loop race beginning and ending in Ensenada is also a popular choice by organizers.
Photo courtesy of SCORE International

This race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta offers plenty of action for racing enthusiasts, including night racing, high-tech cars that reach speeds of 200 miles per hour on the backstretch and a track with plenty of spectacular viewing opportunities.
Photo courtesy of Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta

King of the Hammers is touted as "the toughest one-day off-road race on the planet." Spectators gather near Monterey in Johnson Valley, California, to watch a series of five races over a nine-day period. Ultra 4 vehicles race over the course at over 100 miles per hour through the desert sections of the course but slow down considerably for the boulders and mountain foothills areas.
Photo courtesy of James Quigg/The Daily Press via AP

When F1 racing returned to the United States in 2012, it came to the all-new Circuit of the Americas in Austin. The United States Grand Prix takes place on this 5.5-kilometer circuit, comprising 20 turns along the anti-clockwise track. Track designers took advantage of the natural topography of the Texas Hill Country with some of the most dramatic elevation changes in Formula 1.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

“The Longest Off-Road Race in the United States” brings together motorcycles, quad bikes, UTVs, trucks and cars for a 550-mile race across the Nevada desert. The course runs point-to-point from Beatty to Dayton, with designated pit stops along the way.
Photo courtesy of iStock / 4kodiak

Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, is temporarily transformed into a dirt track for NASCAR racers at the annual Food City Dirt Race. In 2021, the race became the first NASCAR Cup Series race to run on a dirt track since 1970. NASCAR drivers travel 250 laps in what is considered "one of NASCAR's best races."
Photo courtesy of Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Most sanctioning bodies save their biggest race for the end of the season or the mid-way point. NASCAR however hosts The Great American Race to kick off the NASCAR season in style in mid-February. The 500 miles long Daytona 500 is preceded by nearly two weeks of preliminary events all collected under the banner of Speedweeks, so there is always something worth watching. James Raia of TheWeeklyDriver.com calls it "iconic racing."
Photo courtesy of Daytona International Speedway

The BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400, held each March, is one of the oldest and most prestigious off-road events in the nation. More than 550 race teams in over 80 classes compete in the two-day, 400-mile race through the rugged foothills of Las Vegas.
Photo courtesy of Mint 400