The United States has not hosted a World Rally Championship round since 1988, when the Olympus Rally put America on the WRC map for the last time. Since then, US rally fans have followed the top crews exclusively through a screen. That could finally change - the FIA has just wrapped up a formal assessment visit stateside, one that will determine whether the Rally US project earns a spot on the 2027 WRC calendar. It is the first concrete step toward a return the sport has been building toward for four decades.
What a WRC return to the USA actually means - and where things stand
The Rally US project centers on a gravel-surface WRC round based around Knoxville, Tennessee, with special stages running through roads in Tennessee and neighboring Kentucky. After an FIA delegation spent June 11-17 in the region, the organizers announced they had made - in their own words - significant progress toward the goal. Crucially, the first formal gate in the process has been cleared.
Before any rally lands on the WRC calendar, it has to pass a candidate event - essentially a test rally that the FIA uses to verify that the organization, infrastructure, and operational procedures meet the championship's requirements. A positive outcome opens the door to a full calendar listing. For Rally US, that candidate stage has now concluded, and the federation has moved on to analyzing everything it gathered.
How the FIA delegation structured its visit
The entire process was coordinated with the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS) and United States Race Management (USRM). The FIA delegates kicked things off by observing the Southern Ohio Forest Rally - a round of the domestic American Rally Association (ARA) national championship. Watching a US rally at the national level gave the delegation a baseline before they turned their attention to the more ambitious WRC project.
During that portion of the visit, the FIA examined sporting procedures, safety protocols, medical coverage, and the event's operational structure. Delegates worked directly with ARA officials and the local organizers running the domestic competition. That kind of ground-level review tells the federation whether a team is capable of running a rally to the standards the world championship demands.
Tennessee and Kentucky under scrutiny - stages and infrastructure assessed
From Ohio, the delegation pushed south into Tennessee and Kentucky, where the proposed WRC round would actually take place. The four-day assessment covered a sporting and safety analysis of the candidate stage locations, plus a review of local medical facilities - a non-negotiable requirement, since no top-level gravel rally gets homologated without credible emergency logistics in place.
Delegates also inspected the planned service park and ceremonial start venues in Knoxville and Nashville. At those locations, WRC Promoter representatives laid out plans covering the fan zone, media production, and the broader promotional footprint of the event. The gravel roads that thread through this region, set against strong visual backdrops, are exactly the kind of surface that sorts out equipment at the highest level.
Why the WRC needs this market so badly
A return to the US has sat on the championship's development agenda for years. The American market brings a massive audience, deep car culture, and commercial potential that no cluster of European rounds can fully replicate. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has described the US as a country where motorsport is part of the cultural DNA, and has publicly committed to bringing WRC back across the Atlantic.
Marc de Jong, leading the Rally US project on the WRC Promoter side, pointed to another angle that matters commercially: Tennessee and Kentucky are home to automotive manufacturing plants. That makes the region a compelling marketing backdrop for a championship where factory-backed teams do the fighting. Stack demanding gravel stages on top of that industrial identity and a passionate local crowd, and the picture of a made-for-WRC venue starts coming into focus.
What the Rally US organizers are saying
Rally US promoter Matt Crews described the week working alongside the FIA and WRC Promoter as exceptionally productive. He highlighted the coordination between the Rally US team, ACCUS, ARA, and their counterparts inside the federation's structure. According to Crews, a positive atmosphere carried through the entire packed schedule - from the Southern Ohio Forest Rally all the way through the stage and venue recce in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Crews was direct about the progress made toward the primary objective: bringing WRC back to America. From an organizer's perspective, completing the candidate event is proof the project is ready for a serious conversation with the FIA. The next step is refining details based on the federation's reports and the feedback passed back to the local team.
When will the 2027 calendar decision come?
The FIA will work through all the data collected in the coming weeks before deciding whether the rally can be slotted into next season's schedule. The WRC calendar is typically announced during the summer, so fans should expect a definitive answer around that window. Only then will it be clear whether the United States is back on the world rally map after a gap of more than thirty years.
For now, cautious optimism is the right read. The candidate event concluded on positive terms, and both the federation and the organizers are talking about solid foundations. That said, this is only the first step in a formal process, and the final word belongs to the FIA once its reports are complete.
FAQ - WRC return to the USA
When did WRC last race in the United States? The last WRC round held on American soil was the 1988 Olympus Rally. No US event has appeared on the WRC calendar since.
Where would the new WRC round in the US take place? The Rally US project is built around a gravel rally centered on Knoxville, Tennessee, with special stages running through roads in Tennessee and Kentucky.
What is a candidate event? It is a test rally that the FIA must evaluate positively before an event can be added to the WRC calendar. The assessment covers organization, safety, and operational infrastructure.
When will the decision on the 2027 season be made? The FIA is reviewing the visit findings over the coming weeks, and the WRC calendar is typically announced in summer.
Why does WRC want to return to the US? The American market offers a large audience, strong car culture, and significant commercial potential. Tennessee and Kentucky also carry weight as automotive manufacturing hubs, which aligns well with the championship's factory-team structure.