FIA Floating Trial Balloon That Could See WRC Come to the United States for a Full Round in 2027

Rally racing could be about to become a whole lot cooler in the United States. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) announced Tuesday that it is officially investigating the USA as a potential addition to the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar for the 2027 season. While nothing is set in stone at this very moment, the announcement itself is a huge step forward for the rally die-hards among us.

According to the organizing body, a candidate event is scheduled to take place here in the U.S. on June 11-17, 2026. While not an official WRC race, the event will be structured and observed as if it was already a part of the calendar, allowing the WRC to properly judge how the event compares to more established European rallies. The event itself will be held alongside the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS), and will see delegates from both parties judging against FIA requirements. The inspections are set to take place in Tennessee and Kentucky. Assuming all goes well, we should see the WRC return to the States in 2027.

The FIA has confirmed a pathway for the WRC’s return to the United States, with a candidate event scheduled from 11–17 June 2026🇺🇸

Organised in collaboration with the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS), the event will see FIA delegates assess all… pic.twitter.com/OXVKuRsFRh

— FIA (@fia) January 27, 2026

“The FIA’s announcement of a WRC candidate event in the United States is a significant step toward the WRC returning to America, and we congratulate Podium Event Partners on achieving this milestone in the process,” said Lance Smith, founder of Rally Forward and president & CEO of Vermont SportsCar.

For reference, the WRC hasn’t held a race in the United States since the 1988 iteration of the Olympus Rally in Washington. That event was rather short-lived, having only entered the calendar for 1986. A Lancia Delta variant won all three official events, which really shouldn’t come as a surprise, given its dominance in the Group B and Group A era.

“The United States represents one of the most important growth opportunities for the FIA World Rally Championship,” said FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. “It is a nation where motor sport is part of the cultural DNA, with world-class domestic championships and a rapidly growing appetite for global competition. I am deeply committed to strengthening the FIA’s presence in the U.S. and ensuring that rallying becomes a defining pillar of that future.”

Here’s hoping all goes well with the candidate event later this year. We at Road & Track love American rally racing, and we’d love to share more of the U.S.A.'s challenging locales with the global motorsport audience. I just hope that means we might also get an American racer in the top-flight series.

You Might Also Like

• You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox
• Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners
• The Man Who Signs Every Car