Rally is one of the wildest, highest-skill forms of motorsport ever invented. Full-throttle machines ripping down forest roads at triple-digit speeds, co-drivers barking pace notes, anti-lag crackling like gunfire, and drivers dancing right on the knife-edge between mastery and catastrophe.

We live in a country that celebrates horsepower in every possible form — drag racing, monster trucks, NASCAR, drifting, tractor pulls… hell, even lawnmower racing. Yet stage rally, the sport many consider the purest test of driving talent, barely registers across the American motorsport landscape.

So the question is simple:

America… why no rally?


🇪🇺 Rally Thrives Elsewhere — Why Not Here?

In Europe, rally isn’t a niche; it’s a cultural backbone. Kids slide on icy driveways, grandmas heel-toe down gravel switchbacks on the way to the store, and household names like Colin McRae, Sébastien Loeb, Walter Röhrl, and Ari Vatanen became icons.

Meanwhile in the U.S., the average person has never stood roadside with dust blasting in their eyes waiting for a single car to pass by at 95 mph in a flash of gravel glory.

And that difference is a huge part of the problem.

Americans love stadiums, grandstands, and instant gratification. Attending a rally means hiking into the woods for a few seconds of magic, and that simply isn’t built into our motorsport culture.


🕰️ A Quick History of Rally (The Short Version)

Rally didn’t begin with closed-off forest stages. The sport evolved from early 1900s endurance trials like Paris–Rouen (1894) and Paris–Bordeaux–Paris (1895) — brutal tests of survival, not speed. That evolved into legendary events such as:

Monte Carlo Rally (1911)

Targa Florio

Safari Rally

Peking to Paris Raid


After WWII, rally became structured competition. By the 1950s, the European Rally Championship took form, and in 1973 the World Rally Championship (WRC) was born.

Europe exploded with support. Rally became tradition.

The U.S. had sparks — Rally America (now the ARA), Pikes Peak before pavement, POR in Michigan — but it never became mainstream. The WRC has held only 3 (technically 4) U.S. events in its entire 50-year history, from 1985 – 1988 with the Olympus Rally, which has always been a national event with the SCCA and now the ARA, but did not get enough support for the WRC to continue.

Let that sink in.

🇺🇸 What Rally in America Actually Looks Like Today

Despite the lack of national spotlight, rally in the U.S. does exist, and the people in it are passionate.

The American Rally Association (ARA) currently runs:

Event Level Number Examples

National ~8 Sno* Drift, Oregon Trail Rally, Olympus
Super Regional 3
Regional 8 Prescott, Bristol Forest, Colorado, etc.


Champions like Travis Pastrana and Brandon Semenuk have brought some attention, and brands like Subaru, Ford, and Mitsubishi remain invested.

Rallycross had heartbreaking ups and downs, Global Rallycross, then Nitro Rallycross (2021–2024) — but both went on pause.

DirtFish: The Beating Heart of U.S. Rally

One organization stands out: DirtFish Rally School in Snoqualmie, WA.

315-acre facility on an old lumber mill

Trains drivers with WRXs, STIs, Fiestas, BRZs and more

Offers half-day to multi-day programs

Hosts events like Rallycross Fest

Partners with the ARA for media + branding

Runs Women in Motorsports summits

Home to multiple Group B legends (over $1M in rally icons)


If rally in the U.S. has a Mecca, DirtFish is it.

But even with all of that momentum, the numbers speak for themselves:

ARA rallies per year: ~20 total

U.S. drifting events per year: 1,000+

Drag racing, karting, NASCAR, etc.: even more


Rally isn’t dead here, but it’s tiny.


🚗 A Personal Dream: Racing in Rally… or Hosting One

I’ve dreamed about rally since the early YouTube days — back when grainy European compilations were the most mind-blowing thing on the internet. Rally cars flying down narrow dirt roads, insane crashes, and cars screaming on anti-lag like they were alive.

As soon as I had a driver’s license, every dirt road became my mental stage rally, in anything I could get my hands on: a Ford Focus that barely ran, minivan, a Jeep Comanche, a rental truck that I wasnt suppose to be driving… if it had wheels, it got sent.

So I have two rally dreams:

1. Race in a stage rally


2. Host a stage rally



Racing is simple (in theory): build the car, cage it, license it, get a co-driver, and pray.

Hosting a rally?
That’s where things get difficult, especially in the U.S.


🏞️ Land: The Biggest Barrier to Rally in America

In Europe, many roads are publicly managed and motorsport-friendly. In the U.S., land ownership is a labyrinth:

Private land

State land

County land

National Parks

Forest Service

Military land

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)


Most of those are not rally-friendly.

The most realistic path?
BLM land.

BLM already issues permits for UTV races, desert endurance events, and rock-crawling competitions — so small, private rally events are doable.

What it takes to host a rally on BLM land

You need:

Special Recreation Permit (SRP)

$1M liability insurance (U.S. Government additionally insured)

Event plan (maps, medics, marshals, access, logistics)

NEPA environmental review

Application fees, damage deposit, 3% gross if charging fees


Cost estimate for a small rally event

Tier Cost

Lean grassroots $18,000–$22,000
Mid-level private $25,000–$35,000
Spectator / big legal $40,000+


So the cheap(-ish) approach?

Small BLM land

Private / invite-only

15–30 cars

3–5 stages

No spectators

Marshals + medics + safety plan

Promote through ARA/DirtFish + local drivers


Is that insane?
Absolutely.
Is it possible?
Also yes.


💸 What It Really Costs to Race in Rally Yourself

Even amateur rally is a serious investment. One event — assuming zero disasters — looks roughly like this:

Category Cost

Base Car $5,000–$10,000
Cage (pro-built) $3,000–$6,000
Safety Gear $2,500–$5,000
Suspension + Brakes $2,000–$4,000
Wheels + Tires $2,000–$4,000
Misc Upgrades $1,000–$2,000
License + Logbook $300–$600
Tow Rig + Trailer $500–$5,000
One Rally Entry (total trip cost) $2,500–$5,500


Total investment to get on stage?
Easily $25K–$35K+.

But experiencing a rally stage, floating over the dirt, sliding through blind corners on pace notes, hitting jumps at 70 mph, everything in perfect flow — is priceless.

And one day there will be a Skidded Rally Team.


🏁 Final Thoughts

Rally is pure.
Rally is raw.
Rally isn’t about proving yourself, ego, flexing builds, or chasing clout, it’s about passion, precision, improvisation, and extreme trust between driver, machine, and terrain.

America doesn’t lack rally because it isn’t worth watching.
America lacks rally because motorsport culture here favors convenience, not commitment.

But rally in the U.S. isn’t dead.
It’s waiting, for people who love it for what it really is.

If you’re one of those people… you’re in the right place.

Skidded Media exists for the enthusiasts who care.
For the people who get goosebumps hearing anti-lag.
For those who see beauty in dust, chaos, and passion, not just polish.

I’m not done chasing dirt roads yet.

Stay sick tight.

-Ricky Skids