This Friday from 6 to 9 p.m,, the city of Chattanooga is hosting a “block party” downtown where members of the public can immerse themselves in the sights — though perhaps maybe not yet the sounds — of international rallying. This is a demonstration event, and it’s a critical first step in Tennessee’s bid to host the first World Rally Championship event on U.S. soil in 37 years, if all goes according to plan.
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Last week, Jalopnik spoke to Barry White, the CEO and President of Chattanooga Tourism Company, to learn how the town emerged as the frontrunner in the WRC’s decision, as well as how the preparations have gone thus far. In the simplest terms possible, local officials have had to become experts on rally racing and planning in a very short amount of time.
White said Chattanooga began talking to the WRC almost two years ago, when the series promoter identified the city as a possible destination for the U.S. round. In February 2022, WRC Director of Business Development Marc de Jong informed Jalopnik that his team had identified “some 17 locations” across the country since March 2020, and four looked particularly strong among them.
Right after the WRC got in touch, White and his team started doing their homework.
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“That’s when we started researching and looking at the world of rally racing and determining if it was going to be a good fit for us,” White told me over a video call. “We traveled, soon after that, to Finland right at the end of COVID. A couple of [us] — another gentleman from our team and I — made a very quick trip to Finland for three days and met with city leaders and mayor of Jyväskylä, and spent some time out meeting with a couple of the manufacturers and watching some racing and learning as much as we could. That got us motivated, inspired, fired up and ready to go.”
The WRC “loved what [it] saw” in the Cherokee National Forest, in White’s words. De Jong’s team was searching for a locale that could supply challenging roads, yet was still near enough to a major transit center to make international travel as easy as possible. Of course, the historical context of basing a rally in moonshiner country may have sweetened the proposition.
“In Finland and other rallies, you can drive two hours to get to a location with some races,” White explained. “Here it’s an hour, and even between here and there, there are other hotels in neighboring counties and places and amenities for people who really want to be close to the race.”
At this point, it’s clear White and company know what the city needs to do to put on a show. Beyond the WRC itself, the team has been working closely with some Rally Mexico producers as well as the American Rally Association, which invited city organizers to attend the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Missouri “to understand the domestic product” as well as the international one, in the words of Tim Morgan, the city’s Chief Sports Officer.
“From what we experienced in Missouri, there’s a lot of excitement out there,” Morgan said. “Especially when nothing stays 100 percent quiet. So when there’s whispers of things going on, I think that there’s a rally community across the nation that is itching to be a part of this WRC international calendar. And that makes it even more interesting for us because we definitely want to showcase our region.”
As for what’s next, this Friday — April 7 — brings the demonstration event, a great way to get a small sampling of the WRC experience downtown.
“April 7 and 8, there’ll be some opportunities to showcase in downtown Chattanooga the cars, the drivers [and] build some excitement around [it],” White said. On Saturday teams will be heading up into the Cherokee National Forest for test runs where “fewer than 10 rally cars will compete,” per a Chattanooga Tourism Co. email — though, unfortunately, that portion isn’t open to the public.
Things will get a little more serious later in the year.
“That will be followed up by a test event in the late summer or early fall, a little bit more at stake there. Trying to make sure that all the communications and safety [work as intended.] Taking what we’ve learned in April and upping that game … looking to get approval from WRC and FIA to move forward with a 2024 race.”
If the city and all its partners execute the dry run without a hitch, we could be looking at an official WRC U.S. rally on the calendar as early as next year.
“We want to do this, and we’d love to do it multiple years.” White told Jalopnik. “This is not a one-and-done thing for us. We think it’s a fantastic fit for our community.”
