For the first time in 36 years, a World Rally Championship could return to the United States at a rally event next year in Southeast Tennessee that would be the biggest sporting event ever in Chattanooga.
The winding gravel roads of the Cherokee National Forest are slated to be the staging grounds for the motorsport competition of rallying, which typically consists of three to four days of races driven on surfaces from gravel to tarmac to snow and ice.
Based on the success of a U.S. competition at the National Forest Service park in Polk County more than two decades ago, the Chattanooga Tourism Co. has been pursuing for more than a year the potential of a rally racing event in the region to draw teams from all over the world.
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Barry White, president of the Chattanooga Tourism Co., told the Hamilton County Commission on Wednesday that Chattanooga is in line to bring a World Rally Championship event to Hamilton, Bradley and Polk counties in 2024 if a couple of test runs are successful this year. A demonstration rally is planned for April 7-8, followed by an official test race in September.