Volunteer at a rally

Where to sign up

Each rally recruits its own volunteers. These are the sign-up systems and pages they use.

• RallyMaster Pro

  Used by most ARA rallies in the East and Midwest

  Create one account, then register for each rally you want to work and the days you can be there.

  First-timers fill in the New Volunteers form and tick the jobs they can do. After logging in you choose the rally and the days, and can name a preferred assignment and the people you would like to work with. Assignments are published there later.

  Used by: Sno*Drift Rally, Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, Show-Me Rally, Missouri Ozark Rally, Ojibwe Forests Rally, Headwaters Rally, Nemadji Trail Rally, Southern Ohio Forest Rally, STPR, Lake Superior Performance Rally, Overmountain Rally Tennessee, Boone Forest Rally.

  Sign up at RallyMaster Pro

• RallyData

  Used by ARA rallies in the West

  Pick the rally from the list, create a profile, then give your availability and the jobs you prefer.

  The sign-up menu shows only the rallies whose registration is open, so a rally appears there as its date approaches. Olympus Rally says assignments come about two weeks before the event.

  Used by: Olympus Rally, Tour de Forest Rally, Oregon Trail Rally, Mike Nagle RallySprint, Rally Colorado, Prescott Rally and Ridge Rally (radio operators).

  Sign up at RallyData

• NASA Rally Sport

  Used by every NASA Rally Sport rally

  One free account covers volunteering at any NASA Rally Sport rally, and each rally’s page has its own sign-up link.

  Choose the rally, say when you will be on site and who you hope to be stationed with. Positions are assigned as people sign up, so early is better. First-timers are steered to a start or finish control, and there are training sheets and videos for each job.

  Used by: Sandblast Rally, McCreary Gravel Rally, Black River Stages, Hardwood CUP Rally, CUP Iron Mule Rally.

  NASA Rally Sport volunteers

• The ARA volunteer waiver

  Step two at ARA rallies

  The free waiver every ARA volunteer signs, usually on a phone, after signing up with the rally itself. It puts you under the event’s insurance.

  Enter your mobile number, follow the text message and sign. It can be done on paper at check-in if needed. Volunteers under 18 need a parent present.

  Open the waiver

• ARA volunteer directory

  American Rally Association

  ARA does not take sign-ups itself. Each rally’s organizers handle their own volunteers, and this page links to every rally’s volunteer page.

  Open the ARA directory

• Rally Corps

  American Rally Association

  ARA’s planned national volunteer community, meant to bring shared training and one portal for every ARA rally. For now it is an interest list, and it is also where ARA gathers interest in volunteering at the WRC’s Rally US.

  Join the Rally Corps list

• Rally US volunteers

  World Rally Championship, August 2027

  Registration to work the first World Rally Championship round in the United States since 1988: the stages in Tennessee and Kentucky, the WRC Arena in Knoxville and the fan zones.

  Register for Rally US

New to this? Say so when you sign up. Most jobs need no experience: NASA Rally Sport, for one, steers first-timers to a start or finish control and publishes training sheets and videos for each job.

The jobs

Most need no experience, only a full day, the right clothes and a way to get to the stage. Rallies generally feed their volunteers, and many add a shirt or other thanks.

Marshal

Watches a junction, a driveway or a stretch of stage, and keeps people and vehicles off the road. Where most volunteers start.

Spectator marshal

Looks after a spectator area: where people stand, and that they stay there.

Control worker

Works a time control at the start or finish of a stage: checking cars in, counting them down or recording their times.

Radio operator

Passes messages between a stage and rally headquarters. Usually a licensed amateur with a radio in the vehicle.

Stage captain

Runs one stage and everyone working on it. A job for people with rallies behind them.

Sweep

Follows the last car through the stage to help stranded crews and confirm that the stage is clear.

Service, registration and tech

The jobs at headquarters and in the service park: checking crews in, inspecting cars, keeping the paddock moving.

Set-up and bannering

Marks the stages and the spectator areas before the road goes live.

What a day looks like

• You are assigned a stage and a job before the rally, with a time and place to meet your stage captain.
• You arrive well before the road closes, set up, and get a briefing.
• The course cars come through, then the rally cars, one at a time.
• When the sweep vehicles have passed and your captain releases you, you pack up, and often move to another stage.
• Bring food, water, layers and a chair. Stages are remote and days are long.

Rally by rally

Where each rally sends its volunteers.

A rally that is not listed here still needs you: look for “Volunteer” on its official site, linked from each rally’s page on All Rally.

Amateur radio

Forest stages have no cell coverage, so a rally’s safety net is its radio network.

• Licensed amateurs sit at each stage start and finish and at key junctions, reporting to a net control operator at headquarters.
• You need a current license and usually your own 2-meter radio mounted in the vehicle, with a proper antenna. A handheld alone often cannot reach the net from the forest.
• Sign up through the rally’s normal volunteer system and give your call sign. RallyMaster Pro has a radio operator specialty for it.
• Rallies publish their frequencies ahead of the event. A National rally uses about 60 radio operators, by Lake Superior Performance Rally’s count.
• No license? Many marshal posts do not need one.