National Rally Training Center Coming to Booneville Boosting Local Economy

The American Rally Association is establishing a national rally training center on a 200+ acre site outside Booneville, a project that organizers say could reshape economic prospects in Owsley County. The site, which abuts the Daniel Boone National Forest, will house a 60,000 sq. ft. facility with shop bays and classroom space, plus a 1.4-mile off-road course for team and original equipment manufacturer testing.

The project is led by Backroads of Appalachia and supported in part by a $7.4 million ARISE grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, funding that will anchor the Appalachian Overland Triangle initiative to rebuild rural economies through motorsports and outdoor tourism. Organizers say the center will serve as a national hub for training rally officials, technical instruction, and OEM and team testing in support of a broader effort to grow stage rally across the region.

Owsley County, one of the most economically distressed counties in the country, stands to gain from increased visitor traffic, testing contracts, and event-related spending. The ARA is the largest rally series in the United States and promotes the nation’s only cohesive, nationwide stage rally competition, the ARA National Championship Presented by Kubota. Rally events are known for drawing teams and fans to rural roads and small towns, producing spikes in lodging, food and fuel sales during events.

The initiative also includes a collaborative effort to vet and map every public access road across the region for competitive stage rally use, a step organizers say will expand safe, sanctioned opportunities for events while preserving local access. Backroads of Appalachia founder Erik Hubbard emphasized the partnership with ARA, saying, “ARA is a perfect partner and anchor tenant for the AOT project.” Hubbard also framed the initiative as more than sport, saying, “The Appalachian Overland Triangle is more than a motorsports project - it’s a regional movement to create opportunity through adventure. By leveraging the natural terrain and cultural pride of Appalachia, the AOT will establish a new identity for the region as the undisputed home of American grassroots motorsports - and a model for how recreational infrastructure can drive rural prosperity.”

For Booneville and surrounding communities, the center could mean a steady stream of visiting teams and manufacturers using the off-road course for testing, as well as recurring training events for officials that underpin larger competitions. Those activities tend to generate seasonal employment and business for accommodations, restaurants and service industries.

Details on construction timelines, job counts and the schedule for initial events have not been released. Organizers describe the Booneville facility as a long-term investment in recreational infrastructure designed to attract motorsports tourism and technical activity to a region seeking new economic pathways.