ROAR: the United States and Canada.

What ROAR is

ROAR's own "About" page (2026) describes it as a national non-profit corporation promoting RC model car racing, originally organised in 1967. It covers 12 US regions plus Canada, and each region has a director elected by its members. ROAR says it is the North American representative to IFMAR and the only organisation authorised to qualify and send drivers to IFMAR World Championships. It also claims that more ROAR members have won world titles than members of any other organisation; that is ROAR's claim. Wikipedia reports that ROAR claims to be the oldest RC car sanctioning body in the world, which is likewise a claim.

Founding and the first Nationals

All the sources read agree on 1967. Wikipedia names George Siposs and Norb Meyer as founders and gives Dallas, Texas as ROAR's headquarters. The Axial blog (24 January 2012), a maker's blog, says Siposs founded the group in Anaheim, California, under the name Radio Operated Auto Racing Association, and advertised in Road and Track; that account is unconfirmed.

The year of the first ROAR National Championship is given two ways:

• 1968: Wikipedia says the first ROAR Nationals were held in 1968 at a car dealership in Garden Grove, California, for 1/8 scale nitro pan cars.
• 1969: the Axial blog says the first true Nationals took place in 1969 in Garden Grove, based on its author's reading of a race video.

No ROAR document settling the year was found. The early history is on early racing and ROAR.

Structure

ROAR's page lists an Executive Committee of an elected President and Vice President, five appointed members and two non-voting section chairpersons, with a non-voting Administrator. Wikipedia says seven appointed members. The two accounts differ, and ROAR's own page is the primary source. Wikipedia also says Clayton Young was elected ROAR president in 2023; that is unconfirmed.

Wikipedia lists ROAR's regions as follows; this is Wikipedia's table, not ROAR's.

Sanctioning and membership

ROAR sanctions events from club level up to multi-regional championships, but says it does not manage races below the National level, which it calls Level 5. It says about 200 clubs in the US and Canada are ROAR-sanctioned and covered by its member accident and liability insurance.

According to ROAR's page, members are insured at any ROAR-sanctioned event, may vote for elected offices and receive the latest rule book, which is available online. Immediate family members can join on a family basis. ROAR says its members range from under 7 to over 70 and number over 4,500; that is its own 2026 figure (see how many people race).

The Nationals

ROAR's National Guidelines (Appendix C, revised 13 October 2026) govern its top-level events. A Race Management Team contracted by ROAR runs each National, and where the guidelines and the ROAR Rules differ, the ROAR Rules take precedence.

• Full-year ROAR membership, current through the last day of the event, is required for all National participation and is checked before an entry is accepted (introduction and 12.2).
• Hosts must be current ROAR track affiliates when they bid (1.1.2).
• Only FCC-legal radio frequencies may be used; radio impound is at the Race Management Team's discretion; transmitters stay off unless the driver is on the stand and their heat's warm-up has been called, on pain of disqualification (5.4.3 and 5.4.4). The FCC requirement is ROAR's rule for its events; the law itself is on radio rules by country.
• Drivers may enter at most three classes, and only one skill level below their highest entry (13.8 and 12.1).

The format, officials and entry limits are on how a race meeting works and marshalling and officials.

The rule book: what was and was not read

Wikipedia says ROAR publishes a yearly rule book. ROAR's current rule book did not appear in any search result and was not read, so ROAR's class definitions, its sanction levels below Level 5, its race officials' duties at club level and its junior age rules are not recorded on this site. What is known comes from dated announcements and trade reports:

• 18 October 2024 (ROAR rule book update): rule 8.15.10, which banned switching radios on in the pits, was deleted, while rule 8.14.3.9 still bans using a radio during a race in a way that affects another driver's car. Rule 8.14.4.1 makes it the driver's responsibility to know whether their motor, battery, speed controller and body are on the latest ROAR Approved List.
• 15 January 2025 (Off-Road Body Announcement): from 2026 every off-road body used at a ROAR-sanctioned event must be on the ROAR Approved List, with the maker's part number moulded into the body (rules 9.1.2 and 9.1.3.4).
• 2008: Red RC reported on 16 January 2008 that ROAR had reversed an earlier ban and approved LiPo packs under rule 8.3.2, and RC Car Action reported that on 15 February 2008 ROAR approved its first brushless motors.
• 2011: ROAR's battery rules as reprinted by LiveRC on 26 May 2011 allowed a maximum charged voltage of 4.25 V per cell. IFMAR (March 2023) and EFRA (2026) cap cells at 4.20 V. Whether ROAR's current figure is still 4.25 V was not confirmed.

These items are ROAR's rules for ROAR-sanctioned events only. The battery and approved-list rules in full are on battery rules by body and approved equipment lists.