Off Road racing is designed to test competitors and their vehicles over various and ever changing track conditions which may include creek crossings, sand dunes, open paddocks, quarries, tight forests, gullies, super fast straights and mountains in conjunction with the occasional dirt road or farm track.

Competitors do not have pace notes, instead the co-driver watches the track for arrows, signs and bunting placed around the track to guide competitors. Alternatively, some events have a reconnaissance (a controlled lap around a track to show direction, conditions and obstacles) and co-drivers need to take mental notes on what they see.

Off Road races have both class and outright winners and events vary from short courses, tracks up to 15kms long, to long courses, which have no maximum limit; one lap could be 150km long. Some clubs run lineal events, where competitors drive from point A to B, camp over night, and then return to point A the following day.

The winner of an off road race is the crew who complete the course in the shortest amount of time, after any penalties have been taken into account.