1. Rodney Kenneth Millen was born on 22 March 1951 and is a New Zealand racing driver, vehicle designer, and business owner.
40 Facts About Rod Millen
1. 2.
Rod Millen has competed in numerous genres of motorsports, including rallying, off-road racing, hillclimbing, drifting, and super touring.
3.
Early in life Rod Millen was trained as a surveyor, but he decided to race for a living.
4.
Rod Millen was the season champion in 1975,1976, and 1977 driving Mazda Rx3s.
5.
Rod Millen decided to move to the United States in 1978 to do rally races in the United States, again with a Mazda Rotary powered vehicle, the Rx7.
6.
Rod Millen won the North American Race and Rally Championship in 1979.
7.
Rod Millen repeated as the champion of the North American Race and Rally in 1980.
8.
Rod Millen won back to back SCCA National Rally Championships in 1987 and 1988.
9.
Rod Millen won the GTU division of the race with codrivers Al Bacon and Bob Reed.
10.
Rod Millen began competing in major hillclimbing events, and in 1989 he won the Class C division at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
11.
Rod Millen competed in several World Rally Championship events from 1977 to 1992.
12.
Rod Millen was most active from 1989 to 1992, driving a Mazda 323 AWD, codriven by Tony Sircombe.
13.
Rod Millen placed second in the 1989 Rothman's Rally of New Zealand.
14.
Rod Millen returned to the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, winning in the Open Class in 1991 and Showroom Class in 1992.
15.
Rod Millen moved to the open rally division in 1993, finishing second.
16.
Rod Millen began competing in the Mickey Thompson Stadium Series, an indoor stadium off-road racing series in 1991.
17.
Rod Millen won the series championship in the Grand National Sport Truck series in 1992,1993, and 1994.
18.
Rod Millen's success earned him a spot on the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association All-American First Team in 1992 and 1994.
19.
Rod Millen captured the record for the fastest ascent of the 156 turn, 12.42 mile Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
20.
Rod Millen broke the old record time by 40 seconds when he ascended the hill in 10:04:06 in 1994 in his all wheel drive Toyota Celica.
21.
Rod Millen's record was broken on 21 July 2007 by Nobuhiro Tajima driving the Suzuki XL7 Hill Climb Special to a time of 10:01.408.
22.
However, Tajima's record was set after the Pikes Peak surface was partially paved whereas Rod Millen's record was on dirt.
23.
Rod Millen had the fastest overall time at the famous mountain four more times, but was unable to beat his goal of completing the climb in less than 10 minutes.
24.
Rod Millen became the father-son to win overall titles on the hill.
25.
Rod Millen competed in the South Africa Stadium series in 1997, winning the championship.
26.
Rod Millen returned to his native country New Zealand to compete in the first annual Race to the Sky hillclimb in 1998 near Queenstown.
27.
Rod Millen finished second overall in both 1998 and 1999.
28.
Rod Millen began competing in the Pro-4 division in the Championship Off-Road Racing Series starting with selected events in 1999.
29.
Rod Millen finished second in the season points standings in 2000 after winning at Luxemburg, Wisconsin, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Bark River, Michigan, and Topeka, Kansas.
30.
Rod Millen finished second at the BorgWarner World Championship Off-Road race at Crandon that year.
31.
Rod Millen competed in several additional genres of motorsport in 2000.
32.
Rod Millen represented US at the International Race of Champions at the Canary Islands.
33.
Rod Millen finished third at the Baja 2000 off-road desert race in his Trophy Truck.
34.
Rod Millen won the SCCA Button Hollow 3 Hour enduro road race.
35.
Rod Millen raced in the Goldrush International Hillclimb in New Zealand in 2000, finishing second.
36.
Rod Millen returned to the Race to the Sky hillclimb in 2001, and won the Unlimited Class.
37.
Rod Millen has driven an RX-8 in the Formula D drifting series.
38.
Rod Millen attempted to qualify for his first drifting event in 2005 but did not make the field.
39.
Rod Millen has competed in numerous Baja 1000 off-road racing events, most recently finishing second in class in 2006.
40.
Rod Millen now develops vehicles, high performance parts, and technology for racing, concept cars, and the military.