September 1978: Millen (far right) and mechanic Murray Butt (far left) with their Mazda RX7 in Columbus, after driving from California to discuss SCCA ProRallying with officials from the Sunriser 400 Forest Rally. The clerk is Jerry Sproat (second from left) and press officer Tim Shannon (third from left). Millen went on to win the SCCA ProRallying event the next year.
Rod Millen was born in New Zealand. Millen is the father of Rhys Millen and Ryan Millen, and the brother of Steve Millen. All have raced in various types of motorsports. Both of Rod's sons, Ryan and Rhys have raced with him in the Baja 1000.[4] Early in life Millen was trained as a surveyor, but he decided to race for a living. He is married to Shelly Campbell, the Event Director for the Leadfoot Festival held each February in Hahei, New Zealand.[citation needed]
Racing career
1970s
Millen began racing in the New Zealand Rally Championship. He was the season champion in 1975, 1976, and 1977 driving Mazda Rx3s. 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. He won the North American Race and Rally Championship in 1979.[citation needed]
1980s
He repeated as the champion of the North American Race and Rally in 1980. In 1981 he won the SCCAPRO Rally, and he won his second series championship in 1985.[5] He won back to back SCCA National Rally Championships in 1987 and 1988.
While winning his third straight SCCA National Rally Championship in 1989, he also won the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. In 1989 he raced against his brother Steve in IMSA's24 Hours of Daytona. He won the GTU division of the race with codrivers Al Bacon and Bob Reed. He began competing in major hillclimbing events, and in 1989 he won the Class C division at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Rod Millen competed in several World Rally Championship events from 1977 to 1992. He was most active from 1989 to 1992, driving a Mazda 323 AWD, codriven by Tony Sircombe. He placed second in the 1989 Rothman's Rally of New Zealand.[6][7]
1990s
In 1990 he won the Rim of the World SCCA PRO Rally event, and finished second at the Rally Malaysia and the Rally Indonesia. Millen returned to the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, winning in the Open Class in 1991 and Showroom Class in 1992. He moved to the open rally division in 1993, finishing second.
Millen began competing in the Mickey Thompson Stadium Series, an indoor stadiumoff-road racing series in 1991. He won two events in 1992. He won the series championship in the Grand National Sport Truck series in 1992, 1993, and 1994. In the 12-year history of the series, he was the only driver to win the series championship in three consecutive years. In his career, he had 12 victories in the series before it closed down. His success earned him a spot on the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) All-American First Team in 1992 and 1994.[8]
Millen captured the record for the fastest ascent of the 156 turn, 12.42 mile (19.99 kilometer) Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. He broke the old record time by 40 seconds when he ascended the hill in 10:04:06 in 1994 in his all wheel driveToyota Celica.[8] His record was broken on 21 July 2007 by Nobuhiro Tajima driving the Suzuki XL7 Hill Climb Special to a time of 10:01.408.[9][10] However, Tajima's record was set after the Pikes Peak surface was partially paved whereas Millen's record was on dirt. Rod had the fastest overall time at the famous mountain four more times (1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999), but was unable to beat his goal of completing the climb in less than 10 minutes. Millen and his wife became the first husband-wife team to contest the hill. He also became the father-son (with Rhys) to win overall titles on the hill.
Millen competed in the South Africa Stadium series in 1997, winning the championship. Millen returned to his native country New Zealand to compete in the first annual Race to the Sky hillclimb in 1998 near Queenstown. He finished second overall in both 1998 and 1999.
He began competing in the Pro-4 division in the Championship Off-Road Racing Series starting with selected events in 1999. Millen's first win in his Pro4 short course truck in 2000 was at the spring Crandon race.[8] He finished second in the season points standings in 2000 after winning at Luxemburg, Wisconsin, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Bark River, Michigan, and Topeka, Kansas. He finished second at the BorgWarner World Championship Off-Road race at Crandon that year.
Millen competed in several additional genres of motorsport in 2000. He represented U.S. at the International Race of Champions at the Canary Islands. He finished third at the Baja 2000 off-road desert race in his Trophy Truck. The Baja 1000 was extended to 2000 miles that year. Millen won the SCCA Button Hollow 3 Hour enduro road race.
He raced in the Goldrush International Hillclimb in New Zealand in 2000, finishing second. Millen returned to the Race to the Sky hillclimb in 2001, and won the Unlimited Class. In 2002 he had his second consecutive win in the Unlimited Class and his first overall, he finished second in 2003 and 2004. Rod has driven an RX-8 in the Formula Ddrifting series.[11] He attempted to qualify for his first drifting event in 2005 but did not make the field. He competed at several events in 2006.
Millen has competed in numerous Baja 1000off-road racing events, most recently finishing second in class in 2006. The team, with his son Ryan Millen as one of the drivers, finished the 34-hour trek through the desert 33 seconds behind the winner in what is considered a photo finish.[12]
Millen started Rod Millen Motorsports, later renamed MillenWorks, which began by preparing and later building Millen's race cars. The company now develops vehicles, high performance parts, and technology for racing, concept cars, and the military.
