---

USAC: Millen chases elusive 10-minute mark at Pikes Peak

2 July 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Rod Millen of Huntington Beach, Calif. returns to Pikes Peak for Tuesday's 78th Adelphia Pikes Peak Hill Climb with one thought - the elusive 10-minute barrier - on his mind.

Millen will pilot a 1999 Toyota Tacoma as one of two entrants in the "Unlimited" class and hopes to improve on his 1999 time of 10:11.15, which was short of his ultimate course record of 10:04.06, set in 1994. Nobody has ever eclipsed the 10-minute barrier on the course located just west of Colorado Springs, Colo.

Millen's "Unlimited" competition will be Butch Hardman of Golden, Colo. in a Porsche 911. The "Unlimited" class is one of two under USAC sanction again this year. The other is the Pikes Peak "Open" Class and a dozen entrants are expected to compete for that honor, including six from Japan, one from France and one from Monaco. The defending champs are Millen in "Unlimited" class and Jean Pierre Richelmi of Monaco in the "Open" class.

The course opens for racing at 9:30 am Tuesday and the awards brunch is scheduled for 10 am Wednesday.

Text Provided By Dick Jordan

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.