News from the ORMHOF Annual Meeting: Chris Collard Joins Board, 2025 Officers Elected

December 18, 2024 -- At the annual meeting of the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, Chris Collard was unanimously voted to join the ORMHOF Board of Directors. Chris, who is also an ORMHOF inductee, will serve a three-year term. This brings the number of directors serving on the all-volunteer board of the Hall of Fame to seventeen. 

"As the Hall of Fame of the Off-Road Industry, ORMHOF is dedicated to educating and inspiring present and future generations of the off-road community by celebrating the achievements of those who came before.  Chris shares the passion our current board members have to fulfill ORMHOF's mission and we are excited to welcome him to the Board of Directors."
-- Mark McMillin, ORMHOF Chairman of the Board

As the founder of Adventure Architects LLC, Chris has spent decades traveling the world reporting on events ranging from Outback Challenge Morocco and Dakar Rally to the Australiasian Safari and Rainforest Challenge Malaysia. In the process he has traversed all seven continents by four-wheel drive and led expeditions in Africa, Australia, Mexico, and Central America.

Chris Collard at the South Pole

His images and articles have been featured in National Geographic Adventure, New York Times, Cigar Aficionado, and countless of automotive publications, and he is the North American correspondent for publications in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Commercial imaging clients include OEM and aftermarket companies, and he has often donated his time and talents to non-profits such as Free Wheelchair Mission and Disabled Sports USA.

Chris became involved with ORMHOF in 2005 when our own Rod Hall asked if he could help with the induction ceremony, “Chris, Rod Hall needs a good photographer and he has no money. Can you help?” A decade later he was Rod’s team manager and co-driver in the NORRA Mexican 1000. Long-time friend and mentor Mark A. Smith (Class of 1979) nominated him for induction as a pioneering journalist, and he joined ORMHOF’s prestigious list of inductees in 2015.

Chris Collard with ORMHOF inductee and former Chairman Rod Hall. Rod passed away in 2019.

Chris has since volunteered his time with various committees at the Hall of Fame, and said, “It has been exciting to watch ORMHOF grow from a box of papers on Rod’s desk into the professional organization it is today. I am humbled to serve on its Board of Directors, and looking forward to helping this highly accomplished team craft the Hall of Fame’s next chapter.”

To learn more about Chris Collard, please visit his inductee page, where his ORMHOF induction video is available to watch, and a podcast of his incredible adventures is worthy of a listen. 

Chris Collard and his wife Suzy at the 2022 ORMHOF Gala

In other news from the ORMHOF annual meeting, Mark McMillin, whose term on the board of directors was set to expire at the end of 2024, agreed to serve another three-year term. Mark's term on the board was unanimously extended through 2027. Mark McMillin, Frank DeAngelo, Josh Hall, and Bud Feldkamp were re-elected to positions on the Hall of Fame executive board for a one-year term in accordance with the By-Laws and will serve the organization in these positions for 2025:

Mark McMillin, Chairman
Frank DeAngelo, Vice Chairman
Josh Hall, Secretary
Bud Feldkamp, Treasurer

About the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame

The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame was established in 1978 by racing promoter and NORRA founder Ed Pearlman to recognize and honor those individuals and organizations whose lifelong contributions to off-road motorsports have set a standard for others to follow. In 1995, legendary off-road racer Rod Hall became ORMHOF chairman, a position he held for more than twenty years, before selecting current chairman Mark McMillin as his successor.

The mission of the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame is to educate and inspire present and future generations of the off-road community by celebrating the achievements of those who came before.  Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees represent excellence and achievement in many areas of off-road, including advocacy, journalism, industry, rock sports, desert racing, short course, and rally.  

ORMHOF maintains a collection of vintage off-road vehicles that are displayed at museums around the country, as well as an extensive online archive of print, images, audio, and videos, with more content added as funds become available.  The Hall of Fame Off-Road Registry invites clubs, organizations, events, businesses, and individuals with fifty years or more of history in off-road to apply for Hall of Fame heritage status in the official archives of the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. 

The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame is funded through donations, individual memberships, and industry partners. A 501c non-profit organization, ORMHOF has earned a GuideStar Non-Profit Gold Seal of Transparency for 2024.

ORMHOF is guided by an all-volunteer board of leaders in the off-road community, including chairman Mark McMillin and board members Frank ‘Butch’ Arciero Jr, Jim Bramham, Chris Collard, Frank DeAngelo, Bud Feldkamp, Jeff Furrier, Josh Hall, Bob Ham, Gary Haugley, Nate Hunt, Rich Klein, Emily Miller, Rafael Navarro III, Fardad Niknam, Bonnie Vessels, and Rory Ward.

We invite you to browse the ORMHOF online collections of print, images, audio, and video, and to learn more about how to join, partner, or donate. It's all online at ormhof.org.

The Hall of Fame of the Off-Road Industry. Legends Live at ormhof.org.

Posted December 2024. Photos courtesy of Chris Collard and ORMHOF.