Car museum to house off-road hall of fame

Reno's National Automobile Museum will soon be home to the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame.

"The goal of the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame is to honor those individuals and companies whose lifelong contributions to off-road motorsports have set a standard for others to follow," said veteran off-road racer and Reno resident Rod Hall in a prepared statement.

"There are other automotive and motorsports halls of fame in various parts of the country, but none focus much, if any, attention to the legends of off-road." Hall has more than 150 major off-road racing victories to his credit, including being the first driver to win the overall Baja 1000 championship in a four-wheel drive vehicle.

The hall of fame is expected to open this summer in one of the galleries of the museum.

The forms of off-road motorsports that will be recognized include 4- wheeling, motorcycles and quads, off-road racing, desert and closed course, and sand sports.

Each year nominations for induction into the hall will be submitted and voted on by an independent board of advisors.

There are currently 21 members of the hall of fame.