About Micki LeCronier

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far Micki LeCronier has created 88 blog entries.

The Final Dirt Riot Race of the Season; Grand Junction Motor Speedway

The W.E. Rock site promised "a very fast course with a lot of technical areas as well. Looking at the Series and National points standings, there are heated battles in most classes in each series. A few drivers that don’t typically race in the Mountain or Southwest series are making the trip to maintain their National standings." Mike Klensin, Mike Florian and Mat Carpentier on their way to ... A Double Points Spectacular Mike Klensin and co-driver Mat Carpentier expected strong competition in the battle for double points, but the track was a surprise. "We got up there and it's a dirt bike track modified into a track for razors, modified again this weekend for us. So it was a little bit twisty and tight. The jumps were set up for a shorter wheelbase car, not ideal for us. Qualifying; photos by Matt Moga We did good in practice, qualified second – 1 second slower than the fastest qualifier. But the car was hiccupping in qualifying, so we spent the rest of the time before the race trying to find out what was causing that. We didn't figure it out, but we were able to pass that #1 qualifier in the second lap. Airborne; photo by Matt Moga We were running really good for 5 laps; after that the car was sputtering and not running hardly at all. At that point we wanted as many points as we could get - we wanted to keep our lead for the Southwest Series. So that's what we did – kept sputtering around the track and managed an 8th place finish out of 14 cars. I think that was enough to keep us in lead, but we won't know for [...]

2021-03-03T06:23:58-05:00August 25, 2015|
Read More

The Woodward Dream Cruise; good times and a great cause

On August 15, 2015, Amanda Products was proud to be an event sponsor at  The Woodward Dream Cruise - 'the world's largest one-day celebration of classic car culture,' featuring 'more than 40,000 muscle cars, street rods, custom, collector and special interest vehicles.' An Annual Rite of Summer In 1995 a group of Detroit area visionaries decided it would be cool to recreate the 50s and 60s – a time when 'youth, music and Motor City steel roamed Woodward Avenue, America's first highway.' Participation at the first cruise was 10 times what they expected; 250,000 people. These days it attracts over 1 million local, national and international visitors. While rare and classic cars would capture the imaginations of many, we were there to show off our Jeep Wrangler prototype bumpers and doors and Ultra SS 4-seater chassis; all are designed for people who prefer to play OFF the pavement.   We liked that a substantial portion of our sponsorship dollars would benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Royal Oak. The organization provides support programs and services for youth from 6 to 18 years of age.  We also liked that we had a primo spot - at 13 & Woodward, next to the Firestone store. The U.S. Army had a recruiting tent nearby. Soldiers stopped to say 'hi,' posed for pics and told us they could have 'a lot of fun with those vehicles!' Prize Drawing Participants were invited to take pics of either vehicle, tag Amanda Products and share on social media for a chance to win one set of SpeedHook™ tow hooks for Ford F-150, a 2" SpeedHook™ receiver mount or a gift card to the Vinsetta Garage restaurant in Berkley. Selfies and candid shots ensued. The chassis stayed at [...]

2021-03-03T06:23:58-05:00August 24, 2015|
Read More

Dirt Riot Tucson, 5/16/15

Mike Klensin, Mat Carpentier and the ColeCar Motorsports team were happy to be racing the home track but - like Mike says - "Timmy does better at high speed on an open desert." The only thing they were counting on was a good time. As it happens, WINNING is a good time; but it wasn't easy. Fuel problems "We weren't as fast as we could have been. We had some bad fuel and didn't realize it until we started racing. Some guys run aviation fuel or 110 octane or alcohol. We wanted to run pump gas, so we just use 91; but the car was cutting out on us the whole race." Cactus concerns "The track's real twisty and turney and they added two straightaways where we could build up speed; that was kind of neat. Except that this track has a lot of cholla cactus; if you were to miss a turn and go straight, you'd run right into one. You don't want to hit one of those. They call it 'jumping cactus' because it's so easy to get it on you. It comes off in little balls of needles." Removal is brutal; we found video of a hiker's cholla encounter. We might have shared it, but the expletives were over the top. Photo by Dave Pape, Associate Professor, Department of Media Study at University of Buffalo Tire problems "It was a timed race, 2 hours, as many laps as you could do. I think we did 12. On the second to the last lap we noticed the left rear tire was getting low. We just went ahead and drove. By the last lap I knew we had a flat, but I didn't want [...]

2021-03-03T06:23:59-05:00May 28, 2015|
Read More

Ultra4 MetalCloak Stampede, 5/9/15

It was a long drive from Tucson to Prairie City. Mike Klensin says "It took us almost 16 hours to get up there; the speed limit in California is 55 if you have a trailer. When we finally arrived, I was pretty excited. For the last two years [before the new car] we broke trying to run, just in qualifying. So I was real happy we were able to run our preliminary race; we took third." There's good reason for the outcome. 'Timmy' after prelim Friday, 5/8/15; photo by ColeCar Motorsports "This year we're putting a lot of hours into race prep. That way, if we lose a race, it's not for lack of trying. Even the engine builder - Jim Murphy from Calypso Automotive – takes one night before each race to go through the car again, just to make sure we didn't miss anything." Mikey as spotter Klensin drove #4431, Mat Carpentier co-drove and Mikey Florian acted as spotter. Mike explains, "I wouldn't want to be racing without a spotter on these kinds of races. The way it works in these races where you can see the track is he tells us what's going on with all the other cars via radio, so we have a real-time, third look at what's going on on the race course. That's a fun job; you're saying 'speed up' or 'slow down,' 'you're going too wide on this turn - two cars are coming up on you,' 'lap time is a little slow.' After mid-point in the heat race, we got a right front flat; it slowed us down a bit – and there were faster cars. We could have pushed harder to get second, but Mikey [...]

2021-03-03T06:23:59-05:00May 15, 2015|
Read More

From Dirt Riot/Moab to Ultra4 MetalCloak Stampede in California

Last month the ColeCar Motorsports Race Team headed to Moab for Dirt Riot Mountain Round 1. We didn't post a recap for good reason. Race Driver Mike Klensin explains; "We weren't able to do much. We broke in practice and went back and - with the help of a few other teams – we got the car back to the start line." The ColeCar MotorSports Race Team getting assistance from other teams; Photo by Acacia Pinnell "We qualified OK - mid-pack; but then during the first lap of the race we broke a bolt on our suspension. There wasn't much to say after that. We were done. So we didn't have much luck at Moab, but I feel real good about this next race." MetalCloak Stampede; Prairie City, CA - Saturday, May 9 Mike called en route; it's 13 hours from Tucson to Prairie City. He's grateful they had plenty of time between races. "The whole team's put a lot of work into getting the car ready. We've gone through it extensively and replaced all the bolts. It should be in good shape. MetalCloak Stampede is the first one in the series for Ultra4 West, one of the bigger races we do throughout the year. There will be a lot of competition, so we're excited to see where we can end up with the top guys." Ultra4's video describes it as an 'insane short course filled with jumps and punishing rock obstacles.' Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=habmIGv5Spo A great event for spectators MetalCloak promises to be a great spectator experience as 100+ cars battle it out for the win! Ultra4racing.com tells us "The course will consist of a 2 mile lap all visible to spectators filled [...]

2021-03-03T06:23:59-05:00May 7, 2015|
Read More

Timmy Heading to Moab for Dirt Riot Mountain Round 1

Photo by Acacia Pinnell Coming off their recent Win at the Mint 400, Mike Klensin was excited about changing the setup of the car "for rocks and heightened technical in the next race - Dirt Riot during Easter Jeep Safari in Moab." (Easter Jeep Safari began 3/28/15; it runs through Sunday, 4/5/15. ) The ColeCar Motorsports team is headed to Area BFE outside Moab as we write; qualifying is late afternoon, the Drivers' Meeting is at 8 tomorrow morning and the Ultra4 Pro 4×4 4400 Heat 1 Race is at noon tomorrow - 4/4/15. Photo by Acacia Pinnell Timmy (the team's new Ultra4 IFS race car) did his first rock crawling at King of the Hammers 2015; but Mike explains this course is different. "This is a mostly rock course, not a high speed desert race; more rock crawling and trail." Mat Carpentier will be Klensin's co-driver. Mike says "We'll see what happens. We're just going to go out and have fun." Both Razors will be racing as well. Mat Carpentier will drive with Jimmy Curtis as co-driver; and Mat's sister Taylor Brown will drive with Mike Florian as co-driver. Photo by Acacia Pinnell Amanda Products: Title Sponsor of ColeCar Motorsports Amanda Products is home of SpeedHook™ – as seen on the team’s Ultra4 IFS race car and chase trucks. The ingenious off-road recovery device is priced from $79; it’s compatible with Jeeps, F150s, buggies and any vehicle with a 2” receiver hitch. Like Amanda Products on Facebook Follow the Team Like Ultra4 Driver Mike Klensin on Facebook Like ColeCar Motorsports on Facebook See team photos on Instagram  

2021-03-03T06:24:00-05:00April 3, 2015|
Read More

Amanda Products Speedhook™ Named Official Tow Hook of AreaBFE

Amanda Products Speedhook™ Named Official Tow Hook of AreaBFE Following a highly successful 2014 season, Amanda Products has committed to a second year of sponsorship to support AreaBFE in Moab, Utah, for 2015.  In addition, Amanda Product’s flagship product, the SpeedHook™ has again been designated as the “Official Tow Hook” of the 320-acre recreation park, which is open year-round to off-road enthusiasts for donations only. “We are proud to continue our sponsorship of AreaBFE, and we’re definitely grateful for the support we’ve received in return from the off-road community over the past year,” said Amanda President Products Robert Gruschow. “This park was established and continues to thrive because of the enthusiasm and generosity of an amazing community of people who have a passion for off-road adventure, and we take pride in being a part of that.” “As we continue to win new fans for the SpeedHook™ and the Amanda Products brand,” added Gruschow, “we hope that our sponsorship will make it possible for more people to have the opportunity to venture out and experience this incredible property.” In addition to financial support for the park’s upkeep and maintenance, Amanda Products will also participate in eight product raffles to be held during 2015 at AreaBFE, with one black receiver-mount SpeedHook™ to be won at each event.  The giveaways begin this week, with the first raffle taking place during AreaBFE’s highly popular Easter Jeep Safari, which continues through Sunday, April 5. Amanda Products developed the SpeedHook™ to allow drivers to safely complete their tow quickly, and then be able to re-use the strap, eliminating the need for shackles and preventing knots.  A 2” hitch receiver mount option is available, as well as front hooks for the Ford F150 [...]

2021-03-03T06:24:00-05:00March 31, 2015|
Read More

Win at the Mint 400

Photo by Tbars4 The ColeCar Motorsports team only had two races under their belts. The first was King of the Hammers 2015 and they had just completed Dirt Riot Round 1 in Congress, Arizona. Timmy, their new Ultra4 IFS race car was performing well. We expected they'd be heading to Fredericksburg, Texas for Dirt Riot March 14; but Mike Klensin called to say there was a change of plan. He was on his way to Las Vegas for the legendary Mint 400. Mat Carpentier and Mikey Florian were already there. The Mint 400 was Mat's idea. He says "I've always wanted to race the Mint; I've seen pics and videos on Facebook. I talked to Mike and said 'do you think we could race the mint?'  He said 'I don't see a problem with it.' We signed up the day we talked about it. It went from there. It was a bucket list thing for all of us to do, like Baja 1000 and Vegas to Reno." Mike says he "really wanted to race this race, but I thought next year we'd be way more prepared." They would encounter a number of hurdles before they hit the finish line. The essential Mint 400 tech sticker Pre-Race Friday Friday was crazy with details - tech and contingency, driver registration, the customary roll down Fremont Street and the drivers meeting at 7. Mike was a bit nervous going through tech. "If they don't like what they see, they won't let you race. We went through without issues, they were happy. That's a relief as a builder, getting our tech sticker. " Tech and contingency took place at the same time as driver registration – creating a last [...]

2021-03-03T06:24:00-05:00March 24, 2015|
Read More

Title

Amanda Products is part of Deshler Group. Based in the Detroit area, Deshler offers global solutions, from IT, supply chain management, manufacture and assembly to storage, packaging, distribution and transport.
deshler_logo
Go to Top