About Micki LeCronier

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So far Micki LeCronier has created 88 blog entries.

Round 2 in Tucson; Finishing Fifth WITHOUT Second Gear

Interview with #777 owner/driver John Brock. Round 2 of W.E. Rock’s Dirt Riot Southwest took place Saturday, April 5 at MC Motorsports Park; John Brock drove, Mike Klensin was co-driver. After the race Mike Klensin posted this photo to his Facebook page and wrote: "Congrats to John Brock driver if the 777 UltraSS on a solid 5th place finish at Dirt Riot. Battling a rough course and fatigue he held it all together for the finish." If you've read 60-year-old John Brock's bio, you know what he's up against. In 2003 his back was shattered when he was run over by a 12,000 lb. tractor. "I'm lucky to have lived through the thing. I spent the first 3 years on painkillers, lying in bed watching TV; I thought 'I gotta get on with my life, I can't do this.' Had to wean myself off the painkillers and get on with my life. The more I sit at home and worry about it, the worse it seems to be. I mostly work on the racecar." And boy does he. John was driving for last-minute parts when he called for our pre-race interview. He was frustrated by transmission problems and hoping for a good turnout. Ultimately, "I really want to do well at this race. It's our home track." Except for the transmission, he got what he wished for. "We had a fifth place finish, had transmission problems, but just took it a little bit easy on the car this time; could have been a little faster. Didn't have second gear and on that course; we needed it 75% of the time." #777 obscured by dust; photo by Amanda Gonzales HINDERED BY DUST AND NARROW TRAILS "It [...]

2021-03-03T06:24:07-05:00April 9, 2014|
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Area BFE Welcomes Easter Jeep Safari Participants

Interview with Olaf Kilthau Owner and Managing Member of Area BFE Olaf Kilthau and Chris Brunner will be standing at the gate of Area BFE all day, every day to welcome participants of Easter Jeep Safari. "It's our biggest event. We introduce ourselves and talk to every single person who comes through that gate. There's a certain kinship with the people who come in and visit us." The 48 year-old event runs nine days and covers 42 trails. Where the Strike Ravine trail ends, Area BFE begins; a hardcore 320 acre recreational park near Moab. "We bought the land to keep it open for free. We're the only off-road park in the country that's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. That's our original mission, so people would have a place to play without fear of getting kicked off." Olaf says three key elements work together to make Easter Jeep Safari the destination it has become. 1 – The outdoor enthusiasts – motorized and non-motorized - who come out to enjoy and support the place. 2 – The volunteers who come out to help take care of the area, establish trails and assist with maintenance. "Based on our finances, we could never afford to pay some of these people for the work they provide and the things they do; that includes the people who made our website and mobile applications." 3 – The companies/corporate partners that basically give us the funds to support our mission. Amanda Products is one of those corporate partners. As "the Official Tow Hook of Area BFE," our banners will be up all year long. HOW DID THE PARK GETS ITS NAME? "It's way out [...]

2021-03-03T06:24:07-05:00April 9, 2014|
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Racing the “Home Track:” Round 2 in Tucson

Interview with John Brock, Owner of #777 Round 2 of W.E. Rock’s Dirt Riot Southwest takes place Saturday, April 5 at MC Motorsports Park. "I know this track that we race on here in Tucson. I've taken first place before; hopefully we'll do pretty well this weekend." Photo from Round 1, March 9, 2014 at Thompson's Ranch, Congress, Arizona John Brock driving, Mike Klensin co-driver; photo by Don Lawrence THE PRESSURE IS ON "I really like to have everything checked out well ahead of time and we're not getting it done this time. Now we're in the crush again." He explained the situation as he drove out of town for parts. "At the last race we had a transmission problem. The case was cracked and we replaced it with another transmission just last week; got it all finished up yesterday and it wouldn't back up. Several times we've had this problem. Really disappointed, haven't been able to figure it out; but I think we know what's going on at this point. So right now I'm driving up to Phoenix to get the parts we need. And I'm gonna get 'em put in this afternoon. One way or another, the transmission will be working this weekend. We did have to rebuild the drive shaft and replace a part on the transfer case after the last race. The engine is running fine, everything else seems fine. Mike Klensin will be co-driver. We'll be out there Friday morning to pre-run the course and then we race on Saturday around 1:00 or so. It's a short track, probably going to be about 5 or 6 miles long, but we'll run probably 3 hours. This is mostly desert race with [...]

2021-03-03T06:24:07-05:00April 3, 2014|
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Mike Klensin: “You always want to know how good you can be.”

Mike Klensin was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. His parents were both elementary school teachers and he grew up watching his father do his own vehicle repairs. Those skills helped mold his future. As a kid he progressed rapidly from riding bicycles to racing BMX bikes, then off-road desert racing on dirt bikes. A passion for racing doesn't come cheap, so an entrepreneurial spirit helps. He started generating income at 15 when he found there was good money in roof coating. Then he approached car dealerships and offered to wash their cars. How did he get to work? His first transportation was a 1948 Cushman Eagle motor scooter. "I drove that because at 15 you didn't have to wait for a driver's license." From two wheels to four Retail jobs helped him pay for real cars. His first used vehicle was a '68 VW bug and his first new vehicle came right out of high school - a 4wd Tacoma pickup truck. He was disappointed to find it wasn't going to do what he wanted it to do. Rather than pay someone else to build the off-road vehicle he wanted, he decided to build his own. His first off-road vehicle was a '46 Willy's Jeep; he upgraded the engine, changed the steering, put a lift on it and added a roll cage. Soon other enthusiasts were asking him to build vehicles for them. In '97 Mike landed a job doing vehicle repairs for a local dealership. "As far as learning how to work on cars, that came from my dad." In the four years that followed he received brand-specific training and earned certifications, but "I couldn't get paid enough there. They always saw me [...]

2021-03-03T06:24:08-05:00March 14, 2014|
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Post-Race Review – Round 1, Congress AZ

Interview with #777 owner/driver John Brock. Round 1 of W.E. Rock's Dirt Riot Southwest took place Sunday, March 9 at Thompson's Ranch in Congress, Arizona: John Brock was driving, Mike Klensin was co-driver. Photo by Don Lawrence In our pre-race interview, John expected to blow out tires; but that didn't happen. "That's because we have tireballs. They're like little pillows inside the tire. If the tire gets cut or banged up, they keep the tire inflated and drivable. They are very expensive." Between the tires and tools he needed for installation, they cost $4,000; but he feels it was worth the investment. "A cut tire wouldn't have taken us out of the race. We've been taken out that way, that's why we put those tireballs in. Because the cost to get to the race, entry fees and such, it's way too expensive. It costs a lot of money to get there." He sounded tired and disappointed; he had good reason. "We arrived up there at Congress on Friday morning and got a chance to pre-run the course a few times, came in and made a minor repair on the car. Then we got back out to run it a couple more times. Thought we knew it pretty well. On Saturday it was all the rock crawling, not the racing, so we didn't do anything. Sunday morning we had to qualify for starting position; all seven cars qualified within about 6 seconds, which is phenomenal. We qualified sixth out of seven cars because I got hung up on something. We ended up starting in sixth position because of that. The first lap was fairly uneventful, except for getting stuck on a big rock that ended up [...]

2021-03-03T06:24:08-05:00March 12, 2014|
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John Brock; Fueled by Cars, Competition and Camaraderie

"I'm 60 years old. I'm supposed to be retired." But he's not. John Brock has been racing for 40 years, everything from dirt track, stock cars and drag racing to tractor pulling and extreme rock crawling. He owns Rocking J Offroad, LLC, in Tucson, where he specializes in rock crawler chassis fabrication, modification, and drive trains. John drives his #777 in the Dirt Riot races. He wishes he could race King of the Hammers; but he can't. "It's like 200 miles; or close to it. It'll be anywhere from 8 to 14 hours depending on how fast we can go." Mike Klensin drives Brock's car because the grueling distances are just too much; in 2003 John's back was shattered when he was run over by a 12,000 lb. tractor. "I'm lucky to have lived through the thing. I spent the first 3 years on painkillers, lying in bed watching TV; I thought 'I gotta get on with my life, I can't do this.' Had to wean myself off the painkillers and get on with my life. The more I sit at home and worry about it, the worse it seems to be. I mostly work on the racecar." Mike built the chassis and John did everything else; the shock absorbers and seats make it possible for him to race. "This is a purpose-built vehicle, strictly for the combination between desert racing and rock crawling. I give up a little speed there so I can go quicker through the rocks." He's proud of their record so far. "Since we've been doing the Dirt Riot and Ultra4 series I've had one first place finish, one second and one third place. In two years, that's pretty good." But [...]

2021-03-03T06:24:08-05:00March 8, 2014|
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A Purpose Built Vehicle

John Brock owns the car he and Mike Klensin built and race. They knew each other from being in the business. John owns Rocking J Offroad, LLC, in Tucson; he specializes in rock crawler chassis fabrication, modification, and drive trains. (John Brock, Owner/Driver) Mike owns Crossed-Up Customs, also in Tucson; he's a chassis specialist who manufactures components for the off-road industry. (Mike Klensin, Driver) John explains, "Mike built the chassis for this car, I bought it from him. I installed the wiring, drive train, etc. This is a purpose-built vehicle, strictly for the combination between desert racing and rock crawling. Some of the vehicles are built more for desert, some for rock; mine tends to be built more for the rock crawling. It does better crawling through the rocks, but is not quite as fast on the desert. I give up a little speed there so I can go quicker through the rocks. The suspension is triangulated 4-link suspension, front and rear. The engine is a Chevy LS3 motor. It's been modified somewhat; not a whole lot. The transmission is a Chevy automatic transmission, a Turbo 400. And it is built specifically for this type of racing. The front and rear differentials are prototypes that are made by Sixty9 Axle; they're a brand new design that's just come out within the last few months. I've been running these for two years, testing for them. I've been very happy with them, no issues. The tires are BF Goodrich, specifically for rock crawling. They are race-only, competition-only tires." The racing shocks are made by ADS out of Tucson, AZ. "The shock absorbers are what they call a four tube bypass and they are externally adjustable; we don't [...]

2021-03-03T06:24:08-05:00March 7, 2014|
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Ready for Round 1 @ Thompson’s Ranch

Interview with John Brock, Owner of #777 Round 1 of W.E. Rock's Dirt Riot Southwest takes place Sunday, March 9 at Thompson's Ranch in Congress, Arizona. John Brock, owner of the vehicle, has been racing for 40 years, everything from dirt track, stock cars and drag racing to tractor pulling and extreme rock crawling. He's looking forward to the event. "The weather should be great – probably in the 70s. We'll have qualifying on Friday; maybe ten minutes of running on the course. It positions where we start at the race, which will be on Sunday. The actual race will be about 2 to 3 hours long. I don't know the distance yet." 60-year-old John is unable to drive the long races. "I have a very bad back, I was run over by a 12,000 lb. tractor in 2003; I'm lucky to have lived through the thing. It shattered my back. But the shock absorbers and the seats make it possible for me to race." Mike Klensin will be co-driver. "What we set up this year is Mike drives Ultra4, while I drive Dirt Riot races." Klensin will be watching the GPS to tell him where they're going; the screen marks the danger spots, places where they need to slow down for whatever reason. "And Mike monitors the gauges because I'll be too busy." They know what to expect from the terrain. "We've raced there before. It's mountainous desert with lots of rocks. There's a real good chance we'll be blowing out tires. It's very rough on driver and co-driver because you get beat around quite a bit." How's the vehicle? "It's in good shape. We had a lot of trials and tribulations last year, [...]

2021-03-03T06:24:08-05:00March 4, 2014|
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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.
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