Interview with Mike Klensin, Driver of #4431

Metalcloak Stampede will take place Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 at Prairie City SVRA in Rancho Cordova, California. (Gates open at noon Thursday for folks who’d like to camp.) Check the schedule here: http://ultra4racing.com/featured/schedule-of-events-ultra4-metal-cloak-nor-cal-stampede/

KlensinSelfie
(Mike calls this Facebook photo “Selfie Seat-time Sunday”)

“We’re definitely getting excited, this is our first race of the west coast series.”

Mike Klensin, driver, and John Brock, owner of the car, will be driving from Tucson, Arizona to Rancho Cordova, California; it’s about 1800 miles round trip. Mike’s daughter Alyssa won’t be able to join her dad this time – but Bailey their Boxer might.

There’s sure to be a lot of reminiscing along the way. Mike’s especially proud of his experience at the 2012 King of the Hammers. “We finished 9th and barrel rolled off the finish. The car was about 1 season old. We had just worked all the bugs out of it, spent a lot of frustrating finishes through that year getting the bugs worked out. We finished real well and showed people we could do it.”

TailgunnerMedia posted the “Spectacular Crash/Finish” to YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5YxT-ouBDU

2013 didn’t go so well.

John put it this way. “What we had happen at King of the Hammers last year was a fluke. We raced about ten races and had a lot of problems; had 8 transmissions we went through, along with other stuff.”

That “other stuff” is a reference to an ordeal that lasted nearly twelve hours. Mike told us about it a few months back. “We got 29 miles into the race and one of the rear axle spindles sheared off the axle housing and we were done. We watched our tire wheel hub and brake bounce past us in the car. Broke down at 9:30 a.m. and another driver set out in a little buggy to make sure we had water and food; he broke down. The truck and trailer from my crew got a flat tire. They had to leave the trailer in the middle of the desert while coming to get us; when they got back, they had a flat. Another driver was stuck trying to get us. We didn’t get done fetching people and vehicles until 9 p.m. at night.”

Fortunately, that can’t happen at Metalcloak Stampede.

“This is a closed track, a designated park for off-roading – not like King of the Hammers where you’re in the middle of the desert.” He likes that “people don’t have to travel through the desert to find you. They can watch all the racing from the bleachers, they won’t miss anything.”

John won’t miss anything either; he’ll be in the stands telling Mike what to expect. “Sometimes if we’re not on a desert race, if we’re on a closed area track, it’s better to have your co-driver as a spotter, in the stands with the radio where he can see what’s going on in the course and tell you.”

Ultra4racing.com gives us the details. “The course will consist of a 2 mile lap all visible to spectators filled with rock obstacles, tight turns and go fast sections. The event will be run grand prix style. The driver with the most laps after a specific time will be the winner. The top 10 finishers from this race will be qualified for the 2014 Griffin King of The Hammers Presented by Nitto Tire.” http://ultra4racing.com/category/mcncstampede/

KlensinTestandTuneMay25
(“Test and Tune,” Sunday, May 25)

Mike and John should be off to a solid start this year. Mike says “We did some testing last weekend, put about 40 miles on the car and it worked real good. We made sure it’s shifting properly and didn’t overheat. So we’re definitely excited.”

So are we.

Support Mike and John on Facebook at Team Crossed Up Off Road:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Crossed-Up-Off-Road/255556821123771