Daniel Leckliter

Daniel William Leckliter (born January 16, 1989 in Dunkirk, NY) is a TM Master Cup driver and team co-owner for Formula Overdrive driver Kenny Morales, ARLA Driver Lucas Flint and the CRL drivers Robert Leckliter and Chris Winter. For most of his career, he used the pseudonym "Dan Clezl".

Biography
Leckliter instantly picked up on racing because his dad raced at the nearby Stateline Speedway in Busti, NY. Daniel started his first go-kart race at the age of six at the now-defunct Dunkirk Speedpark, where he finished 6th in a field of 18. He wouldn't race again until he was 10, where he raced at the Mayville Motorsports Park in Mayville, NY. Throughout his five year career there (1998-2003), he won 23 races, 3 consecutive championships (2000,2001,2002), won the regional Championship race the Pepsi 100 twice (1998, 2002), and raced in the state championship in 2000, but crashed out on the 56th lap. Leckliter is known there for his most famous win "Daniel Leckliter's Farewell" where he won on July 4th, 2003.

Personality
He is known for his optimism, but he is also known for his slight anger problems, which is said to of been under control since 2006.

Sprint Car Career
In 2002, Leckliter got a ride for the National Sprint Car Association Northeast division, where he got 14 wins in his year and a half career, he then raced from 2007 to 2009 part time, but never won. He then moved to Wesley Chapel, Florida in July 2003. He then entered the Southeast Division and, as of August 11, 2012, has collected 31 wins. He also has won three championships (2005, 2006, 2010). He also enters in Sprint Car races at his home track East Bay Raceway Park from time to time.

TM Master Cup Series History
Leckliter then hit the big time in 2008 where he got enough money for a TM Master Cup Series ride and started in the 2008 Round of Daytona. He made every single race that season because of a last-lap pile up in one of the Daytona Qualifiers in which Dan still says was "the best seat in the house". Leckliter secured a spot for Daytona and finished in the top 10. He finished the season with two top-five finishes – his best finish was 3rd at Spa. He also recorded five top 10's, seven DNF's, and finished 23rd in points. 2009 was tougher on him. Leckliter got a ride for Camelot Racing, a move that he said was "going to help his career". Sadly, it was the other way around, as he only made three starts and failed to finish in two of them. Most of the time, Leckliter fell victim to self-inflicted incidents or a lack of speed in the Qualifying races, and was seldom a factor to make it into the field. After 2009, he left Camelot Racing to form his own team. In 2010, he ran 2010 Round of Australia in what was supposed to be a Independent's Trophy bid, but the team crumbled due to lack of funding. Leckliter returned to contest the 2012 Independents Trophy for his own team, driving the #110 Yellow Trucking Lycoia Brute. His return to the series has been a bit higher-key than intended. During preseason testing at Homestead, Leckliter showed that he hadn't lost his touch and regularly ran in the top five among the Independent's Trophy cars. Former driver and current pundit Lance Andrews stirred controversy after he tipped Leckliter as a darkhorse to win the Independent's Trophy on the Dan Mullen Radio Hour during the preseason testing edition. Leckliter scored his first point in the 2012 season at the Round of Georgia. He would finish out of the points in Carbondale. He nabbed a 5th place finish at Michigan, he also finished 5th at his last Independent's Trophy race at Grand Detour He currently sits second in the Independents Trophy points, 3 points behind fellow Lycoia driver Tom Moore, but with 6 races remaining, it's very unlikely he's staying there.

ARLA
Leckliter was the relief driver for Scott Morales for the 2011 150 Laps of Dwyer. He also has entered the #56 Atten-Hut Military Surplus Cromwell with Chris Winter and Lucas Flint behind the wheel. That car failed to qualify for the race, but Leckliter and Morales made it into the show and together finished 24th, 3 laps down. Leckliter along with Chris Winter also attempted the 2011 Rockford 200. Leckliter finished second in Heat 2, putting him in the show. Winter, however, failed to qualify. Leckliter would go on to finish 15th, one lap down. He finished 10th in the 2012 Mini Indy 500 at Indianapolis Raceway Park in a self-owned #10L Lenard Q9, but got no points due to not finishing the race. He's going to share the ride with Lucas Flint in 2013, with backing from Scrubbles Cleaning Products and world famous pitchman William Vincent.

Name change
Leckliter went under the last name Clezl for two years in the NSCA Southeast Division and two years in the TM Master Cup Series. He claimed it was because of his grandfather when he ran alcohol during Prohibition, and he did it in honor of him. His father didn't go under the Clezl name at any point in his career.

Notable quotes
"When the white flag dropped, I was in 20th, way beyond the last spot to qualify, when I came into 1, I was sure if I made a move, I would of lost the draft and drifted back, which it's a glad thing i didn't. when I saw the field pile up in front of me, my spotter told me to drive on the apron, which I was almost hit a few times, when I got out of the smoke, I was told by my spotter that I was in the top 10, and that I was locked into the race." and then Clezl was asked how the car ran. "it sucked all day, I was in 20th all day before the wreck."-after the 1st Qualifying race for the 2008 Round of Daytona.

"I actually did pretty good, though it might not of been this way if the wrecks didn't happen."-after his top 10 in the 2008 Round of Daytona

"It's hard to keep a driver down. even though I've had a mediocre Master Cup Career, does not mean I'm giving up, I like being the underdog, which is why I'm giving the Independents Trophy another shot, that, and I want to finish it this time around."-about his 2012 TM Master Cup Independents Trophy campaign.

"After the hell I've been through in the TM Master Cup series in the past 3 years, this is a breath of fresh air, I may of only scored a point, but with Carbondale next week I'm confident that my Short Track skills will get me a good finish."

"I was amazed when I first heard of the course being constructed, and when Formula Overdrive decided to schedule the race later this year, the fans wanted me to be there, not only in attendance, but they want me to give the command to start the engines, and to ride in the pace car."

"It would be the greatest day of my life as a car owner, granted Kenny (Morales) should celebrate and bask in the glory of his win, but I want him to know that he brought Mayville's hometown boy's team to victory lane."- his answer to how emotional would the win be if Kenny Morales won the Mayville Grand Prix.

Trivia

 * The pseudonym "Clezl" comes from back when the EA Sports Nascar games couldn't fit "Leckliter" for the last name.
 * His Go Kart experience comes from basically from imagination that carried on from his childhood, when he at the time owned a go kart and used the field outside his house as a racetrack, which then created the Mayville Motorsports Park, which contains a quarter mile Pocono style go kart track and a half mile dirt track.
 * The aforementioned Daniel Leckliters Farewell is based off of the last time he would ever use his go kart track before moving to Florida in late July 2003.
 * He has used different numbers in each of his TM Master cup seasons.