Parker Kligerman joined the Swan Racing team during the off-season to drive the No. 30 Toyota and compete for the rookie of the year honors in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Kligerman competed full time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series last year driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, compiling 18 top-10 finishes in 33 races. That team was forced to end operations due to the lack of sponsorship for 2014.
Under new ownership, the team began to make several positive moves during the off-season signing several advertising partners to help fund the season. The team also signed, Cole Whitt, to drive a second car full time.
Though expectations were realistic, they were expecting to have better results than they have seen thus far this season. Kligerman opened the season with a respectable 29th place finish. Kligerman’s teammate, Whitt, finished 28th, giving the team high hopes for the season.
After Daytona, however, Kligerman has had little to be happy about. The team has struggled in every event since the season opener with a best finish of 34th at Bristol. He also finished 42nd twice at Phoenix and Fontana. At Bristol, Klgerman commented about his season saying they have the same equipment as his teammate, they have just had bad luck. Whitt’s results have been moderately better. He followed up his 28th place finish at Daytona with a 27th at Phoenix. He also scored the team’s first top-20 of the season at Fontana finishing 18th.
Kligerman’s struggles continued at Martinsville on the third lap of the race when he got involved in a crash. The damage sent him to the garage area for more than 80 laps to make repairs. There seems to be an increase in tension among the team. While making repairs there was a heated exchange between Kligerman and a crew member.
Hopefully, the tension was due to the current situation and not based on the season as a whole. Kligerman is a very talented driver and once he can shake off the bout of bad luck, we will see him in the top-25 consistently.
