Fort Worth, Texas (June 10, 2011) – Parker Kligerman, driver of the No. 29 Penske Truck Rental Dodge in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) finished second in the Winstar Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) Friday night. The finish represents Kligerman’s best-ever NCWTS result.
Kligerman started sixth after posting a qualifying lap of 30.288 seconds, or 178.28 mph around the high-banked one and half mile oval. This is Kligerman’s his best qualifying effort of the season to date. The 20-year-old moved into the top-five at the start and raced his way toward the leaders. Battling a loose condition, the Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR) crew would tune on their truck all night long through 10 separate caution periods.
The Westport, CT native would make the most of each of the restarts, picking up as many as six positions on one restart to keep the BKR #29 at the front of the field all night long. After battling eventual race winner Ron Hornaday, Jr. Kligerman would settle into the third position, where he would run for most of the last 40 laps of the race. After ceding the third position to the No. 2 of David Mayhew with only a few laps remaining, the final caution flag was displayed at an opportune time.
Kligerman was sitting fourth for the green-white-checkered flag that decided Friday night’s Winstar Casino 400 at TMS and he was right where he wanted to be. “I knew the No. 13 truck was going to start in front of me on the top line, “said Kligerman, “and I knew he was going to get in front of the No. 33 truck somehow. All I was going to have to do is follow him to the front”.
It worked out just that way. Kligerman made another great restart and took over the third position in Turn 2. Unfortunately for Jonny Sauter, he made just a little too good of a restart and would be black flagged for an illegal lane change prior to the start-finish line. Sauter’s misfortune became Kligerman’s good fortune, as it put his No. 29 Penske Truck Rental Ram into second-place, where he would stay to the checkered flag.
“The Brad Keselowski Racing team was great throughout the night”, said Kligerman. “We had awesome pit stops, and Jeff Stankowickz did a great job keeping the Penske Truck Rental Ram ahead of the track conditions. I have to give a big thank you to Brad Keselowski and Penske Truck Rental for this opportunity. We had great restarts all night, said Kligerman. I am a little disappointed with that last restart. I think I could have raced the No. 33 for the win, but I spun my tires a bit. In the end, the No. 13’s loss was our gain. It was great to finish second, and I’m looking forward to keeping this momentum up at Kentucky and getting our first win as soon as we can”.
With the strong result, Kligerman closed the gap to Rookie of the Year points leader Cole Whitt, and he poised to break into the top-five in the overall championship. With a month long break before the next race at Kentucky Speedway, the Brad Keselowski Racing team will work to improve upon its trucks and be stronger through the second half of the season. Be sure to catch Parker Kligerman in action on July 7 at Kentucky Speedway in the UNOH 225, 8:00 p.m. ET on SPEEDTV.
