By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
With a sponsor like Fast.co onboard his No. 75 Chevrolet Silverado, Parker Kligerman had speed in the United Rentals 176 at Watkins Glen International.
On the final restart, the Henderson Motorsports driver battled with Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith for position. In the jockeying for position in turn one, Kligerman received significant damage to the left front of his Chevrolet Silverado. Despite the resulting tire rub, the Westport CT native held off Smith for fifth.
A late-race caution for lightning saw the race red flagged. After an hour delay, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series officials were forced to call the race 11-laps early. That allowed the 30-year-old to swap his driver’s uniform for a headset as he worked the NASCAR Xfinity Series race as a pit reporter.
Kligerman Tweeted after the Xfinity race to express his excitement for his Truck Series top-five.
“What an awesome day!” explained Kligerman. “Fun getting to the top-five for the fast truck. Considering I guaranteed I would get a top-five earlier this week. My team, Henderson Motorsports did an amazing job.”
What an awesome day! Fun getting to the top-5 for the @fast truck 🚀
Considering I guaranteed I would get a top-5 earlier this week, haha
My team @HendersonRace did an amazing job and than I had to quickly change and get on @NASCARonNBC
Now at dinner for my bday. I’m tired.
— Parker Kligerman (@pkligerman) August 8, 2021
Kligerman started the race at ‘The Glen’ in 38th due to NASCAR’s metric qualifying formula. After two laps, the No. 75 fast.co Chevrolet Silverado had climbed into the top-20. Although Kligerman moved into the top-10 towards the end of both Stages, he pitted prior to the Stage end. In total, Kligerman climbed through the field three times.
Not running full-time, crew chief Chris Carrier opted to go off strategy to win the Truck Series return to Watkins Glen. The United Rentals 176 was the first Truck Series race at ‘The Glen’ since 2000.
The top-five finish is Kligerman’s first this season. It is also the 18th in his Truck Series career, and his first on a road course. Kligerman has 21 top-five finishes combined between the Xfinity Series and Truck Series.
The Watkins Glen race marked his 94th career start. Kligerman is six starts away from 100 career Truck Series starts with seven races remaining this season. However, it is still to be determined how many of the remaining races Kligerman and Henderson will attempt, let alone his next start.
The next race for the Camping World Truck Series is the WWT Raceway 200 presented by CK Power at Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway on August 20.
Featured Photo Credit: Photo by NKP / NKP Photo.