By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
MARTINSVILLE, VA – A spin, payback, and a late-race rally left Parker Kligerman with a top-10 finish at Martinsville Speedway.
With 42 laps to go in the United Rentals 200, Kligerman was inside the top-10 in the No. 75 Luck’s Beans Toyota Tundra. Contact with Johnny Sauter sent the Henderson Motorsports driver spinning in Turn 3.
About 15 laps later, Kligerman found himself behind Sauter’s No. 13 Farm Paint Toyota Tundra. Tired of the lack of respect, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver sent his competitor deep into Turn 1. Sauter ultimately spun into the Turn 1 wall. Under the ensuing caution, the 31-year-old pitted for tires.
“At some point I have to stand up,” explained Kligerman. “The kids spin you out, the veterans spin you out. It’s just ridiculous. There’s no empathy or any sort of race etiquette at these places. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. Hate that we had to do that.”
Over the three restarts, Kligerman charged through the field. In overtime, he found himself inside the top-10. Chaos immediately after the white flag forced the race to end under caution. Although Kligerman avoided the wreck and crossed the line in fourth, he was credited with a sixth-place finish, the spot he was in at the time of caution.
“We’ve struggled here for four or five years,” admitted Kligerman. “Henderson Motorsports, Chris Carrier, and I are like gluttons to punishment. We keep showing up here trying to run well. We had a really good Luck’s Beans truck there.
“Needed track position, got it, and then got spun out. The thing is, I have a ton of respect for Johnny Sauter, I love racing him. I’ve raced him for 10 years now. We’ve laughed about racing each other, racing each other hard but respectfully. He just flat out dumped me going into three. I just lost it. Didn’t want to do what I had to do with him down into one.
“Got tires on it and drove through the field. It’s a great way for Henderson Motorsports to finish the year. I’m looking forward to what we’ve put together for next year because this team, we just continually fight. We are doing amazing things with an ounce of the resources of the teams that we beat every week.”
Kligerman started at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments. The Toyota Tundra he and his Chris Carrier-led team were using was new to Henderson Motorsports. The former Kyle Busch Motorsports truck was bought so recently that there was not time to change the body from a Toyota to the team’s typical Chevrolet Silverado.
The sixth-place finish is Kligerman’s fifth this season. It comes in his final Truck race of the 2021 season. The NASCAR on NBC pit road reporter now has 44 top-10 finishes in 98 career Truck Series starts.
Featured Photo Credit: Photo by NKP / NKP Photo.
