Parker Kligerman Chasing Mic Drop Ending to Full-Time NASCAR Career
In the world of professional sports, every athlete, no matter which discipline they compete in, has the desire to finish their career at the top of the heap. NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Parker Kligerman is hard-wired in the exact same way.
The 34-year-old currently competes for Big Machine Racing in NASCAR's second-tier division, but come season's end, will effectively close out an era that has occupied the last 15 years of his life, by no longer pursuing full-time driving opportunities.
With the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs beginning Saturday at Kansas, Kligerman is staring the final seven races of his full-time NASCAR career directly in the face, as he hopes to bring the Big Machine Racing and the No. 48 team on a deep post-season run.
In a perfect world, Kligerman would leave the season-finale at Phoenix with the quintessential mic drop moment: hoisting a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship trophy on the main stage with crew chief Patrick Donahue, and team owners Scott and Sandy Borchetta.
The Westport, Connecticut native whole-heartedly believes that the possibility of him and Big Machine Racing advancing to the Championship 4 is legitimate and rooted in reality, but, a possible lack of belief from others doesn’t insult Kligerman, who understands how somebody could underestimate the team.
"It's not insulting to say that we're a young team, a smaller team than what we're up against. I mean, that's just the facts. This is the first time the team has made the owners and drivers playoffs, it's very much in its infancy as an organization," Kligerman said during Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day.
"I think it's natural to see Big Machine Racing up against Joe Gibbs Racing, JR Motorsports, and Stewart-Haas Racing and to think, 'Okay, that's a different name then I've seen here', but I think we have all the capability to go out there and make a run in these playoffs. I think internally we have the confidence and this first round, to me there is no reason that if we just perform at the level we've been performing, that we shouldn't be able to advance."
Kligerman ranks fifth of all full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers with an average finish of 12.5, behind only Cole Custer (10.9), Chandler Smith (11.6), Sheldon Creed (12.1), and Austin Hill (12.1), and ahead of several heavy-hitters like Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, and AJ Allmendinger.
"We've performed at a really high level, and I think putting aside being a young team and that sort of thing, we have all the expectations to make the Championship 4," Kligerman added.
As the chaos of the post-season is ready to erupt, there is still one thing that Kligerman is yearning for in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career. A victory. In two seasons with Big Machine Racing, the driver has scored 12 top-five finishes, including three finishes of second place at Road America and Texas in 2023, and at Atlanta this Summer.
"I've been chasing a trophy in the Xfinity Series since my first start in 2009. So, it would mean a lot to me personally, would mean a lot to get a trophy for Scott and Sandy Borchetta, who have given me this opportunity the last two years and allowed me to come to terms with my career as a driver at the NASCAR level and to be pursuing full-time racing,” said Kligerman.
"I just want to win. I want to win for Big Machine Racing. I want one of these trophies and a checkered flag very, very badly and we've been close enough to know that it's possible, but it would mean the world to get it and to do it knowing this is my final time to be chasing this as a full-time endeavor, would make it all the sweeter."
As the season begins to wind down, and the remaining races come and go, Kligerman is destined to be overcome with a wave of emotion as he makes his final starts as a full-time driver. Although, the 34-year-old driver says that hasn't quite happened just yet -- except for a small teary-eted moment during the national anthem at Watkins Glen.
“For me, I think there’s also a bit of peace in that you know it’s sort of – there’s a weight lifted, in a lot of ways that allows you to hopefully just go out there and perform. I definitely try to sort of put it aside, but there’s also moments where I try to just sort of, take a moment, smell the roses and look around, and remind myself that this is a long journey to get here," said Kligerman.
“And I’ve been one of the luckiest people in the world to do it as long as I have and at such a high level and that, I think internally, there is a peace that comes with that. You’ve done this, it’s coming to an end, but it’s not the end of your life. There is life after this – I swear, I’m assured, I think it’s out there. I don’t know if it's fully hit me yet and I’m sure it will start to.”
There have been many instances of fairytale endings throughout NASCAR's history, whether it be just a single race, a championship battle, or the end of a beloved driver's career. Should the checkered flag be displayed at Phoenix with Kligerman in position to win the title, it would be the culmination of all three, and the perfect mic drop on a career that has featured its fair share of trials and tribulations.
The situation ahead for Kligerman and Big Machine Racing can only be described as a Cinderella story on steroids; with a young Xfinity Series team entering the post-season looking to win its first championship, with a driver set to depart full-time NASCAR competition at season’s end (who is looking for his first victory and first championship).
As Kligerman and Big Machine Racing head to the Playoffs for a second consecutive season, that glass slipper remains very much intact.
JOSEPH SRIGLEY