TRUCKS: Kligerman Has Daytona Win Stripped with DQ, Corey Heim Wins
In one of the most Daytona finishes that have ever been witnessed, Parker Kligerman was ahead of all of the chaos that erupted on the final lap and had seemingly collected his fourth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in Friday's Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway. However, in post-race inspection, Kligerman's No. 75 Henderson Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado was found to be too low in the rear on both sides of the truck.
Due to the disqualification, Corey Heim was named the winner of the race, which marks the driver's 12th career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, and it came in his 65th career start.
"It's my first time having this kind of scenario happening, either way. Certainly glad to be on the right side of it," Heim said in his post-race press conference. "It sucks for Parker and those guys. They seemed like they obviously put themselves in position at the right time to win the race, but, obviously there's another level to it after the race."
While the win came by way of an inspection failure by Kligerman's team, Heim says while he would prefer to win the race on the track, that it's still cool to get a win at Daytona.
"It's certainly not as thrilling as winning the race on the racetrack, but I don't know. I've been on the wrong side of it several times in my Late Model career, but its cool to kind of get a big win like that, I guess," Heim explained.
For those wondering, the 22-year-old does plan to celebrate the win despite inheriting by way of a disqualification to his competitor.
"Yeah, I'd say so," Heim said. "We won, right? Wouldn't you celebrate?"
It's hard to say which was wilder, the unexpected disqualification of the initial winner of the race or the chaotic finish itself.
Coming to the white flag, it looked like it would be a drag race between Kligerman and polesitter Ben Rhodes, as they were side-by-side for the race lead. However, coming off of Turn 2 Rhodes lost all of his momentum, and Kligerman shot out to the lead all by himself.
But Rhodes would get one last charge in the form of a massive bump draft from Layne Riggs, who was being shoved by an entire line of drivers behind him. The contact sent Rhodes sideways, and he collided into the side of his ThorSport Racing teammate, Johnny Sauter, who was running in the runner-up spot.
As Rhodes and Sauter spun into the infield grass, all hell broke loose on the track when Tanner Gray skidded into the apron in Turn 3 and lost control of his No. 15 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra. Riggs would also catch the side of Gio Ruggiero's No. 17 truck, which would send him spinning. In the end, a massive wad of trucks piled into each other in Turn 4.
As Kligerman was charging to the finish line, he was being chased down by a hard-charging Corey Heim, but Kligerman was able to maintain the lead as the caution lights illuminated around the 2.5-mile speedway and appeared to secure the victory, his first ever at Daytona International Speedway.
Parker Kligerman wins the Truck Series race at Daytona! pic.twitter.com/mUUYToAySi
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 15, 2025
However, post-race inspection changed everything.
Ruggiero, a Rookie of the Year contender, would come home in second while defending series champion Ty Majeski finished third, Grant Enfinger ended the night in fourth, and NASCAR Cup Series regular Justin Haley finished fifth.
Chandler Smith would be credited with a sixth-place finish in the wild ending, and he was followed through the smokescreen by Daniel Hemric, Jason White, William Sawalich, and Frankie Muniz who was the final driver to finish inside the top 10.
Muniz, the star of Malcolm in the Middle, piled into a lot of the carnage on the final lap but was able to keep his foot on the gas and cross the finish line with his career-best finish. Muniz is set to compete for Rookie of the Year as the driver of the No. 33 Ford F-150 for the Reaume Brothers Racing team.
For Muniz's Reaume Brothers Racing team, it was a banner night as the organization had two of its trucks inside the top-10, and all three of their Fords finished inside the top-20 as team owner Josh Reaume piloted the No. 2 entry to an 18th-place finish.
Next up for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a date with the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend. That race is set to take place on Saturday, February 22. FS1 will provide the television broadcast for the event, and coverage will kick off at 1:30 PM ET.
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Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.