2013.
That’s how long it had been since Parker Kligerman was a full-time driver in NASCAR’s top three divisions.
In that season, he ran the full NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He then moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series full time with Swan Racing in 2014, but the team shut its doors after eight races; he hadn’t found a full-time ride since.
Until now.
Kligerman had made Henderson Motorsports his home in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since 2017 with an annual part-time schedule in the team’s No. 75 truck. He won at Talladega Superspeedway the same year for his second win in the series, and he followed it up with a dominant third win at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last July.
With a small team that was famous for having only one full-time employee, Kligerman led over 83% of the race and held off the eventual Truck Series champion Zane Smith in the final laps to win.
And it was a win that got the attention of Scott Borchetta and his team Big Machine Racing.
Kligerman ran at Talladega in the team’s No. 48 Xfinity car last October, finishing sixth. He was then announced as the team’s full-time driver for 2023. It took 10 years and driving for nine different teams, but he was finally back with a full-time gig.
And when I met with Kligerman at Auto Club Speedway on Feb. 25, he said that he, at times, still finds the opportunity hard to believe.
“It’s funny, I’ve at times in the last two weeks remarked that it’s kind of surreal to be doing this,” Kligerman told Frontstretch. “I’ve wanted it, and it’s something I’ve been toward trying to get to. But now that it’s finally here, it’s just sort of surreal at times that I’m racing every week, and we’re racing for points and we’re racing for a championship.”
Kligerman came out the gates hot, qualifying on the outside pole at Daytona International Speedway before falling to a 23rd-place result. He followed it up with his first top 10 of the season at Auto Club. This past week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kligerman got spun early by John Hunter Nemechek but rebounded to finish 11th, putting him 10th in points.
“I feel like over the offseason, I just did a lot of work with my race team, but also personally and mentally for how I was approaching this and what has made me successful in the last couple years part time and then applying that to…
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