A lot can happen in one second. On Saturday, (Oct. 12) Parker Kligerman experienced that reality in the most excruciating way. The collective pain of Kligerman and NASCAR fans worldwide could’ve — and should’ve — been avoided.
Kligerman was robbed of his first Xfinity Series win, which would’ve advanced him into the next round of the playoffs and kept his championship run alive. There are at least two ways this incident could’ve been handled by race control that would’ve been superior to what unfolded.
Throughout the weekend, Kligerman didn’t have the speed of eventual race winner Sam Mayer or heavy favorite Shane van Gisbergen, but what he lacked in raw speed he gained in grit and execution. Kligerman started last among the playoff drivers, in 22nd. With nine laps remainig, Kligerman overtook SVG for the lead on fresher tires and tried like hell to get away.
On the second-to-last lap, Kligerman continued to hold off the charging Mayer, who had made several attempts to get around the No. 48. Coming to the white flag, Kligerman appeared to cross the start finish line just before a caution came out for Leland Honeyman, who had suffered a flat tire and got buried by the tire barrier.
Now, a caution one second after taking the white flag wouldn’t be an ideal way to finish a race, but it’s so much better than what happened next. The CW booth thought it was a done deal. Kligerman had taken the white, and with caution coming out, he was going to win as long as he could ease the car back to the line.
“Before the caution came out, it looks as through the white was in the air,” Rick Allen said on the broadcast. “He crossed the start finish line, and that would mean Parker Kligerman wins his first Xfinity Series race!”
Steve Letarte then attempted to dissect the evidence, and did not improve the situation in his effort.
“I don’t see a caution light,” he said. “… Still no caution light, he’s clearly over the line, caution light comes on.”
Letarte then seemed to try to rationalize the call that was being made and couldn’t even believe what was coming out of his own mouth.
“This is gonna sound crazy,” Letarte said. “There is a delay between hitting the button and [when] the lights come on….
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