Parker Kligerman short of first win in sixth at Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C.- Parker Kligerman could have very well visited Victory Lane for the first time in his Xfinity Series career Saturday at Darlington, but a couple bad breaks left the No. 48 car in line for a sixth-place finish. 

Darlington hasn’t been kind to Kligerman in the Xfinity Series with just one Top-10 in five tries.  He has a Top-5 from the Lady in Black, but that came in the Truck Series. On Saturday, Kligerman started 11th, and remained up front for much of the day. 

He finished fifth in the first stage and third in the second, building up to a great points day, accumulating 14 stage points total. Kligerman’s race, however, would come down to a couple key moments to decide his day. 

A pit gun issue caused him to drop from third to 10th on the pit stop between the second and third stage. 

Hailie Deegan wrecked with 45 laps to go, causing the dilemma for crew chiefs on whether to pit or stay out under caution. Kligerman decided to pit, restarting 25th as the car with the freshest tires. On the restart, The No.48 car was flying, making up ground in seemingly every turn. 

Unfortunately for Kligerman, the race would not go green till the end as Parker Retzlaff brought out the caution. The rest of the 24 cars who didn’t pit went to pit road for tires, including Kligerman, erasing his advantage. 

While it’s no guarantee his advantage would have lasted long enough to catch the leaders, this one is still a tough pill to swallow for Kligerman. 

Kligerman has been quiet for much of the season despite a three race stretch of top-10s, including a top-five at Circuit of the Americas. Saturday could have been a special day, but instead will be used as a momentum builder going forward. 

The Xfinity Series will be off next week before returning to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the BetMGM 300, with the green flag set to fly at 1 p.m. ET.