Parker Kligerman loses appeal of Daytona disqualification
CONCORD, N.C. — An appeals panel upheld NASCAR’s decision to disqualify Parker Kligerman from the Craftsman Truck Series race he initially won at Daytona.
NASCAR disqualified Kligerman and his No. 75 Henderson Motorsports team for heights that were too low on each side of the rear of the truck. As a result, second-place finisher Corey Heim collected the win.
In response, the team said they would appeal. Kligerman emphasized he and the team had a very clear case to make for NASCAR and couldn’t comment on it yet.
“Biggest win of my life. Thank you all for the wonderful messages. Over 700 texts. I will not be commenting any further until we are able to present what I believe is a very, very valid case,” Kligerman said.
Overturning a disqualification, or any penalty, has always been rare — but it has happened. In fact, Matt Crafton’s team successfully appealed the same penalty Kligerman received at Darlington in May 2022.
However, the appeals panel stated Thursday, “The panel confirms it is more likely than not a rules violation did occur and the disqualification penalties in Rule 10.5.2.4 necessitate a race disqualification,” in response to Kligerman and Henderson’s case.
Henderson Motorsports issued a statement on social media, expressing their disappointment with the decision:
“Unfortunately, we have lost our appeal regarding our disqualification from last week’s race in Daytona. While we feel that we had a very strong case, we respect the panel’s decision. We’d again like to thank all the fans for their support. We’ve shown that we can compete, and we’ll be back. See you all in Bristol!”
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ race at Bristol Motor Speedway – and Henderson Motorsports’ next race – is scheduled for April 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com