Parker Kligerman will not race full-time after 2024
Parker Kligerman will not race full-time in NASCAR after his tenure with Big Machine Racing comes to an end after this season.
Kligerman announced this on his podcast, “The Money Lap”, then released a statement on social media Thursday.
Kligerman made the Xfinity Series playoffs last year and is on track to make it this year. Driving the No. 48 Chevrolet for Big Machine Racing, he has 12 Top-5 finishes and 29 Top-10 finishes in 57 starts.
This is his first full-time tenure since racing the full NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2013. In 2013, he earned three Top-5s and 13 Top-10s and finished ninth in points before the program shut down.
That year with KBM came between two pivotal points in his career.
The first was in mid-2012. After being in the Penske Racing pipeline for several years, even earning a pole in his first career Xfinity Series start in 2009, Parker Kligerman moved to Red Horse Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series. Finally, in October 2012, he broke through at Talladega for his first NASCAR win.
The other pivotal point was in 2014. Kligerman tried his hand at the Cup Series with Swan Motorsports but the team folded after eight races.
From 2015-2022, Kligerman made 20 Cup Series starts, five Xfinity Series starts and 61 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts. Along the way, he picked up two wins with Henderson Motorsports – at Talladega in Oct. 2017 and Mid-Ohio in July 2022.
When he wasn’t racing, Kligerman did TV and still does some TV. He even became somewhat of a mainstay on pit road for NBC.
Kligerman’s decision then leaves the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet vacant for the 2025 Xfinity Series season. There is no word on who will take over that ride.
Hear Kligerman speak about his decision here:
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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