Parker Kligerman Holds Off Zane Smith, Wins Truck Race at Mid-Ohio

Parker Kligerman won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Saturday (July 9).

Kligerman held off strong runs from Zane Smith in the final few laps to claim his third career victory.

The No. 75 Henderson Motorsports driver also won the $50,000 bonus in the Triple Truck Challenge.

”It’s hard to put into words,” Kligerman told FOX Sports after the race. “I was really emotional on the cool down lap because this whole team, it’s like a team of second chances. Two years ago, I thought my driving days were done. This team gave me a call, wanting to get back racing. It’s been a steady improvement throughout throughout. …

“It’s unbelievable when you put a talented group of humans together what they can achieve. We were doing this on an absolute fraction of what the two trucks we were up against. And we won at Mid-Ohio, a road course! Finally a road course win! I started in road courses, I came into NASCAR thinking, ‘Oh, that will be easy.’ It’s taken me more than a decade to get a win, but finally we’re here.”

Retweet to congratulate Parker Kligerman on his NASCAR Truck Series WIN at Mid-Ohio! pic.twitter.com/UY2AFvb93y

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) July 9, 2022

Smith spoke after the race about his battle with Kligerman:

.@zanesmith77: "It was gonna be hard for me to wreck the guy who pushed me to my Daytona win." #NASCAR

— Chris Knight (@Knighter01) July 9, 2022

Carson Hocevar was third, Stewart Friesen fourth and Christian Eckes rounded out the top five.

Parker Kligerman took the lead from polesitter Corey Heim on lap 4, shortly before Lawless Alan briefly went off-track. A few other trucks had trouble as well; first, Mason Filippi‘s No. 46 truck stalled off the racing surface, bringing out the caution. He got it back rolling, though, and the race restarted.

But during those first few laps, Heim reported a loss of power in his truck too. He kept going, eventually entering the top 10.

Another one lost power after the restart: Matt DiBenedetto. However, he, too, got back rolling, and the race stayed green.

A couple of laps later, Tyler Young stalled after coming out of pit road, bringing out the yellow flag once again. This left a one-lap shootout for stage one points, with Kligerman earning his second career stage win.

Stage two went relatively clean as far as cautions go, but Ben Rhodes had engine issues and went to pit road. John Hunter Nemechek also had trouble, as smoke appeared out of the back of his No. 4 truck. His team repaired the issue and sent him back out in stage three, 11 laps down.

At the front of the field, Zane Smith hounded Kligerman for the race lead all throughout stage two. The No. 38 got alongside the No. 75 on the stage’s final lap and finally got ahead to take the lead and stage two victory.

After the modified pit stops, Kligerman was able to retake first place from Zane in the final stage. But all heck broke loose, as more and more drivers encountered issues in stage three.

First, Justin Marks spun around with 21 laps to go, though no harm was done and he got it back in gear. Then Dylan Lupton had significant rear-end damage after he hit the tires in turn 7.

Soon after, Marks again had a problem, but this time it was no brakes. On lap 51, his No. 41 went hard in the tire barrier in turn 4, leaving him out of the race.

Not how he wanted his day to end.@JustinMarksTH got out of his truck under his own power. pic.twitter.com/BkRkpCYlLs

— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) July 9, 2022

And as the saying goes, cautions breed cautions. Just after the race restarted on lap 55, Austin Wayne Self spun around in traffic. Jack Wood got into Self, while Blaine Perkins had nowhere to go and ran smack into Wood’s No. 24.

Once the race went back to green, Zane Smith was able to get in front of Kligerman for the lead, while Heim followed through. Carson Hocevar went from second to fourth in that sequence.

But the spins and cautions were far from over, as Chase Purdy got punted off track in the Carousel. He got back to rolling and went down to pit road.

And as the laps wound down, Heim’s truck broke while he was in second, leaving him stopped on the track and out of the race.

After the restart, though, Kligerman got alongside Smith, eventually getting out in front of the No. 38. He defended well and won the race.

Zane Smith, Nemechek, Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen, Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes and Hocevar have all clinched spots in the playoffs. Just two spots remain heading into the final race of the regular season.

Truck Results from Mid-Ohio

The trucks take on Pocono Raceway for their final race of the regular season. It will air on July 23 at 12 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.