This week, longtime driver and reporter Parker Kligerman announced that he would not be pursuing a full-time ride in 2025.
To clarify, that does not mean that Kligerman won’t be behind the wheel of anything next season. The Big Machine Racing driver said that he does plan on making appearances in a part-time role throughout the 2025 season.
Kligerman made the announcement on his The Money Lap podcast and explained, albeit cryptically, his reasoning behind leaving the sport in a full-time driving capacity as he recounted his weekend spent at Portland International Raceway for this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
“I went for a run, and this will sound wildly cliché, but (I) went for a run and ended up on the top of this mountain and I just had this moment where I said to myself, ‘I think I’m good,'” Kligerman said on the show. “Like, ‘I think I want to finish this year out and see what’s next.'”
Those who are not tuned into the Xfinity Series will remember Kligerman as a pit road reporter and analyst from NASCAR Cup Series races. However, Kligerman’s departure means a bit more here.
Any time that a driver decides to hang them up is a bittersweet day. It means that, much like a young man growing up in Mississippi who cried when he found out that Tony Stewart was retiring or that David Pearson had passed away, someone’s favorite driver will no longer be there.
Kligerman did not become a staple in the sport for making his way to victory lane every other weekend or by not giving a shit what others thought of him. He made a name for himself in the sport by making sure everyone knew that he would do whatever it took to stick around, whether it was behind the wheel or on the mic.
It means that another driver who simply could not get the funding or the right opportunity in the right car is moving on to their next venture. The talent has never been a question — just look at 2024. Kligerman has four top-five finishes on the year and a plethora of top 10s. Where does that stack up against the competition? Well, Brandon Jones still has a ride for next season, and he’s only made it into the top five once this year.
That’s not saying that Jones doesn’t deserve a ride for next season; that’s a topic for another day. Simply put, it’s saying that a damn good driver who’s taken what used to be a mediocre team to higher tiers of the series is hanging it up, and that’s sad no matter how you slice it.
What’s next for Kligerman, then? He hinted at more broadcast opportunities in the future on the same podcast, along with making it known that he really wants to run the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Lime Rock Park next season.
However, the most likely destination for Kligerman is a broadcasting career, although it may not even be in NASCAR. The Westport, Conn., native talks regularly about motorsport outside of stock car racing. Could Kligerman be gearing up to join a Formula 1 talent crew? The NTT IndyCar Series? Something entirely out of left field?
Who knows? As far as driving goes, Kligerman has ran just about every car that NASCAR can produce. He’s triumphed in the ARCA Menards Series and the Truck Series. That elusive Cup ride probably isn’t coming, and with the announcement, full-time Xfinity driving is out the window. Expect to see him make guest appearances all over the NASCAR schedule next year, but as with any racing driver, it’s always hard to get rid of that itch.
For all fans know, Kligerman could be in a rally car halfway across the world this time next year, and if he is, the numbers say he’ll probably somewhere near the front when the dust settles.
Tanner Marlar is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated’s OnSI Network, a contributor for TopSpeed.com, an AP Wire reporter, an award-winning sports columnist and talk show host and master's student at Mississippi State University. Soon, Tanner will be pursuing a PhD. in Mass Media Studies. Tanner began working with Frontstretch as an Xfinity Series columnist in 2022.