Even though he won’t get the credit in the history books for his work, Parker Kligerman earned his moment at Daytona International Speedway once again. Under the lights in Friday’s (Aug 22) NASCAR Xfinity Series race, he led 12 laps, including the final 10 to take the win.
After the Big One struck with just three laps remaining, Kligerman lined up on the front row to attempt to hang onto the win from a hungry field. Luckily, Kiligerman was in the presence of two JR Motorsports teammates in Justin Allgaier and Sammy Smith. While normally this ends in Dale Jr. being disappointed after his entire team gets swept up in an accident, that was not what was in the cards.
Instead, the trio held on to secure an all-JRM top three, with Smith in second and Allgaier in third. The rest of the top five was rounded out by Jesse Love and Sam Mayer, who were both constant players up front for most of the night.
The Winners
Well, Connor Zilisch, of course! Kligerman scoring the win was a moral victory and redemption for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season opener, but it was equally as big for Zilisch in a weird way. Since Zilisch still gets the credit for the points, this could be the difference in him locking up the regular-season title in a few weeks.
Allgaier also deserves to be mentioned here because he turned the corner on a bad stretch of races the last couple of weeks. This comes at a perfect time, too, since he isn’t letting the No. 88 run away from him in the standings when it comes to the regular season championship.
The carnage in the race allowed a laundry list of underdogs to score fantastic finishes. Dean Thompson, Garrett Smithley and Brennan Poole all snagged top 10s. Meanwhile, the top 15 saw drivers like Ryan Ellis, Patrick Emerling, Blaine Perkins and Mason Maggio emerge into the limelight.
The Losers
Parker Retzlaff really can’t catch a break when it comes to poor finishes. Most of the time, they fall under two categories: a wreck not of his doing or a mechanical failure. Just like earlier this year at Talladega Superspeedway, the No. 4 suffered a failure early that took them out of the running before anything got down to business.
The two biggest losers leaving Daytona are Jeb Burton and Ryan Sieg. When it looked dire and downright miserable for Harrison Burton after a spin early down the backstretch, it looked like Jeb and Sieg were going to have a golden opportunity to pounce back into the bubble battle. Instead, the pair left with wrecked racecars and an even bigger gap to the younger of the Burton cousins.
Fuel for Thought
If Zilisch ends up hoisting the championship trophy at Phoenix Raceway, it will be the most legendary season of all time. Think about it. He’s a rookie who would have overcome getting hurt twice, won an ungodly amount of races, had an insane Summer stretch of dominance, and the catalyst for his getting the crucial playoff points from the regular season title would be an assist from one of the TV analysts for his series.
It’s not a secret that Zilisch is going to be something special for this sport, but I don’t think anyone could’ve seen him delivering a season like this as soon as his NASCAR journey is getting started.
Paint Scheme of the Week
There’s really something about pink cars that can grab your attention in a sea of competitors. Smithley’s No. 14 was no exception to that. While it didn’t appear on screen for long at the end, I could almost guarantee you that your eyes darted over to him breifly as he charged through the middle of the pack on the last lap.
Where to Next?
The Xfinity Series will head to the Pacific Northwest to take on Portland International Raceway for whar could be the final time for a while, as it will not return to the schedule next year. Shane van Gisbergen won there last season, but someone else will likely claim victory this time as he will not be there to defend his title. The Pacific Office Automation 147 will be held on Saturday, August 30, at 7:30 p.m. ET with coverage on The CW.
