Parker Kligerman may be a popular television race commentator but, he reminded the NASCAR world that he is a race car driver by winning Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in a late race battle with Zane Smith.
Ultimately, Kligerman held off the three-time race winner Smith – the two crossing the line side-by-side with Kligerman’s No. 75 Henderson Racing Chevrolet taking a .119-second margin of victory in a race that concluded with all the drama expected of a road course event.
Smith – who won at Circuit of the Americas and finished runner-up at both Sonoma and Mid-Ohio – takes a great consolation prize with his second-place finish Saturday. He heads into the regular season finale in two weeks now only two points away from earning the 2022 regular season Camping World Truck Series championship.
Saturday’s victory is the third career series win for Kligerman and first since 2017. And he becomes the series’ 17th consecutive different winner on a road course.
“It’s hard to put into words (what this means), I was pretty emotional on the cool-down lap because this whole team it’s like a team of second chances,” said an absolutely elated Kligerman of his small team.
“Two years ago, I thought my driving days were done. This team gave me a call, wanting to get back racing and it’s just been a steady improvement.”
“It’s just unbelievable when you put a talented group of humans together, what they achieve,’’ Kligerman said of his Henderson Racing team, which employs only one fulltime crew member. “And we’re doing this on absolutely a fraction of the trucks we run against.
“This is a small team that ‘could,’ but we’re not a small team that doesn’t win,’’ Kligerman shouted turning toward the crowd. “We win.”
Marietta, Georgia’s Corey Heim was making it a three-truck contest for the trophy, going wheel to wheel with Kligerman and Smith for what would have been an extra $150,000 Triple Truck Challenge bonus for him when his Toyota suddenly lost power. That brought out the seventh caution period of the day and left the trophy to be decided in a frantic three-lap sprint by Kligerman and Smith, who each won a stage.
Kligerman, who led a race best 56 of the 67 laps -also earned a $50,000 bonus for his win in the third and final round of the Triple Truck Challenge.
Carson Hocevar finished third with Stewart Friesen and Christian Eckes rounding out the top five. Chandler Smith, Kaz Grala, Derek Kraus and Shelby Howard finished sixth through ninth with Hailie Deegan earning a 10th place finish – her first top 10 of the 2022 season.
Mid-Ohio was especially tough for race favorites and championship contenders. John Hunter Nemechek, who entered the race trailing Smith by only 21 points in the standings was still hoping to race for his second consecutive Camping World Truck Series regular season championship. Instead, Nemechek’s Toyota had mechanical problems about midway through the race.
The Kyle Busch Motorsports team worked on the truck in the garage to repair a problem with third gear. Nemechek returned to the race with only 18 laps remaining and was able to make up enough ground to stay in second place in the standings – tied with Talking Rock, Georgia’s Chandler Smith – but now 58 points behind Zane Smith.
Reigning series champion Ben Rhodes also experienced mechanical problems mid-race and was never able to challenge up front. He finished 23rd.
Drivers Ty Majeski (12th), Eckes (fifth) and Hocevar (third), secured their Playoff berths with their results on Saturday. Ninth place Grant Enfinger and 10th place Matt Crafton still must battle Kraus for Playoff position. The three-time series champion Crafton holds a 19-point advantage over the 20-year old Kraus entering the final regular season race.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Lexington, OH
O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 – July 9, 2022
1. (2) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 67.
2. (13) Zane Smith, Ford, 67.
3. (3) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 67.
4. (19) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 67.
5. (20) Christian Eckes, Toyota, 67.
6. (31) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 67.
7. (17) Kaz Grala, Chevrolet, 67.
8. (23) Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, 67.
9. (30) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 67.
10. (28) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 67.
11. (12) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 67.
12. (21) Ty Majeski, Toyota, 67.
13. (22) Chase Purdy, Toyota, 67.
14. (14) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 67.
15. (10) Taylor Gray, Ford, 67.
16. (35) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 67.
17. (34) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 67.
18. (5) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 67.
19. (6) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 67.
20. (16) Tanner Gray, Ford, 67.
21. (7) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 67.
22. (36) Stephen Mallozzi, Toyota, 67.
23. (15) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 66.
24. (27) Lawless Alan #, Chevrolet, 66.
25. (33) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 65.
26. (1) Corey Heim #, Toyota, Transmission, 60.
27. (29) Dean Thompson #, Chevrolet, 60.
28. (4) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 57.
29. (26) Jack Wood #, Chevrolet, Accident, 54.
30. (25) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, Accident, 54.
31. (8) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, Accident, 49.
32. (9) Dylan Lupton, Chevrolet, Accident, 47.
33. (32) Kenko Miura, Toyota, 42.
34. (11) Connor Mosack, Chevrolet, Brakes, 37.
35. (18) Trey Burke III, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 16.
36. (24) Mason Filippi, Toyota, Engine, 9.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 65.116 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 19 Mins, 24 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.119 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 15 laps.
Lead Changes: 5 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Heim # 1-3;P. Kligerman 4-39;Z. Smith 40-42;P. Kligerman 43-59;Z. Smith 60-64;P. Kligerman 65-67.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Parker Kligerman 3 times for 56 laps; Zane Smith 2 times for 8 laps; Corey Heim # 1 time for 3 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 75,38,4,51,23,98,16,42,41,52
Stage #2 Top Ten: 38,75,51,98,42,23,52,16,02,66
Playoff Standings: 1. Zane Smith – 584 (3 Wins); 2. John Hunter Nemechek – 526 (1 Win); 3. Chandler Smith – 526 (1 Win); 4. Stewart Friesen – 515 (1 Win); 5. Ben Rhodes – 514 (1 Win); 6. Ty Majeski – 503; 7. Christian Eckes – 491; 8. Carson Hocevar – 468; 9. Grant Enfinger – 426; 10. Matt Crafton – 398.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
