NASCAR reporter "honored to help out" Dale Jr.’s JRM as Connor Zilisch returns to racing at Daytona following freak injury

Dale Earnhardt Jr. tapped Parker Kligerman to be on standby for the upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series race for Connor Zilisch. Kligerman was honored to get the call from Dale Jr., noting that opportunities like this don’t come around every day.

Parker Kligerman is a part-time NASCAR driver and reporter for The CW Sports, the sole broadcaster of the Xfinity Series. Dale Jr. called him in case Zilisch couldn't race at Daytona because the 19-year-old is still recovering from the injury sustained after falling from his car in victory lane at Watkins Glen.

Kligerman shared his thoughts on the opportunity to drive the #88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet on X and wrote:

“Not every day you get a call from (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) asking if you can lend a hand for his race team. Honored to help out & thanks to (The CW) for letting me do this. Most of all, I’m happy for (Connor Zilisch) to have such a speedy recovery. The kid is incredible.”

Parker Kligerman

@pkligerman

Not everyday you get a call from @DaleJr asking if you can lend a hand for his race team. Honored to help out & thanks to @TheCW for letting me do this. Most of all, I’m happy for @ConnorZilisch to have such a speedy recovery. The kid is incredible

The Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway is a 100-lap race scheduled for Friday (August 22). If Connor Zilisch wishes not to continue, Parker Kligerman can take over the #88 mid-race. The points will still be given to Zilisch as long as the youngster is the starting driver.

Based on previous outings, Kligerman has had strong finishes at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. He secured two top-5 Xfinity finishes driving the #48 Big Machine Racing in the last two Daytona summer races. Earlier this year, he initially won the Fresh From Florida 250 (Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona), but was disqualified for failing the post-race inspection.

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“You're gambling really starting the year”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. on new rule about Cup drivers entering more Xfinity and Truck races

Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighed in on NASCAR potentially letting Cup drivers run more races in the Xfinity and Truck Series. He acknowledged that while the move could boost entertainment value for fans, it could also impact team finances.

As the JR Motorsports co-owner explained, teams and sponsors budget around expected average finishes. If Cup drivers enter lower-tier races more often, those results may slip, making it harder for teams to plan and meet expectations over the course of a season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said (via Dirty Mo Media on YouTube):

“You're gambling really starting the year to say, ‘Man, I'm gonna run all year and we need to average an 18th, 15th, 12th place finish. I'm going to make this much and I'll spend this much and we should at the end of the day come out ahead or at least flat.’” [1:05:16]

“So you're predicting this sort of result. And so now the team that was maybe going to run eighth to 10th on average throughout the year may run 12th-14th. Now they're making less money. Now they're not able to spend as much. It gets things tighter,” he added.

JR Motorsports currently fields four full-time drivers, including Justin Allgaier (#7), Sammy Smith (#8), Connor Zilisch (#88) and Carson Kvapil (#1). Allgaier, the defending series champion, delivered the team its fourth title last season.