“The first one still counts”: Parker Kligerman gets honest about his 2 Daytona wins this year despite no official record

Parker Kligerman has taken the checkered flag two times this year, but the race win has not been credited to him on both occasions. Subsequently, he was asked by the media about the tally in his mind in relation to his Daytona race wins this year. The 35-year-old quickly pointed out that his Truck series race win, despite being disqualified, still counts.

The Westport-born driver announced last year that he had retired from full-time racing and would only make one-off appearances in 2025. His first race start since then came at the Daytona International Speedway, a race that he won in the preliminary results.

However, just an hour later, after the race's conclusion, his truck was deemed illegal for having a low rear ride height, allowing Corey Heim to inherit the race win. This meant that Kligerman was snubbed of a race victory at the start of the year, a trend that followed him into Daytona yet again, this time in the Xfinity Series.

While he wasn't disqualified this time, his race win was credited to Connor Zilisch, as he was a relief driver. With both race wins not being registered under his name in the record books, Parker Kligerman was asked by Bob Pockrass about the win tally that he claimed this year in his mind, to which he responded by asserting that his first win stands to this day in his eyes:

"In my mind, oh two, I got two. The first one still counts in my mind and we don't have to get no sour grapes, but this is a happy moment. I got two right now. I feel it. I got two checkered flags right now, and that's good for me."

Moreover, this would have been Parker Kligerman's maiden race win in the Xfinity series after 122 race starts, if the win wasn't credited to Connor Zilisch.

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Parker Kligerman opens up about the role of Justin Allgaier in acing his JRM debut

Parker Kligerman's sudden plan to participate in the Wawa 250 led to some rushed preparations. During this, Justin Allgaier helped him by giving him a brief on how to handle the JRM Chevy.

The 35-year-old had then played the team game in the race, as he aimed to return the favor to the No. 7 driver, as he said (via NASCAR's official website):

"He played a very, very big role in getting this done as a teammate. I was like hey man you got a friend in me in pushing it, and I don’t think he really believed me. I was like, ‘No, I truly mean it.’ Then we got late in Stage 3, and we were at the top, and I didn’t want to leave Justin hanging and so it kind of stuck us in second when we probably could have got the lead."

Kligerman is slated to continue his pit reporter role in the meantime, as Zilisch plans to return to compete in the Portland race in full capacity.