Parker Kligerman‘s NASCAR Cup Series career is fairly limited with just twenty-nine starts since 2019, all of which were with part-time or smaller Toyota teams. On Sunday, he will pilot a Next Gen Ford Mustang for the first time as he takes over the #15 Rick Ware Racing machine at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
“Funny enough this probably started w/ Rick & I having a convo at an IMSA race,” Kligerman quipped on Twitter. He currently works as an IMSA analyst for NBC, while RWR fields an Acura in IMSA’s WeatherTech Sprint Cup. “Really pumped to finally get some Next Gen experience & hopefully have a successful weekend for the 15 guys”.
Kligerman competes part-time in the Camping World Truck Series for Henderson Motorsports, for whom he has raced since 2016. He is running a thirteen-race schedule with the team in 2022, which includes all three road course events and four playoff dates, and his best race finish to date is fourth at Bristol Dirt. He won the 2017 Talladega race for Henderson.
The 31-year-old also did a one-off in the Xfinity Series as a road course ringer for Emerling-Gase Motorsports, finishing twelfth at Circuit of the Americas.
After an aborted 2014 rookie campaign with Swan Racing upon its closure, Kligerman did not return to the Cup Series until 2018 with part-time operation Gaunt Brothers Racing. His best career finish is fifteenth at the Daytona 500 and Talladega in 2019. Kligerman returned to GBR for the 2021 fall Kansas date, placing twentieth.
Gateway is a new addition to the Cup schedule, and Kligerman has never raced there in the Trucks despite its presence on the calendar since 2014. However, he qualified Brad Keselowski‘s #22 Xfinity car at the track in 2010 while Keselowski was at Martinsville for Cup qualifying. A similar approach is being taken by Kaulig Racing for Sunday’s race as Ben Rhodes will qualify the #16 Cup car while A.J. Allmendinger is in Portland for the Xfinity race.