By David Morgan, Associate Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – JR Motorsports went to the bullpen on Friday night in Daytona, swapping in Parker Kligerman for a still healing Connor Zilisch, with Kligerman taking the No. 88 Chevrolet to the win in the Wawa 250.
Two weeks after Zilisch slipped and fell off his car in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen, breaking his collarbone in the process, the 19-year-old was back behind the wheel at Daytona, but only to start the race and get the points.
After dropping to the back of the field at the start of the race, the current Xfinity Series points leader and six-time winner on the season would make the first 13 circuits before weather brought out the first caution – and eventually a nearly 40-minute-long red flag – where the two would make the driver exchange and Kligerman took over the driving duties for the remainder of the evening.
Kligerman would lead two laps at the beginning of Stage 2, but solidified himself as a contender inside of 30 laps to go when he fell in behind Ryan Sieg, challenging for the race lead as the laps wound down.
Lining up ahead of JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier on a restart with six laps remaining in regulation, Kligerman got the push he needed to jump into the lead, which he would not relinquish for the rest of the race.
A crash with four laps to go in regulation would push the race into overtime, where on a superspeedway anything and everything can happen to derail a race for the driver leading at the time.
Once again, it was a shove from Allgaier that got Kligerman clear into the lead, but by the time the field got to the backstretch, he would have to defend both Allgaier on the low lane and Austin Hill on the high lane.
By the time they reached Turn 3, it was a JRM 1-2-3 with Kligerman, Allgaier, and Sammy Smith leading the charge.
A half lap later, on the backstretch for the final lap, Kligerman was secure into the lead with his JRM teammates flanking him when a crash broke out, bringing out the yellow flag and ending the race. Rolling back around to the checkered flag, Kligerman crossed the line to capture the win.
Although Zilisch will be credited with the win in the record books, it was a win of redemption for Kligerman, who fought tooth and nail to try and win in the Xfinity Series while racing full-time up until last season, as well as having a win in the Truck Series taken away for an inspection issue back in February.
“It’s different in every way because I didn’t expect to get a call from Dale Jr. on a day I was leaving to go on vacation and say ‘Hey man, would you come drive this thing?’
“Obviously, hate the circumstances for Connor, he’s an amazing, generational talent and I feel honored to have gotten the call and grace the seat that he’s been in, that Kyle Larson has been in,” Kligerman said of the win on Saturday matching his expectations.
“I knew I had to hold up my end of the bargain. Thank you to Justin Allgaier. Man, he was a real teammate. We go way back. That meant a lot. And Sammy Smith at the end gave me some great pushes, so that helped a ton. Great testament to this team. The 88 team has been on fire all year.
“But for me, it’s such a me thing that this will not be on record books, not on Racing Reference at all. Still gonna count it as a win, still gonna take the checkered flag. We get the check of course.
“This is just really cool. And to do it with a guy who younger me would ever thought I’d get to speak to him, let alone drive one of his race cars is just a dream come true.”
Coming home in second place, Allgaier explained that as soon as he saw Kligerman clear into the lead, he knew his chances of being able to get back to him were all but over.
Nonetheless, it’s a momentum builder for the team as a whole with the regular season in the Xfinity Series winding down, with now only two races remaining until the Playoffs and Allgaier still in the battle for the regular season championship.
“I don’t know if I led the lap at the white flag, but I was pretty close to it. And then just, I looked in the mirror as soon as we got to [Turn] 1 and I kind of knew I was screwed There was a big gap behind me and not behind him,” said Allgaier.
“So, I’m proud of the company, I think to bring JR Motorsports here, to have a 1, 2, 3 to execute the way that we did.
“I mean we did a great job all night, I felt like of helping each other and pushing each other to be where they need to be at. And ultimately one of us won. We’ll come home runner-up and be proud of what we haven’t been able to accomplish this summer. We’ve had fast race cars time and time again and we haven’t been able to have the solid finishes and show for, so now we got ’em.”
Following the three JRM cars to the line was Jesse Love in fourth and Sam Mayer in fifth. The remainder of the top 10 finishers were Brandon Jones, Dean Thompson, Garrett Smithley, Brennan Poole, and Carson Kvapil.
Ryan Sieg led a race-high 19 laps, but was involved in a multi-car crash with three laps to go in regulation, relegating him from being a contender for the win to a 31st place finish.
The Xfinity Series heads to the Pacific Northwest next weekend to take on Portland International Raceway.
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