Youngster triumphs at Kentucky in ARCA action

Two-and-a-half weeks ago at the media preview day, ARCA vet Frank Kimmel called him, “the real deal.” On Saturday evening 18-year old Parker Kligerman (pronounced Klee-ger-man) proved Kimmel right by winning the “Click it or Ticket! Buckle Up Kentucky 150”.

But it wasn’t easy.

It took a last lap, last corner pass for Kligerman to take the win. “That last ten laps was one heck of a race,” he said. “I didn’t think we could get him.” Kligerman battled with fellow rookie Grant Enfinger for laps and laps, trading the lead as Kligerman’s black #77 battled side by side with Enfinger’s red and black #83.

Enfinger held the high line and Kligerman battled low all around the 1.5 mile oval in Sparta, Kentucky. The kept the fans who stuck around after the earlier NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event on the edge of their seats.

“We are a very low budget team, just stringing parts and pieces of this car together to try and make it work and a finish like this really means a lot,” Enfinger said after the race.

James Enfinger on pit road after the race. Even he was surprised that he held off Kligerman for as long as he did

He led 38 laps, make it 38 and 3/4ths as he led Kligerman into turn three for the final time. Kligerman didn’t give up, didn’t give in, and was able to hold it under the #83, which got too tight and nearly hit the wall. “The last corner of the last lap I went into there with the mentality that it would either be wreckers or checkers,” Kligerman said. “And it was checkers so that was nice.”

Kligerman celebrates in Victory Lane with his team

Enfinger knew he’d have to try a “banzai” move to get his car to victory lane with the hard charging Kligerman behind him. “I knew I would only have one more chance so I backed down a little bit and then I got back into the gas, and it just didn't stick,” he said.

Kligerman pitted with 62 to go to get fuel and tires and restarted 15th before picking his way through the field, methodically at times, to get back to the front. “At a lot of these mile and a halfs you get a lot of aero-push in these cars,” he said, mentioning that when he got in traffic his car was tough to handle.

Parker Kligerman won at Kentucky, claiming his fifth win in the past six ARCA races

Kligerman is on a tear in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. He has won five out of the last six events. The Westport, Connecticut native isn’t the only young guy from the New England area to notch a win at Kentucky this season. Joey Logano, of Middletown, Connecticut—about an hour north of Kligerman’s hometown—won the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Kentucky in mid-June.

So, what’s his secret to success? “My team,” Kligerman said. “I know that sounds so cliché but it’s my team. They make my job easy.” Sound familiar Mark Martin fans? Maybe this kid is the next ‘up and comer.’

When I mentioned to Kligerman that Kimmel selected him as the next big thing, he looked surprised, and noted, “I look up to him so that’s very nice to hear. To hear that from a guy with his experience that’s just cool. Hopefully it doesn’t go to your head or anything, you know?”

Kimmel on Kligerman: "He’s a very smart, a very talented young man. I can see him going pretty good"

With his experience and speed on the track, it might only be a few years before we’re talking about Parker Kligerman in the big leagues. After all, the inaugural truck race at Kentucky was won by Greg Biffle. Four years later Carl Edwards won in a Jack Roush Ford, and Joey Logano has won back-to-back Nationwide Series events at Kentucky.

But even more surprising than that is the list of winners in ARCA races at Kentucky. Ryan Newman won in 2000. Kyle Busch won in 2003, and not counting last night’s event, the previous seven winners have all moved into the NASCAR ranks including James Buescher (May 2009), Scott Speed (July 2008), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (May 2008), Michael McDowell (July 2007), Erik Darnell (May 2007), Brad Coleman (July 2006) and Steve Wallace (May 2006).

If the youth movement at Kentucky is anything to think about, then it might only be a year before we see the young Kligerman racing in a truck or a Nationwide Series vehicle. And, who knows, we might even see him in a Cup ride.