Parker Kligerman’s appeal has been heard and unfortunately rejected. Initially, Kligerman was declared the winner of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Daytona on Friday, Feb. 14, a moment he described as “the biggest win of my entire life.” However, soon after, the CW Xfinity Series analyst was disqualified when his truck failed a post-race inspection, being deemed “too low in the rear.” Consequently, Corey Heim was declared the winner.
Kligerman, believing he had a “very, very valid case,” appealed. However, the appeal was rejected on Thursday night. Heather Williams from WCYB provided details on the appeal from Kligerman’s Henderson Motorsports team and the reasoning behind its rejection. “Henderson Motorsports argued that the rear end was too low because inspectors instructed the team to raise the front of the truck higher than necessary to pass inspection,” Williams wrote. The team contended that if allowed to lower the front end by the inch of tolerance they were over, the rear end would have been compliant. Nevertheless, the appeals panel, comprising Langley Speedway owner Bill Mullis, Greenville Pickens owner Kevin Whitakar, and former team engineer Tommy Wheeler, concluded that “it is more likely than not a rules violation did occur and the disqualification penalties in 10.5.4 necessitate a race disqualification.”
Following the decision, Kligerman took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his feelings and promised more insights on The Money Lap podcast with Landon Cassill. “Thank you all for the support,” he said. “This has been one of the hardest weeks of my racing life. I worked with the team 24/7 on the appeal since Saturday night. The truck raced legal and won legal. Due to an unfortunate circumstance in tech, it was measured at an improper height that made the rear low by 1/8 inch on the LR and 1/4 inch on the RR. I will go into full details with my buddy @landoncassill on @themoneylap podcast next week.”
Thank you all for the support. This has been one of the hardest weeks of my racing life. I worked with the team 24/7 on the appeal since Saturday night.
The truck raced legal. And won legal.
Due to an unfortunate circumstance in tech. It was measured at an improper height that… pic.twitter.com/zpb4h4PhjL
— Parker Kligerman (@pkligerman) February 21, 2025
“I still have the checkered flag,” Kligerman added.
