Charlotte N.C. (June 6, 2011) – After spending much of the race in the top-five, Parker Kligerman had to settle for an 11th place finish in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway Saturday afternoon. Kligerman, who started from the seventh position on the grid in his Penske Truck Rental Ram, ran as high as second-place, and raced into the top-three on several occasions. Kligerman fell back from the fifth position in the final 15 laps of the race to finish in the 11th position.
“As strong as the Brad Keselowski Racing #29 ran all day, I am really disappointed to not come home in the top-three”, said Kligerman. “We had a great truck all day long. I’m not sure what happened on that last run, but we just got really tight. We broke the splitter a little and that may have been just enough. I want to thank everyone on this Penske Truck Rental crew for giving me such a strong truck today”.
Kligerman was quick to move into the top-five on the second lap of the race, and except for green flag pit sequencing, he would run there all race long. Although he did not solidify a top-five finishing position, it was still a good day in the championship for Kligerman and BKR, as they moved up one position in the points to eighth, and finished in front of Rookie of the Year points leader, Cole Whitt, made the disappointment of missing out on a top-10 a little easier to accept.
The Brad Keselowski Racing team will now turn its attention to Texas Motor Speedway where Kligerman made his Camping World Truck Series debut last season starting 13th and finishing ninth. A good run at Texas will continue to move Kligerman up the standings, and into contention for the championship.
“I can’t wait to get back to Texas, where I did my first truck race last season, and I am confident we will have a strong run in this Penske Truck Rental Ram. We are bringing the same truck we ran at Kansas, and I am hoping to challenge for a top-five again”, said Kligerman. “I am still focused on competing for the championship, and the BKR team continues to get stronger each race we run”.
The Camping World Truck Series will tackle the 1.5 mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway in the Winstar World Casino 400 on Friday, June 10th at 9:00 EST on SPEEDTV.
