Parker Kligerman loses appeal of Daytona disqualification

Parker Kligerman’s appeal has been heard and rejected.

Kligerman was initially crowned as the winner of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Daytona on Friday, Feb. 14. But shortly after the win, which Kligerman called “the biggest win of my entire life,” the CW Xfinity Series analyst was disqualified after his truck failed a post-race inspection. His car was “too low in the rear” and Corey Heim was declared the winner.

Kligerman appealed, saying that he thought he had a “very, very valid case.” But on Thursday night, that was rejected.

Heather Williams of WCYB detailed both the appeal of Kligerman’s Henderson Motorsports team, as well as the reason it was rejected.

“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 claimed that if they had been allowed to lower the front end by the inch of tolerance they were over, the rear end would not have been too low. However, the appeals panel, consisting of Langley Speedway owner Bill Mullis, Greenville Pickens owner Kevin Whitakar, and former team engineer Tommy Wheeler, ruled that ‘it is more likely than not a rules violation did occur and the disqualification penalties in 10.5.4 necessitate a race disqualification.'”

Kligerman reacted to the decision on X (formerly Twitter) and promised more 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.