Parker Kligerman is one of the few active athletes across professional sports who juggles being a full-time competitor and media member. When he’s not a reporter for NBC Sports’ NASCAR coverage, he also drives in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series.
The 33-year-old Kligerman recently just finished fourth in the Xfinity race at Daytona.
He also recently appeared on the Awful Announcing podcast and discussed with AA’s Brandon Contes how he balances his own schedule.
“I don’t know, terribly,” he jokingly quipped. “I would love some advice.”
“What I say to people, I don’t play golf. I don’t have hobbies,” Kligerman said. I’m a racecar driver., a broadcaster and The Money Lap is a small media company. We have a newsletter. We have a podcast. We have employees and contractors. And that is a small start-up operation that would replace the time I think that people would go play golf. For me, I like being in motorsports and I like building brands and being a part of an entity gaining momentum and building something that people want. I love learning about that side of the world. I love being involved.”
But in terms of balancing everything, Kligerman says it’s not that hard. Racing is his priority and broadcasting is right there beside it.
“The two mix really easily together and I’d probably say better than ever, to be honest,” he said. “And then the podcast stuff and Money Lap sort of fill in the gaps before you go play golf and then I have my personal life. It’s a mix for sure, but I won’t do this forever. I don’t think I’ll have this level of a schedule forever, but it’s something that I enjoy, so it’s not work.”
Kligerman abides by the saying: “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
Kligerman has experiences that other reporters do not, though he’s unsure if drivers are more comfortable or more candid with him, considering that he is a driver himself. It certainly adds a different element, that’s for sure.
“I get some of the comments sometimes like, ‘Hey, you should be driving this thing.’ I think that’s kind of fun. The other side of it is sometimes I ask the question and I know they look at me like, ‘Why are you asking this? You know that answer.’ I have to explain, ‘Hey man, I’m not asking for me, I’m asking for the people behind this camera that don’t know.’ I know I know this answer, but it’s not as impactful for me to put words in your mouth or answer it for you. They want to hear from you.”
“That’s always been something that I feel like has been a consistent theme for me. I did see on Reddit the other day, that some fans felt like they actually are more annoyed by me, which I was like, ‘Man, I don’t get that feeling at all.’ TV is so subjective, right? At the end of the day, it’s humans talking to other humans.”
Kligerman said that he takes all feedback with a grain of salt.
“My guiding light is this: I simply think, what did nine-year-old Parker, watching Speedvision, want to know?” Kligerman asked. “And I feel like if it’s something that I wanted to know, then it’s probably the right path. It’s just that simple for me because I was an absolutely obsessed person with motorsports at nine years old that there was probably nothing over the next 10 years that I didn’t consume in terms of content, on Speedvision, Speed (TV Network) and in magazine and book form. If that kid can feel like, ‘Oh, man, that’s cool. I’m glad they asked that,’ then I feel like I’m doing my job.”
The full episode with Parker Kligerman will be available Friday. You can find the Awful Announcing Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
