Catchfence

MILLVILLE NJ (8-28-09) - In late September, 2008, a just-turned-18-year-old kid from Westport Connecticut made his ARCA RE/MAX Series debut at the New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) road course. In the ARCA world, where new drivers come and go at breath-taking paces, little attention was paid to Parker Kligerman when he climbed aboard his no. 77 Cunningham Motorsports Dodge.

But when the Penske Development driver qualified outside pole, he began to raise some eyebrows. During the race, Kligerman, after making his pitstop, climbed his way back to sixth before the rains came, ending the race shy of its intended mark.

Nonetheless, the world got its first real look at Kligerman that day. As the point leader for most of the year in 2009, with a season-high six wins on tour so far, they’re doing a lot more looking these days as Kligerman has become the driver to beat.

And coming from a road course background, Kligerman could certainly be considered one of the favorites in the second annual New Jersey Motorsports Park ARCA RE/MAX 150 coming Sunday, September 13th.

“We’ve had that marked on our calendar all year,” said Kligerman. “That’s my background. And we’re coming back more prepared. Last year’s race at New Jersey was a last-second deal. We’ve been planning for this race for months. I can’t wait.”

Kligerman’s wins this year have come on a wide variety of tracks including his first series victory on the Toledo Speedway half-mile oval. More would soon follow at Michigan Int’l Speedway (2-mile oval), Mansfield Motorsports Park (.4-mile oval), Iowa Speedway (.875-mile oval), Kentucky Speedway (1.5-mile oval), and most recently – the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile-dirt.

“After my win at Michigan, Tim Cindric (President of Penske Racing) called me to congratulate me. That was one of the greatest feelings in the world, to know that he appreciates what we’ve been able to do here.”

While all the tracks on tour have been new to Kligerman, the Springfield mile-dirt was his first attempt on dirt. Kligerman’s coach that day was his Penske Racing teammate and 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series driving champion Justin Allgaier. Allgaier also won the ARCA race at New Jersey in 2008.

“Before practice Justin Allgaier came up to the car and just sort of told me to watch out for certain things,” said Kligerman. “He told me not to be worried and gave me little pointers-just confidence building stuff. Before the race he came up to the car and gave me a rundown of everything that I should do. ‘Watch out for this; don’t do this. Definitely don’t do this.’ And I think those tips were a huge part of it. I think that’s what kept us from being freight-trained.”

In addition to his busy race schedule, Kligerman, back in June, managed to squeeze in his high school senior prom followed by his high school graduation ceremony the night before he won at Mansfield, another track he had never seen before.

“I gave a speech in my high school speech class about this. When I head into a race weekend I don’t know anything about the track or the car so I really don’t have any expectations about how I am going to do or how the weekend will turn out. That is how I have been able to do so well.”

Asked if he was surprised by all his success in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at such a young age, Kligerman responded, “We expected to win. And to win a championship, we feel you have to win races, especially as competitive as things are around here. I can’t say I’m really surprised by our success as much as I’m gratified by it.”

With the event at New Jersey Motorsports Park just around the corner, the world will get yet another look at Kligerman when the ARCA RE/MAX Series, the most versatile touring series on earth, in its 57th consecutive season of competition, turns left and right road course style.

Practice for the ARCA RE/MAX Series at NJMP is scheduled for Saturday, September 12th from 12:20 – 1:20 PM and from 1:50 – 2:50 PM followed by Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell at 4:30. The 150-mile race is slated to go off at 1:00 PM Sunday afternoon, September 13th. The event will feature live streaming video and audio of all the on-track activities at ARCAracing.com through the ARCA Racing Network.

NOTE: This year’s ARCA RE/MAX Series event at New Jersey Motorsports Park marks the 11th time the series has raced on a road course since its inception in 1953.

ARCA RE/MAX SERIES ROAD COURSE HISTORY/WINNERS

YEAR TRACK LOCATION WINNER

1958 Meadowdale Raceway Carpentersville IL Fred Lorenzen

1960 Meadowdale Raceway Carpentersville IL Nelson Stacy

1964 Meadowdale Raceway Carpentersville IL Elmer Musgrave

1965 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington OH Jack Bowsher

1986 St Louis Int’l Raceway Fairmount IL Bob Schacht

1991 Heartland Park Topeka KS Ken Schrader

1992 Heartland Park Topeka KS Darrell Waltrip

1994 Des Moines Grand Prix Des Moines IA Scott Lagasse

2001 Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen NY John Finger

- ARCA Press Release

2008 New Jersey Motorsports Park Millville NJ Justin Allgaier