Catchfence

(KANSAS CITY, Kan.) - Parker Kligerman participated in an ARCA-sanctioned event for the first time since winning last season’s finale at Rockingham Speedway and finishing second in the final series points standings, and found himself at the top of the chart in today’s ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards open test at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway oval.

Kligerman drove the No. 22 Cunningham Motorsports Dodge to a lap of 32.182 seconds (167.796 mph) in the three-hour morning session, topping Mikey Kile’s morning lap of 32.192 seconds (167.744 mph) in the No. 25 Venturini Motorsports Toyota.

Kile’s teammate, Steve Arpin, posted the four-hour afternoon session’s fastest time, 32.267 seconds (167.354 mph), in the No. 55 Venturini Motorsports Toyota.

Scott Wimmer drove a No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to the fourth overall position with a 32.312-second (167.121 mph) lap in the morning. Joey Coulter (No. 16 Coulter Motorsports Chevrolet) was the fifth driver on the overall chart after finishing his best lap in 32.399 seconds (166.672 mph).

Justin Marks (No. 32 Win-Tron Racing Toyota) was sixth overall, and 18-year-old Ty Dillon (No. 41 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) was the seventh-fastest driver. Dillon, the grandson of Richard Childress, will make his second ARCA Racing Series start at Kansas after winning the Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell at Iowa Speedway in July.

Part-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver David Stremme, acting as a driver coach for Coulter, finished eighth for the day, and was followed by Tim George Jr. (No. 31 Richard Childress Racing) and Tom Hessert (No. 77 Cunningham Motorsports Dodge) in the top 10. Dakoda Armstrong (No. 22 Cunningham Motorsports Dodge) finished the day in the 11th position.

Kligerman, who won a series-high nine races and finished just five points behind series champion Justin Lofton in 2009, said he was glad to help his old team in any way possible. The 20-year-old Penske Racing development driver has competed in eight NASCAR Nationwide Series races this season and has top-10 finishes in two of his last three starts.

“Cunningham Motorsports, who has an affiliation with Penske, brought four cars out for the test. They called to see if I’d be willing to help, see how the cars are running, maybe do a little coaching. I’m taking what I’ve learned this year in Nationwide to see if I can apply that experience,” Kligerman said.

Kligerman assisted current Cunningham drivers Armstrong, who won Saturday at Salem (Ind.) Speedway, and Hessert, who is second in the ARCA Racing Series point standings and just 15 points out of the lead with two races remaining.

“One of the (No.) 22 cars Cunningham brought is the same car I won all those races in last year. Dakoda and Tom are both doing a really good job,” he said. “I just wanted to lend any support I could to help them go in the right direction.”

The driver also had the chance to provide some motivation to Hessert as he contends for his first ARCA Racing Series championship, although in a joking manner.

“I actually told Tom he can’t let the number 77 down twice,” he said with a smile. “No pressure though.”

Neither points leader Patrick Sheltra nor Craig Goess, who is 20 points from the lead, entered the test.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards visits Kansas Speedway on Thursday, September 30 for the 19th of 20 races this season. The 100-lap, 150-mile Kansas Lottery 150 airs live on SPEED at 4 p.m. Central (5 p.m. Eastern), with live timing and scoring and live audio coverage presented by ARCA Nation and the ARCA Racing Network at ARCARacing.com.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards features 20 events at 17 tracks on its 2010 schedule. The series has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 racetracks in 28 states since its inception. The series tests the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, annually visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as left- and right-turn street and road courses.

Founded by John Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in two professional touring series and local weekly events.

EVENT #19, ARCA RACING SERIES presented by RE/MAX and MENARDS

Kansas Speedway, Kansas City KS

Overall Test Results (9-21-10)

NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN CAR TIME SPEED

1 22b Parker Kligerman/Westport CT Dodge 32.182 167.796

2 25 Mikey Kile/Westlake LA Toyota 32.192 167.744

3 55 Steve Arpin/Fort Frances Ontario Toyota 32.267 167.354

4 31 Scott Wimmer/Wausau WI Chevy 32.312 167.121

5 16a Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL Chevy 32.399 166.672

6 32 Justin Marks/Rocklin CA Toyota 32.416 166.584

7 41 Ty Dillon/Lewisville NC Chevy 32.483 166.241

8 16b David Stremme/South Bend IN Chevy 32.753 164.870

9 31 Tim George Jr./New York NY Chevy 32.775 164.760

10 77a Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Dodge 32.799 164.639

11 77b Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Dodge 32.824 164.514

12 22a Dakoda Armstrong/New Castle IN Dodge 32.838 164.444

13 58 Chad Hackenbracht/New Philadephia OH Chevy 33.144 162.925

14 12 Russ Dugger/Owasso OK Chevy 33.307 162.128

15 36 Robb Brent/Shelby Township MI Dodge 33.532 161.040

16 59 Leilani Munter/Rochester MN Dodge 33.598 160.724

17 35 Tom Berte/New Berlin WI Chevy 33.628 160.580

18 52 Daryl Harr Chevy 34.202 157.886

19 28 Chad Frewaldt Chevy 35.177 153.509

20 7 Tanner Berryhill/Bixby OK Chevy 35.205 153.387

- Automobile Racing Club of America Press Release