News

Parker Kligerman
No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger
Pioneer Hi-Bred 250
Iowa Speedway
Sunday, May 20, 2012
TV: ESPN at 1:30 PM ET   Radio: MRN/Sirius 90

No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger News and Notes
• This Week’s Challenger… Parker Kligerman and the Penske Racing Discount Tire Dodge Challenger team will use chassis PRS-219 during Sunday’s Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 at Iowa Speedway. Penske Racing teammate, Brad Keselowski drove this chassis to a third-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in March.
• The No. 22 Snap-on Dodge Challenger in 2012... Following nine points-paying events, the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge team sits eighth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) owner point standings following a third-place finish last weekend at Darlington Raceway
• 2012 Nationwide Series Debut… This weekend’s event at Iowa Speedway will be Kligerman’s first NNS start of the season. He has made a total of 15 series starts since his debut in 2009. His best finish, an eighth came on the road course at Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2010.
• Kligerman in 2012… In addition to a full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) behind the wheel of the No. 29 Cooper Standard/Cequent Ram for Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR), Kligerman will also compete in 8 to 10 additional NNS races in the No. 22 Discount Tire/Snap-on Dodge. Kligerman currently sits in the sixth position in the NCWTS driver point standings with two top-10 finishes in four starts while driving for BKR
• Dominant at Iowa… Kligerman does own one win at Iowa in the ARCA Racing Series. It came in dominant fashion as he led 142 of 200 total laps to pick up the victory in July of 2009.
• Fast Learner… In the first NNS start of his career, Kligerman wowed the NASCAR community by winning the pole position for the 2009 Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway behind the wheel of the No. 12 Penske Truck Rental Dodge Charger.
• Pick 22 To Win… Discount Tire, America’s largest tire and wheel retailer, and NASCAR champion driver Brad Keselowski, are providing an exciting way for race fans to follow the action and win great prizes with the Pick 22 to Win online sweepstakes. At pick22towin.com fans select where Keselowski and his No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger will finish in a designated Nationwide Series race. There are 15 separate Nationwide Series races for fans to participate in for a chance to win free sets of tires and great autographed Brad Keselowski race gear.
• Follow Parker on Twitter… Fans can follow Kligerman on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/pkligerman. Followers can get a glimpse inside his everyday life while keeping up-to-date with the latest news for the Penske Racing driver.

Parker Kligerman on his first Nationwide Series start of 2012
“I’m very excited to be driving the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger this weekend at Iowa. It’s not every day that a young driver gets the chance to jump behind the wheel of a championship-winning car with a championship-caliber team. I have a great relationship with a lot of guys on the team. Having Jeremy (Bullins, crew chief) come on board has really helped the program. Hopefully we can continue the momentum they having going after finishing third at Darlington last weekend. That momentum will definitely help us this weekend at Iowa, which is one of my favorite tracks. It’s such a unique place to race. It’s a short track, but it feels a lot like a speedway. You have to go in there with a short-track mentality, but it has a lot of speed for a track under a mile in length. Penske Racing excels at places that are a little more unique as they let us show our muscle.”

Crew chief Jeremy Bullins on working with Parker Kligerman this weekend
“We are excited to go racing for the first time this season with Parker Kligerman.  He’s shown his ability in the truck series and he’s displayed speed in the Nationwide cars, whether it be testing or practice or his race experience from 2011.  Knowing that he has that raw speed, we will focus on what it takes to be solid during the race. Our goal is to be consistent and get a good finish.  Fortunately for us Parker’s status allows us an extra set of rookie tires which will allow us to add some changes to the game plan that we wouldn’t have otherwise.  Our challenge is to manage our practice time to learn as much as we can while affording him the track time to get a good feel for the things we are doing with the car.”