Parker Kligerman came oh so close to notching his first career Xfinity Series victory during this past Saturday’s Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Roval.
Instead, it was Sam Mayer who took the checkered flag in overtime, thanks to one controversial ruling from NASCAR . With Kligerman leading the race with two laps to go, Leland Honeyman ran into the tire barrier. Rather than throw the caution out immediately, NASCAR waited until Kligerman was a split second from taking the white flag, which would have made the race official. Kligerman’s team initially celebrated on pit road before officials informed them that the driver had not taken the white flag before the caution came out, thus sending the race to overtime.
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Denny Hamlin, speaking on Monday’s “ Actions Detrimental ” podcast, said that while NASCAR made the correct call to throw the caution, it came entirely too late.
“In the end they made the right call, but what were they doing waiting that long is my question,” Hamlin said. “… We’ve seen cars brush the wall and keep on going and that freaking yellow comes out quicker than you can shake a stick at it. I feel bad for Parker, but it was a caution. It was the right call. I was rooting for Parker like you wouldn’t believe. … I just don’t understand why — this happened with Ryan Preece at Indy, like that car was wrecked for 10-15 seconds and he was not moving.
“That car was not moving out of those barriers and even if it did move out of the barriers, there was going to be fu*king tires everywhere.”
Denny Hamlin irate at NASCAR over Xfinity Series controversy at Charlotte Roval
It ended up being a day of heartbreak for Kligerman, who recently said the 2024 season would be his final full-time season of NASCAR racing. Mayer made the race-winning pass on Kligerman during the two-lap sprint, and Kligerman faded to finish P6. Not only did he miss out on a win, but he failed to advance to the Round of 8 in the playoffs as a result.
“I want to cry,” Kligerman said after the race. “But I’m not gonna. I really love this, and I really, really wanted that. It would have meant the world.”
Hamlin further assailed against NASCAR, calling for officials to be held accountable for “not doing a good job.”
“They’re just not doing a good job,” Hamlin said. “It’s happening too often and it’s frustrating because you continue to hear the same thing: ‘We’ll look at it.’ Every week it’s the same thing: ‘We’ll take a look at it, and we’ll make adjustments. We made a decision based on the information we had at hand.’ I mean, just copy and paste every week you’re gonna get these same quotes.
“Eventually, you have to hold people accountable and say, ‘They’re not doing a good job.’ Or they’re not getting enough resources to help them do their jobs better. It’s one or the other. There is no in between. Either the team up there that’s making the calls don’t have enough help, or enough technology and information, or they’re just not good at it.”
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