Parker Kligerman, driver of the No. 77 “Let’s Go Places” Toyota Camry in the Nationwide Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports, is taking his career-best top five finish in the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona last weekend across the country to Phoenix International Raceway, home of this Saturday’s Dollar General 300.
Kligerman has two previous starts at Phoenix in the Camping World Truck Series, neither of which he finished. His crew chief Eric Phillips, on the other hand, has two straight Truck Series wins at Phoenix, with team owner Kyle Busch in 2011 and with Brian Scott in 2012.
“We’ve been really good in the Truck Series the last few years – led a lot of laps,” said Phillips on the KBM website. “Some of the stuff we will be able to apply to our Camry – shocks and some of the front geometry stuff still apply. Aero wise, the trucks are so much different and because of the drag, you use a lot less brake in the truck than in the car. Kyle had a really strong run there in the fall race, so we are taking some of the stuff that was on his car that race – I’d say we have a little hybrid of our truck stuff and that setup.”
Kligerman, in spite of his problems there, likes PIR. “I like Phoenix – it definitely is unique,” said Kligerman. “There are two vastly different sets of corners and having a dogleg through the back straightaway is something very unique in NASCAR. All of those things combined make racing there a really fun experience for a driver, but at the same time, it is a challenge for the crew chief with the setup. With being recently repaved, the track has a lot of grip and it is pretty fast. It definitely puts a premium on the communication between a driver and his crew chief that will allow them to find a little bit more grip than everyone else out there – a little bit of grip can go a long ways.”
Qualifying for the Dollar General 200 takes place Saturday at 11:05 a.m. MT and the race takes the green flag at 2:30 p.m. MT.
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