As the NASCAR Nationwide Series prepares for this week’s History 300 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (CMS),Parker Kligerman and his No. 77 Toyota Racing team will be looking to continue the history of success that Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) has quickly established at its home track. Including last Friday night’s win with owner-driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel of the No. 51 ToyotaCare Tundra, KBM has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victories in four events at the 1.5-mile Quad-oval and also posted top-five finishes in both starts at CMS during its inaugural Nationwide Series campaign last season.
Building upon success is something that Kligerman and his Toyota Racing team are familiar with, having carried the momentum from the late-season success that KBM’s Nationwide Series program achieved in 2012 into the early stages of this season. Through nine races this season the No. 77 team is slightly ahead of where team owner Busch and elder brother Kurt had the program at the same point last year. The 22-year-old has his team 10th in the owner’s championship standings, compiling an average finish of 12.3 with two top-five and four top-10 finishes. Nine races into its inaugural campaign, the No. 54 team was 11th in owner’s points, posting an average finish of 12.7 with one win, two top-five and four top-10 finishes.
Charlotte was one of the best tracks for KBM’s Nationwide Series program last season, with owner-driver Busch posting a pair of top-five finishes, including a third-place finish in the May event last year with same primary chassis that this year’s team will unload Wednesday. Kligerman, who has three career starts at “The Beast of the Southeast,” qualified eighth for an underfunded Nationwide Series operation in the 2010 spring event, but was relegated to a 43rd-place finish after being involved in a lap-four accident. The talented youngster posted finishes of 11th or better in each of his Truck Series starts, including an eighth-place finish in the 2011 event.
As part of NASCAR’s American Salute, the No. 77 Toyota Camry will be sporting a special “Stars and Stripes” paint scheme for Saturday’s 200-lap event. Kligerman will be looking to continue KBM’s history of success at Charlotte and be the ‘star’ of the History 300 by crossing the ‘stripe’ at the front of the field.
KBM PR
