“Just really at peace with my decision and my career as a whole, with what I’ve done in this sport.” Parker Kligerman said these words in 2024, shortly after announcing his decision to wrap up his full-time NASCAR career. Unfortunately, peace has been eluding him since the last stretch of the 2024 Xfinity Series season. From narrowly missed Victory Lane visits to gaining criticism in a different career altogether, Kligerman’s troubles have been endless.

NASCAR’s weekend at Dover Motor Speedway ended with chaotic events. Rainy weather and twin overtime restarts clouded the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 race. Instead of focusing on these troublesome elements, an insider focused on nitpicking Parker Kligerman’s faults, and fans are not happy.

Controversial comments from a controversial insider

Parker Kligerman was at Dover – not as a race car driver, but as a TNT host. The NASCAR Nation presented by Vanda Pharmaceuticals pre-race show featured Kligerman alongside Shannon Spake and Jamie McMurray. From tracing the chances of Denny Hamlin defending his 2024 Dover crown to predicting who will prevail in the in-season tournament, Kligerman had his hands full. The former NASCAR driver is analyzing present Cup Series drivers, after trying to win a Cup Series race for years. He pieced together part-time rides and opportunities since 2014, and ran in a full-time Xfinity Series ride under Big Machine Racing in 2023-24.

Despite never winning across 152 Cup and Xfinity races, Parker Kligerman is a fan favorite. That is why controversial insider Brett Griffin’s recent comments may have sparked a fire. The former ‘Door, Bumper, Clear’ co-host watched the Dover festivities and came away with a negative verdict. He took a personal jab at Kligerman’s career stats, calling him unworthy to make a commentary in a series he never won. Griffin wrote on X: “I like Parker but Jamie and Shannon are all we need at the desk. Let him do Xfinity but I don’t want a college football player analyzing a NFL game.”

It seems like the sport is conspiring against Parker Kligerman yet again. The icon suffered a heartbreak last fall during the Charlotte Roval race in the Xfinity Series. Due to NASCAR’s caution flag dropping seconds before Kligerman catching the white flag, he lost the chance to win. During the Craftsman Truck Series race in Daytona this year, Kligerman had officially won his fourth Truck race. He called it the “biggest win of my entire life” in a raucous post-race celebration. But then, NASCAR poured water on his happiness yet again, disqualifying Kligerman when his truck was found to be too low in a post-race inspection.

As another NASCAR insider proceeds to pull Parker Kligerman down, fans will not have it.

NASCAR community boils over 

After all, Parker Kligerman has been a fan favorite. Although he has not attained victories in the Cup Series (where he made only 30 starts), Kligerman has NASCAR victories nonetheless. He started his Craftsman Truck Series winning tradition with a 2012 win at Talladega Superspeedway. So one fan absolutely rejected Brett Griffin’s take: “😲… the disrespect…Parker is not a college player, the guy works hard and he has been in the industry, including the Cup Series, long enough to be considered a pro…He was a very good pit-reporter, this was his promotion. Way to 💩 on the guy…” 

Another fan pointed out how Griffin’s opinion is flawed – NFL players always have a college football background. The fan wrote, “Just gonna throw this out there, Brett, all NFL players were once college football players, and Parker Kligerman is more than qualified to be a driver. He just is broke.” What is more? Fans started to diss Brett Griffin himself.

He has been a controversial insider in the sport for a long time, drawing fire for his ‘unfiltered’ comments on DBC. Hence, a long-time detractor of Griffin wrote, “Another terrible Brett Griffin take.” Like how Griffin hosted DBC, Parker Kligerman hosts episodes on ‘The Money Lap’ alongside Landon Cassill. Somebody wrote that Kligerman’s voice is more appealing: “I would rather listen to Parker on The Money lap podcast than Brett Griffin on DBC any day.”

Another fan was not convinced about Parker Kligerman’s co-hosts on TNT. Shannon Spake is a seasoned reporter for NASCAR, NFL, and other sports, and Jamie McMurray is a 7-time Cup Series race winner. Yet the fan favored Parker Kligerman’s energy more, disagreeing with Griffin: “To each their own I guess. I really like Parker’s energy… Really like Jamie and Shannon, but feel like they need his energy.”

Hence, the NASCAR community aggressively sided with Parker Kligerman in his latest debacle. Let us wait and see how this controversy unfolds.