"It's not a small decision" - Parker Kligerman announces departure from Big Machine Racing, outlines 2025 NASCAR plans

Veteran driver and current NASCAR on NBC pit reporter Parker Kligerman has announced that he is parting ways with Big Machine Racing at the conclusion of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. The 34-year-old has also stated that he will no longer be searching for full-time driving opportunities in 2025.

The annoucement came on Kligerman's "The Money Lap" podcast that was released on Thursday, where he said the decision to step away didn't come easy.

“It’s not a small decision and definitely didn’t happen overnight,” Kligerman said. “It was a lot of months of deliberating and thinking about it and going down one path and then another and going back and forth."

The moment it crossed the Connecticut native's mind to step down from full-time racing was back in June after an Xfinity race at Portland. On a run out in Sonoma, Kligerman has recalled going to the top of a mountain overlooking the water in San Francisco. It was then that he felt a moment of content with his racing career.

"I just had this moment where I was like, 'I think I'm good,'" Kligerman said. "I think I want to finish this year out and then I want to see what's next. So, I ended up calling my girlfriend and telling her that and she was like, 'Wow, that's pretty powerful, did you feel that?' I was like, 'No, I really think I did.'"

Through a career that saw him go from full-time Cup racing, to part-time in the Xfinity and Truck Series, then back to full-time in 2023, it was when the eventual goal of returning to the Cup level wasn't going to "present itself" ended up being a key factor in Kligerman's decision.

"It just started to become very apparent that, through many reasons, that wasn't an opportunity that was going to present itself," Parker Kligerman said. "I just find myself saying, 'I feel like I've done this,' and not been nearly as successful as I've wanted to be."

With nine races remaining in the 2024 campaign, Parker Kligerman's focus remains on trying to win races and fight for a championship with Big Machine Racing.

"My focus has been in trying to win races and fight for this championship with Big Machine Racing this year," Kligerman said. "It's only natural. You have to think about things like this."

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Parker Kligerman's journey through the NASCAR ranks

Parker Kligerman got his first chance in the big leagues in 2011 when he drove for Brad Keselowski Racing in the Truck Series. He moved to Red Horse Racing mid-way through the 2012 season and won his first career Truck Series race at Talladega that October. Kligerman moved up to the Xfinity Series in 2013, driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports where he finished ninth in the final standings.

He got his first crack at the Cup Series in 2014 as he drove the #30 Swan Racing car. However, Kligerman's career redirected to the broadcast side of things in 2015 when he joined the NASCAR on NBC crew as a pit reporter. While keeping his TV duties, Kligerman raced part-time at Henderson Motorsports in the Truck Series in 2017 and won at Talladega that October for his second career Truck win.

Kligerman earned his third Truck victory at Mid-Ohio in 2022 driving the #75 Henderson Motorsports truck. He returned to full-time competition at the Xfinity level in 2023 driving for Big Machine Racing, where he placed 10th in the final standings.

In what's now his final full-time season, Parker Kligerman has posted four top-fives and sits ninth in the standings while holding a 74-point cushion over the playoff cut-line with two regular season races to go.