When the disappointment subsides, Parker Kligerman will realize that he gave himself a chance to advance to the second round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs next weekend at the ROVAL and that’s more than two of the top contenders can say.
Kligerman had a tire advantage over a dominant Justin Allgaier inside 10 laps to go on Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway but admittedly botched the pass attempt and cost them both a chance to win the race when he slid up the track.
Instead, it opened the door for John Hunter Nemechek to emerge victorious and punch his own ticket to the Round of 8 instead.
A win would have clinched advancement for Kligerman, especially impressive considering what happened last weekend at Bristol when his team broke a wheel hub and finished well off the pace, but he will go to Charlotte just one point below the cutline.
But again, this was a race he believes he should have won.
“I just lost it,” Kligerman said. “I had the tire advantage but I didn’t have the air there, or whatever, allowed him to get in that position but that’s on me or whatever. We put ourselves in position … and feel like I choked.
“This one is going to sting for a while. I wanted to win. I wanted a cowboy hat. I feel like we had it today but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Kligerman actually predicted it before the race.
“I told my girlfriend that we were either going to win this race, or we were going to leave one point below the cutline and I guess I was right,” he said. “The goal was to be within 10 and we’re within one so I feel really good going into the ROVAL.”
Allgaier, who won Bristol to advance into the Round of 8, briefly spoke to Kligerman about the race. He finished third.
“Sure, going for the win,” Allgaier said. “At that point, he had a huge tire advantage over us and that was a huge frustration of mine, that he didn’t have to drive it in that hard, knowing it was going to get loose. I gave him room I felt like, there was at least a car length between us getting into 3. I just felt like, as soon as I lifted, he was going to get into my left rear and I couldn’t afford to get wrecked. We need to turn this car around and run it again soon.
“So I just needed to hang onto it. He felt like he needed to take the chance when he had it but I felt he would have had plenty of chances to get by me with the tire advantage. It’s disappointing. It’s not the first time we’ve had troubles at the end of a race. It seems like we’ve always been on the other side of it.”
Meanwhile, a week removed from their crash together at Bristol, both Josh Berry and Sam Mayer had issues at Texas. Mayer brought out the first caution by getting loose on the traction compound and drilling the wall while Berry was collected in a Trevor Bayne crash that also damaged playoff driver Austin Hill.
Berry finished 27th and seven laps off the pace while Hill rallied to a seventh place finish.
After rallying last week at Bristol, Jeb Burton suffered another setback at Texas with a loose left rear that eventually broke his track bar.
There is just one race remaining in this round. Mayer and Berry will surely have to win the race while Burton would need a tremendous amount of misfortune to befall those ahead of him in the standings.
Updated playoff grid
John Hunter Nemechek Win, Advanced
Justin Allgaier Advanced
Cole Custer Advanced
Austin Hill +44
Chandler Smith +32
Sammy Smith +18
Sheldon Creed +9
Daniel Hemric +1
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Parker Kligerman -1
Jeb Burton -19
Josh Berry -27
Sam Mayer -34
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.