Xfinity Series racing driver Parker Kligerman made a shocking announcement that he won’t be returning to full-time racing at the end of 2024. Driving the No. 48 car for Big Machine Racing in 2024 was only his third full-time run and will turn out to be his last. The 34-year-old driver is having a pretty good one outing this season and will now look to end on a high note.

“I will not be returning to Big Machine Racing next year, and this will be my last year as a full-time race car driver in the NASCAR Series and in general. I’m no longer pursuing a full-time ride…It’s not a small decision; it definitely didn’t happen overnight. It was months of deliberating and thinking about it,” Parker Kligerman said via his YouTube show, The Money Lap.

Like every aspiring NASCAR driver, Kligerman’s dream move was to move up to Cup Series racing. However, for various reasons, he realized that he wouldn’t be able to achieve this milestone. Thus, this weighed in his decision to retire entirely from competitive racing. “Back of my head, I kind of felt I wanna get to the top, get to the Cup Series. But it started to become very apparent through many reasons that opportunity wasn’t going to present itself,” he added.

With over 250 NASCAR races, Kligerman can be considered a veteran driver, but unfortunately, his racing career will end prematurely. This news did take the NASCAR community by shock. Soon, the fans started to pour in with their comments on Parker Kligerman’s retirement news. A few even predicted his new career role along with a part-time return to racing.

Fans react to Parker Kligerman’s surprise retirement call from competitive racing

For all the efforts Kligerman has put into his Xfinity racing career, for some reason or another he’s fallen short of victories. He did come close to bagging his first Xfinity career win in speedway races. His last race at Atlanta saw him finish P2, but the win as always eluded him. Reacting to his retirement news and reflecting on his luck, a fan wrote, “Bummer, I liked rooting for Parker on Saturdays. He’s had a few close calls on superspeedways, but the overall performance just isn’t there unfortunately.”

Kligerman might not have won races, but he has certainly won the hearts of the race fans. Although he’s calling it quits from full-time racing, this fan was hoping that he would take care of the unfinished business in the Xfinity Series. “Always liked Parker who has forever been a class act, and definitely hope he gets a chance to get one more win before his semi-retirement.”

Apart from being a race car driver, Kligerman has nurtured himself as a successful TV personality. He worked as an analyst for NBC Sports back in 2014 and later would take on the role of pit reporter for the Cup Series race. Proving Ground and In the Wall are some of the examples of his successful shows, along with his Money Lap podcast.

A potential role with the broadcasting partners and elevating his podcast could be his next career move to a full-time role. And this sentiment was further fueled by this fan on Reddit, who added, “He needs to lean into his media side; he’s definitely got a career there for life. But, I’d love to see him in a 8 race JGR package next year or something like that.”

The silly season speculations also crept into the comments section. Now with the departure of a full-time driver, Big Machine Racing would be looking for a replacement. Chiming on this prospect, a fan believed that Ty Dillon could be the preferred choice for the team. And also name-dropped a Cup Series driver being demoted to Xfinity Series in the No. 48 team. “Everyone gonna be mad when this is Ty Dillon’s ride next year lol. But more realistically, I am seeing Daniel Hemric there.”

While he might not have a win to his name so far in the Xfinity Series, he still has 9 more races to snap this streak. He is 74 above the cutline and is likely to make the playoffs, so he could have a fairy tale ending to his racing career. “I feel bad for Parker because he’s been gutted with finishing 2nd so many times. Hopefully, he can steal a win at the Glen or a SS soon.”

NASCAR Cup Series driver Corey LaJoie was also among the drivers being predicted by the race fans. Given how most of the seats are filled in by the drivers for next year, it is hard to see LaJoie continue his run at the top level. There were speculations that he could be demoted to the Xfinity Series, and this fan thinks the #48 would be his ride in 2025. “I guess Corey Lajoie to the 48 was true after all.”

What did you make of this decision by Parker Kligerman? And should he continue with partial races from next year or focus on TV and media roles?