Parker Kligerman has been no stranger to heartbreak in NASCAR. Time and time again, victory has slipped from his grasp due to late-race chaos or controversial officiating. In 2024, he nearly won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race, only to have his dream crushed by a last-second caution. “I don’t know how to process this,” he had said. However, he overcame the incident and made a blistering comeback at Daytona in 2025.

Determined to break through, he crossed the finish line first in the NASCAR Truck Series season opener at Daytona. He had charged from outside the top ten in the final laps and executed a brilliant finish. But just over an hour later, NASCAR officials stripped him of the victory. The reason? His No. 75 truck failed post-race inspection. Now, after an appeal, NASCAR has officially denied Kligerman’s request to overturn the disqualification, leaving Kligerman in despair.

Kligerman’s hopes of reclaiming his NASCAR Truck Series victory at Daytona were officially crushed on Thursday. The National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld his disqualification under Rule 10.5.2.4. The panel consisted of Langley Speedway owner Bill Mullis, former team engineer Tommy Wheeler, and Greenville-Pickens owner Kevin Whitaker.

The panel concluded that “it is more likely than not a rules violation did occur,” upholding the disqualification. The ruling not only erased Kligerman’s victory but also placed him 36th—dead last in the final standings. Henderson Motorsports acknowledged the decision but made it clear they disagreed. In a statement, the team says, “Unfortunately, we have lost our appeal. While we feel that we had a very strong case, we respect the panel’s decision. We’ve shown that we can compete, and we’ll be back. See you all in Bristol.”

Notably, the issue that cost Kligerman his win was a minor ride height violation. His truck’s rear end was measured as too low during post-race inspection. Many fans and analysts questioned whether such a small infraction should warrant a full disqualification, especially when it had no clear performance advantage. With this decision, Corey Heim, who initially finished second, will stand as the winner.

Even Heim admitted that winning under such circumstances felt strange. “It sucks for Parker [Kligerman] and those guys. They put themselves in the right position to win,” says Heim. Meanwhile, fans were also disappointed with NASCAR’s decision as they slammed the sanctioning body. Many claimed that NASCAR is just another “rigged” sport that runs on scripts. A user summed up the frustrations writing, “NASCAR really is just WWE with wheels, isn’t it? Ugh.PK is still the winner to me.” Another user echoed the sentiments and said, “Shoulda crashed into the wall in the cool down, lesson learned.”

Notably, this wasn’t the first time that a NASCAR ruling from Daytona had led to controversy. Just days before, Erik Jones lost a victory in the Daytona Duel after NASCAR ruled that a caution was thrown milliseconds before he crossed the finish line. The call handed the win to Austin Cindric. Apart from these, NASCAR also penalized Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe.

Chase Briscoe hit with massive NASCAR penalty

Just as Parker Kligerman dealt with his disqualification, another NASCAR driver found himself in hot water. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe started the year on a high note. He took Toyota’s first Daytona 500 pole and finished a solid fourth in the race. But that success quickly turned into a nightmare. Officials found that his team had made illegal modifications to the rear spoiler of his No. 19 Toyota.

The consequences were severe as NASCAR docked Briscoe 100 driver points and 100 owner points, sending him to dead last in the standings with a negative 67-point total. Additionally, NASCAR suspended his crew chief, James Small, for four races and fined him $100,000. Officials handed down one of the harshest penalties in recent years. They have made it clear that teams must not alter single-source supplier parts in any way. Inspectors discovered the modified spoiler during an R&D Center inspection after selecting Briscoe’s car for further analysis. NASCAR also inspected Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Ford but found no issues.

However, JGR vowed to appeal the decision as the team said, “Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) will appeal the penalty issued by NASCAR to the No. 19 Cup Series team today. The issue in question was caused in the assembly process when bolts used to attach the spoiler base to the deck lid caused the pre-drilled holes to wear due to supplied part interferences.”

Briscoe’s case is not the only one from Daytona. NASCAR also penalized two other teams—Todd Gilliland’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford and Cody Ware’s No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford—for unsecured ballast. However, their punishments were far less severe, with each losing only 10 driver and 10 owner points. However, NASCAR’s recent decision about Kligerman might trouble Briscoe. Do you think that Briscoe can win the appeal?