GBR, Kligerman Go the Distance, Finish 27th in Season’s Longest Race

Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR) and Parker Kligerman completed NASCAR’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, on Sunday night, finishing 27th.

Kligerman reported early in the event that the No. 96 Toyota Camry was suffering from a tight handling condition and tagged the outside wall on lap 25 without sustaining heavy damage. The GBR crew remedied the handling on subsequent pit stops.

In the event’s second stage, Kligerman encountered braking difficulties, pumping his brakes down the straightaways, something he continued through the end of the third stage. Similar maladies proved common throughout the field as the track conditions changed when daytime gave way to night; eight full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers crashed as a result of ill-handling racecars.

Kligerman’s car remained in quality condition when he crossed the finish line over four hours and 23 minutes after he started, resulting in a 27th-place finish.

“Parker came in and ran a 600-mile race. It’s a heck of an endurance race, and he did a great job,” said Marty Gaunt, GBR owner. “It was our first race on a 1.5-mile track, the car has minimal damage and we had a solid day.”

“[Crew chief] Mark Hillman and the guys did a great job, in their seventh race ever, to build a car that lasted 600 miles. That’s impressive,” said Kligerman, who completed the longest race of his career. “I’m not tired; I’m just sore. It wasn’t pretty, but we got a result in the 20s, which was our goal. Barring some issues with the brakes and some things I could’ve done better, I think we had a top-25 car.”

GBR PR