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There is nothing I enjoy more than seeing the cars and stars of the ARCA RE/MAX series race on the high banks of MIS just one month after seeing the same drivers on the half mile of Toledo Speedway. Last month's race at Toledo was more akin to hand to hand combat while the big two mile oval in Brooklyn was much closer to a high speed joust, but the same driver sat in victory lane in both events. Young driver Parker Kligerman was able to showcase his versatility by following up his debut win at Toledo with his 2nd career ARCA victory Friday afternoon at MIS in the Racing for Wildlife 200.

It has been quite the month for the 18 yr. old phenom with his two wins on the short track and the big speedway serving as bookends on his High School graduation and Senior Prom. Parker started out the season as a Penske development driver in the Cunningham Motorsports No.77 with funding for only the first 8 races. Kligerman left MIS as the series point leader, which puts Roger in the tough position of having to decide whether or not they will continue their momentum.

It looked like the day was going to belong to Venturini Motorsports, as their cars were running 1 & 2 with only 20 laps to go, but they were both struck by unbelievable bad luck. Second place Jesse Smith had an engine erupt in a huge plume of smoke. Leader Justin Marks  No. 15  looked like he had the race sewn up with a lead of more than eight seconds until a late caution put Kligerman right on his bumper. Parker made a three wide pass for the lead on the restart when Marks cut a tire and slammed the wall very hard coming out of turn 2. After the caution, Kligerman had to survive a one lap shootout, but he was able to hold off a hard charging Austin Dillon to take the win.

"It was eventful, exciting," said Kligerman, who led 19 laps. "(Justin) Lofton was really fast in the beginning; we were too tight. Then, we had to pit for gas under green, which caught us a lap down. Got the Aaron's Lucky Dog, and came back through. Even after we adjusted on it, we were still really tight, but we were fast. My crew chief said 'go for it' so I did. The 15 got sideways in front of us on that restart and I shot through the middle."

Young 18 yr. old Austin Dillon is the son of former Busch Series driver Mike Dillon, and is driving the black RCR No. 31 which was owned by his grandfather Richard Childress. I asked Austin before the race what he thought of his first time at MIS, and his response was , "I felt kind of lost at the beginning, but after running a bunch of practice laps, I'm a lot more comfortable out there."

It would not surprise me in the least to see Austin possibly driving the famous No. 3 Chevrolet some day in the Cup series. After the race, he talked about his outstanding 2nd place finish.

"I think we got through the gears a little better than Parker because he had to pull low and when he came up he had to arc through the corners and he was able to get through the corners faster and that's what helped him," said Dillon. "He lifted and I didn't right there. That's what won him the race I think. It's live and learn and I think we learned a lot today."

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