2013

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2012 Chicagoland Parker Kligerman Autographs Hat For Young FanKBM CONTINUES YOUTH MOVEMENT
WITH ADDITION OF KLIGERMAN
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Dec. 18, 2012)- Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced today that the team has signed 22-year-old Parker Kligerman to compete for the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series driver’s championship. Kligerman will pilot the No. 77 Toyota Camry for the entirety of the 33-race schedule.

Kligerman comes to KBM’s Nationwide Series program on the heels of a breakout season in 2012. In his second full-time Camping World Truck Series campaign, the talented youngster earned his first career NASCAR victory at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in October, captured two pole awards and collected eight top-five and 15 top-10 finishes en route to a fifth-place finish in the final Truck Series driver’s point standings. His Talladega victory, both poles and five of his eight top-five finishes came after joining the Toyota Racing family at the halfway point of the season.

The Connecticut native has registered five top-10 finishes in 18 career Nationwide Series starts. He posted two top-10 finishes in three starts this season, including a career-best seventh-place finish in the July race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

In October of 2009, at the age of 19, Kligerman captured the pole in his first-ever Nationwide Series start at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, becoming the 10th driver in series history to accomplish the feat. That same year, he earned the 2009 Rookie of the Year award in the ARCA Racing Series after winning a series-high nine races and finishing second in the final point standings.

“When you think of Kyle Busch and Kyle Busch Motorsports, you think of an owner and a team that have established a tradition of winning and pride themselves on it, so I feel honored to be given the chance to come in and continue in that tradition,” Kligerman said. “I feel that running full-time in the Truck Series the last two seasons and coming close to a championship last season has prepared me to be able to do the same in the Nationwide Series next year. With the personnel that KBM has in place and what they were able to accomplish in their first year in the Nationwide Series combined with all the support they have from Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development), I see no reason why we can’t compete for wins on a weekly basis and be a top-five team in the final point standings at the end of the season.”

“Once Parker got behind the wheel of a Toyota halfway through the season, he proved that he was capable of running up front week in and week out in the Truck Series and comes to us with a lot of confidence,” owner Kyle Busch said. “Since I started my Truck Series team in 2010, I’ve wanted the focus of our efforts to be on developing young talent and being able to create an identity for KBM without having to be behind the wheel myself. With the addition of Parker to our Nationwide Series program and Joey Coulter to our Truck Series program, we now have two of the sport’s most talented young drivers in our building.”

“Everyone at Toyota and TRD speaks very highly of Parker and they were a big part of why were able to bring him onboard here at KBM,” KBM General Manager Rick Ren said. “Although he has only driven a handful of races with these new Nationwide Series cars, he has participated in a lot of testing the last few years and we feel like he will be able to come in and be able to use that knowledge to help us to continue to make improvements to our program.”

In its inaugural Nationwide Series campaign, KBM registered one win, three poles, 15 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes en route to an eighth-place finish in the owner’s point standings. The team recorded eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes over the last 13 races of the season.

“Our Nationwide Series program really seemed to hit its stride the last 10 races of the season — won a couple of poles, led a bunch of laps and were in contention for the win almost every week,” said Busch, who was behind the wheel for eight of the final 10 races. “We feel like we’ll be able to carry that momentum into next year and come out of the gates stronger than we did in our first season.”

Further details regarding sponsorship for Kligerman’s No. 77 Camry will be announced at a later date.

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2012 CMS Testing Brad Keselowski on Track“Off Season” Ends At Charlotte Motor Speedway
All Eyes On New Sixth-Generation NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Car

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (December 11, 2012) – Dale Earnhardt Jr., the sport’s 10-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Most Popular Driver, ran his first laps in the new sixth-generation race car. His review of the 2013 Chevrolet SS? It’s a must see.

“The car has really awesome potential,” Earnhardt said during testing Tuesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “The cars that you see in the garage; you’ll stand there and see Fords and Toyotas and Chevrolets driving by. It’s great because everything looks different, everything is instantly recognizable.”

At Charlotte Motor Speedway today, 16 cars participated in the last open test session of the year. Fans and media were treated to all three manufacturers on the race track at once, including the fully unveiled Chevrolet SS which was debuted in Las Vegas during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week. There was an air of excitement from the drivers and teams in the garage surrounding the looks and performance of the sixth generation car.

“All in all the feedback in the garage area has been very positive,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “It looks to me that all the hard work from the teams, manufacturers and our engineers at the R&D Center is going to pay off. Like I said last month when we hand this car off to the teams, it will be in the best shape that we have ever handed a car off to the teams to start a new season.”

While fans were seeing the Chevrolet fully unwrapped without camouflage, several drivers were getting used to new fire suits, car manufacturers and teammates. For the first time in his career, former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Matt Kenseth was sporting a new number (20), team (Joe Gibbs Racing) and manufacturer (Toyota). Kenseth was happy with the car; however, his team was forced to make an engine change during today’s morning session.

“I’ve been kind of nervous but (about) coming into this morning and walking to a different truck and a different team and all of that stuff,” Kenseth said. “My last run I proceeded to go from second gear to first gear and over-revved the engine so they’re back there changing it. So, I think the guys are in love with me right now. Like, ‘Where did we find this clown? Give us the other one back.’ Other than that it’s been good.”

While Kenseth got to know his new team, current NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski learned to work with new Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano.

“I feel like there are a lot of areas that I can improve and be better,” said Keselowski. “I think there are things Joey does right out of the gate that are better than what I do. I think he has the ability to unload at a place like this and just instantly be fast and that’s not my style.”

In addition to the off season testing sessions scheduled next month for Daytona and Charlotte, plans call for an extra day of testing before the events at Las Vegas and Texas to provide teams with an opportunity to learn more about the sixth-generation race car early in the season. Extra practice time will also be added to the schedule at Auto Club Speedway in March.

The test continues Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Charlotte Motor Speedway.