{"id":10567,"date":"2022-07-09T21:38:32","date_gmt":"2022-07-10T01:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=10567"},"modified":"2022-07-10T07:54:19","modified_gmt":"2022-07-10T11:54:19","slug":"three-big-stories-mid-ohio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2022\/07\/09\/three-big-stories-mid-ohio\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Truck Series: Three Big Stories from Mid-Ohio"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>From Parker Kligerman flashing his talent and the Truck Series playoff picture to old-school charm, here&#8217;s Three Big Stories from Mid-Ohio.<\/h3>\n<p><strong>LEXINGTON, Ohio &#8212;<\/strong> Just as soon as it arrived, the NASCAR circus packed up and moved on from Mid-Ohio.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just as quickly as it arrived, the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR_Trucks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NASCAR_Trucks<\/a> Series circus packs up and leaves <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mid_Ohio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Mid_Ohio<\/a> for another town!<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NASCAR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NASCAR<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OReilly150?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#OReilly150<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TrucksMO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#TrucksMO<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/svXlYOz72I\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/svXlYOz72I<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tucker White (@TuckerWhite94) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TuckerWhite94\/status\/1545885276039413760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 9, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With a Camping World Truck Series field stacked with young talent and depth,\u00a0<strong>Parker Kligerman<\/strong> flashed the talent that made him a rising prospect in the 2010s, dominated, and took the checkered flag. What does the playoff picture look like, with one race left in the regular season? Furthermore, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is as old-school a facility as it gets.<\/p>\n<p>So without further adieu, let&#8217;s delve into the Three Big Stories of Mid-Ohio.<\/p>\n<h3>Part-timer bests the rising stars<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10569\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10569\" style=\"width: 2560px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10569 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1407743140-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1407743140-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1407743140-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1407743140-1024x689.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1407743140-768x517.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1407743140-1536x1033.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1407743140-2048x1378.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10569\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">LEXINGTON, Ohio &#8211; JULY 9: Parker Kligerman, driver of the #75 Food Country USA\/Tide Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O&#8217;Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 9, 2022, in Lexington, Ohio. Photo: Ben Jackson\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As I left the media center, Saturday, and walked to my car, Kligerman &#8212; who&#8217;s flying down to Atlanta Motor Speedway to work the Cup Series race, Sunday, for NBC Sports &#8212; stuck around in the garage area and conversed with fans.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Even with an <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCARonNBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NASCARonNBC<\/a> broadcast at @amsupdates to get to, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pkligerman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@pkligerman<\/a> stuck around at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mid_Ohio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Mid_Ohio<\/a> to chat with fans.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NASCAR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NASCAR<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OReilly150?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#OReilly150<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TrucksMO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#TrucksMO<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2YElm6OaoX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/2YElm6OaoX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tucker White (@TuckerWhite94) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TuckerWhite94\/status\/1545884346082533381?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 9, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>For a man who&#8217;s all but made the transition to pit reporter, he flashed the talent that made him a hot prospect in the 2010s.<\/p>\n<p>He led all but 11 of the 67 laps, Saturday, but trailed\u00a0<strong>Zane Smith<\/strong> in the closing laps. On the final restart with three laps to go, however, he took the racing line in the keyhole, raced Smith down the backstretch and out-braked him into Turn 4 to retake the lead.<\/p>\n<p>But it didn&#8217;t stop there.<\/p>\n<p>Coming to the checkered flag, Smith nudged him in the carousel (Turn 12), but couldn&#8217;t pull up. <a href=\"https:\/\/racing.ap.org\/article\/kligerman-wins-nascar-truck-series-race-mid-ohio\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Which left Kligerman to score his third career Truck Series victory<\/a>, and first since Talladega in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Now this begs the question: What does this say about the level of depth in the Truck Series, if a part-time driver comes in and dominates?<\/p>\n<p>Kligerman says the trucks are so similar, that it demonstrates the depth.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You can put a good body on these things, have the right motor, put the right components on it, and you can go win,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So, I was talking to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2022\/07\/09\/john-hunter-nemechek-tale-two-halves\/\" target=\"_self\">John Hunter (Nemechek)<\/a> the other day and he and I were laughing because he was like, &#8216;Sometimes, I learn more in this series for the Cup Series than sometimes in XFINITY.&#8217; Because there&#8217;s no equipment discrepancy here.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s really hard. It&#8217;s (hard) to go up against someone like Zane, who&#8217;s on a heater this year. He&#8217;s obviously been just strong everywhere. He is on his way to [the] cup. Did an awesome job in this cup debut. That means a lot to beat him in a straight-up fight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know how much I necessarily believe this, but I&#8217;m a guy who types words on a computer.<\/p>\n<p>Kligerman knows cars (or trucks, in this case) better than me.<\/p>\n<h3>The playoff picture<\/h3>\n<p><a id=\"GNsQ1PURSoZtAGa-YdB0ew\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1407739347\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/a%20id=&#039;GNsQ1PURSoZtAGa-YdB0ew&#039;%20class=&#039;gie-single&#039;%20href=&#039;http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1407739347&#039;%20target=&#039;_blank&#039;%20style=&#039;color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal%20!important;border:none;display:inline-block;&#039;Embed%20from%20Getty%20Images\/ascriptwindow.gie=window.gie||function(c)(gie.q=gie.q||%5B%5D).push(c);gie(function()gie.widgets.load(id:&#039;GNsQ1PURSoZtAGa-YdB0ew&#039;,sig:&#039;dYPDmPO-q2ZPdE4Xo-C-6P7T-_dqUDsUKfyHYNYI_D4=&#039;,w:&#039;594px&#039;,h:&#039;396px&#039;,items:&#039;1407739347&#039;,caption:%20true%20,tld:&#039;com&#039;,is360:%20false%20));\/scriptscript%20src=&#039;\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js&#039;%20charset=&#039;utf-8&#039;%20async\/script\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'GNsQ1PURSoZtAGa-YdB0ew',sig:'dYPDmPO-q2ZPdE4Xo-C-6P7T-_dqUDsUKfyHYNYI_D4=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1407739347',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And then, there was one.<\/p>\n<p>With the O&#8217;Reilly Auto Parts 150 in the books, just two spots remain.<\/p>\n<p>With a 47-point cushion, <strong>Grant Enfinger<\/strong> doesn&#8217;t need a perfect race. Rather, he just needs to avoid major calamity to race for the championship. Three-time series champion, <strong>Matt Crafton<\/strong>, however, doesn&#8217;t have as much room for error, with his 19-point gap.<\/p>\n<p>Now\u00a0<strong>Derek Kraus<\/strong>, 19 back, and\u00a0<strong>Tyler Ankrum<\/strong>, 46, probably need a win to control their destiny.<\/p>\n<p>After Nemechek&#8217;s lackluster day, Smith needs only finish 35th or better to clinch the regular-season championship.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ll find out who comes out on top in two weeks, at Pocono Raceway.<\/p>\n<h3>The charm of old school<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10570\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10570\" style=\"width: 2560px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10570 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/FXOgPodWAAEAhQX-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/FXOgPodWAAEAhQX-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/FXOgPodWAAEAhQX-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/FXOgPodWAAEAhQX-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/FXOgPodWAAEAhQX-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/FXOgPodWAAEAhQX-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/FXOgPodWAAEAhQX-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10570\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">LEXINGTON, Ohio &#8211; JULY 9: A general view of the tower at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O&#8217;Reilly Auto Parts 150 on July 9, 2022, in Lexington, Ohio. Photo: Tucker White\/LastWordonSports.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In my eight years as a motorsports writer, I&#8217;ve worked NASCAR and IndyCar races at 13 different tracks. Some were modern marvels, like Daytona. Others were rustic, but with an old-school charm, like Darlington, Martinsville, and Talladega.<\/p>\n<p>Mid-Ohio takes the cake in the old school department.<\/p>\n<p>You have wood-walled garage stalls.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There\u2019s a lot of old school charm with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mid_Ohio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Mid_Ohio<\/a>. Particularly the wood-walled garage stalls!<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NASCAR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NASCAR<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CPo7z68z9x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/CPo7z68z9x<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tucker White (@TuckerWhite94) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TuckerWhite94\/status\/1545440665080930305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 8, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>You have the ease of walkability (at least when you know your way around).<\/p>\n<p>You have a wood-walled media center that feels like a cabin I&#8217;d rent in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, like Darlington, it&#8217;s over 10 miles from the nearest interstate. While Darlington, however, is just a stone&#8217;s throw from its namesake downtown, Mid-Ohio is in the middle of miles and miles of fields, houses up next to the roads and in the heart of Amish country.<\/p>\n<p>No, really. They had the horse, buggies and attire that you&#8217;d associate with Amish people. I counted about 10 Amish horse buggies that I passed, as I drove to and from the track.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve seen people pour rum into their solo cups at the Indianapolis 500, before 7 a.m., and that was less of a cultural whiplash than seeing a NASCAR hauler pass an Amish horse buggy!<\/p>\n<p>As a bit of a racing purist, myself, I felt right at home at Mid-Ohio.<\/p>\n<p>I can&#8217;t wait to work another race at this track!<\/p>\n<p><strong>TOP IMAGE: Ben Jackson\/Getty Images<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Parker Kligerman flashing his talent and the Truck Series playoff picture to old-school charm, here&#8217;s Three Big Stories from Mid-Ohio. LEXINGTON, Ohio &#8212; Just as soon as it arrived, the NASCAR circus packed up and moved on from Mid-Ohio. Just as quickly as it arrived, the @NASCAR_Trucks Series circus packs up and leaves @Mid_Ohio [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3353,"featured_media":10568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,1666],"tags":[1188,14,1550,1704,1705],"class_list":["post-10567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-nascar","category-nascar-camping-world-truck-series","tag-mid-ohio-sports-car-course","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-2022","tag-oreilly-auto-parts-150","tag-parker-kligerman"],"modified_by":"Nathan Reynolds","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}