UPDATE: Parker Kligerman was disqualified in post-race technical inspection for a height violation, handing Corey Heim and TRICON Garage the victory. The DQ also elevates sixth place Justin Haley into the top five and 11th place Frankie Muniz into the top 10. With the DQ, Muniz earned his first career top 10 finish and Reaume Brothers Racing had multiple entries finish in the top 10 for the first time. Kligerman’s team Henderson Motorsports will appeal the disqualification.
Parker Kligerman may not be racing full time in NASCAR anymore, but his drive to win is as strong as ever, as he took the checkered flag first in Friday’s Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona to open the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series season.
The victory is the fourth of Kligerman’s Truck Series career and the first since Mid-Ohio in 2022. Kligerman led two laps after starting in 23rd in his No. 75 Chevrolet Silverado.
“Biggest win of my entire life!”, Kligerman said in his post-race interview. “I’m out of breath, I can’t believe it”.
This is what it means to win at @DAYTONA. pic.twitter.com/3PZFABuHzI
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) February 15, 2025
Corey Heim finished runner-up to Kligerman in his No. 11 Toyota Tundra. Heim picked up where he left off last season, earning his fourth straight top 10 finish dating back to the 2024 campaign. Rookie Gio Ruggiero, Heim’s teammate, finished one spot behind Heim in third. Ruggiero, making his NASCAR National Series debut, was one of two TRICON Garage drivers to finish inside the top ten in their Daytona debut as well.
Rounding out the top five was 2024 Truck Series champion Ty Majeski and 2024 Championship Four contender Grant Enfinger. Both drivers were looking for strong starts to make it back to Phoenix in the fall, and both were able to do so.
Justin Haley, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Jason White, and William Sawalich completed the top ten. White’s ninth place finish is the best of his Truck Series career and his second career top 10 finish. Sawalich, like Ruggiero, was making his first Truck Series start at Daytona and will also be participating in Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series and Xfinity Series races.
RELATED: Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona Results
ThorSport Racing teammates Ben Rhodes and Ty Majeski, last season’s champion, led the field to green to begin the 2025 Truck Series season. Prior to the green flag, however, Connor Mosack’s No. 81 Chevrolet was towed to the garage due to mechanical issues.
The first caution of the season flew shortly after on lap four, as Kaden Honeycutt spun from the lead out of turn four and hit the inside wall. The damage to the No. 45 was too severe to continue, leaving Honeycutt with a DNF in his first Daytona start.
.@KadenWHoneycutt gets loose in front of the field and slides into the inside wall! pic.twitter.com/vnKsQuq8pF
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) February 15, 2025
Rhodes and Tanner Gray paced the field back to green, with the pair leading each line until Grant Enfinger broke through and took the lead with six laps remaining in stage one. One lap later, Toni Breidinger’s No. 5 Toyota went for a spin in turn four in almost identical fashion to Honeycutt’s spin. Breidinger’s driver side door hit the inside wall, causing her to lose a lap while her crew made repairs.
The caution created a one lap shootout for the stage one victory, with Rhodes and Grant Enfinger leading the field to it. Rhodes was able to fend off the field for the stage win after a big push from teammate Johnny Sauter. During the stage caution, Rhodes had the hood up on his truck on pit road while his crew made a mechanical repair.
Daniel Hemric and Justin Haley led the field to the stage two green flag, with Haley quickly assuming the lead. By the midway point in the stage, the ThorSport entries of Rhodes, Majeski, Johnny Sauter, and Matt Crafton made their way to the front of the field. The longest tenured Truck Series team dominated the remainder of the segment, with Crafton picking up the stage victory over teammates Rhodes and Majeski.
Corey Heim and Hemric led the field through the gears to begin the race’s final stage, with the No. 19 jumping out to the lead. Shortly after, Hemric’s teammate Tyler Ankrum lost the engine in his No. 18 Chevrolet, bringing the caution back out. Dawson Sutton, making his Daytona debut, spun in the oil dropped by Ankrum’s truck but did not hit anything and was able to continue.
Chandler Smith, making his first start for Front Row Motorsports, ascended to the lead following the restart, with Hemric and Enfinger in tow. On the ensuing round of green flag pit stops, Enfinger received major rear end damage after contact from Timmy Hill, and also received a pass-through penalty for speeding, as the contact sent him onto pit road over the limit.
Before the cycle was completed, the caution flew on lap 70 for an accident involving Clay Greenfield. The No. 95 got loose out of turn four and spun into the inside wall in almost the same spot as Breidinger and Honeycutt earlier in the race. Greenfield’s damage was too significant for him to continue, leaving him out of the race.
Rookie Gio Ruggiero and Tanner Gray led the field back to green with 25 laps to go, with fellow TRICON Garage driver Corey Heim joining them at the front. The pack continued to race more aggressively until lap 83, when the big one finally struck after contact between Jack Wood and Rhodes. Among the drivers involved were Spire Motorsports teammates Michael McDowell and Rajah Caruth, stage two winner Matt Crafton, Ty Majeski, Toni Breidinger, and Nathan Byrd. Of the drivers involved, Byrd and Caruth retired from the race due to their damage.
Big trouble down the backstretch!
Multiple trucks are involved! pic.twitter.com/EnRCVvMw1y
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) February 15, 2025
After an extended caution to clean up debris, the race resumed with 12 laps remaining, with Ruggiero reassuming the lead. The field eventually became single file, with the three TRICON trucks leading the charge. Coming to four laps remaining, Ruggiero got shuffled out, handing the lead to Bayley Currey. A lap later, Currey was also shuffled out, giving Rhodes the top spot. On the final lap, contact between Rhodes and Sauter sent the ThorSport teammates around. Parker Kligerman assumed the lead after the contact, and after a secondary spin from Layne Riggs that collected other drivers, the caution flag was thrown, giving Kligerman the race win.
Leaving Daytona, Ty Majeski leads Heim and Chandler Smith by one point for the points lead. Layne Riggs, despite crashing on the last lap, was the inaugural winner of the Xfinity Fastest Lap and received one bonus point. The next Craftsman Truck Series race is scheduled for Saturday, February 22, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and will be broadcast by FS1.
