Parker Kligerman Gets Short End Of Swan Racing Fallout

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The demise of Swan Racing is something that is sad to see in a sport where money rules supreme. While it’s easy and mostly correct to say that Swan Racing tried to expand too quickly; it’s sad to see a team fall apart. While details about the future of Cole Whitt and Parker Kligerman had been shrouded in uncertainty, most fans were hoping that the rookies would land on their feet. Earlier today we all found out the fate of Swan Racing and it appears that Kligerman is the one that got the short end of the deal when it was all said and done.

Swan Racing has sold their assets.

The No. 26 machine has been sold to BK Racing who will field it as a third car. The good news here is that they will keep Whitt behind the wheel. As a result of this we can expect to see Whitt racing Saturday night in Richmond. The No. 30 machine which was driven by Kligerman has been sold to Xxxtreme Motorsports owner John Cohen. The good thing here is that the majority of the crew from the No. 30 machine at Swan Racing will keep their jobs with the move. However, the new driver of the No. 30 machine for Xxxtreme Motorsports will be JJ Yeley and not Kligerman.

Kligerman will remain under contract with Swan Racing who currently does not have a car for him to drive. Kligerman shared his thoughts on the situation.

"Although it’s unfortunate we are having to scale back, I look forward to the future and the exciting things that I’m confident we will accomplish at Swan Racing or with another team. I value the relationship that I’ve had with Brandon Davis and am very grateful for him giving me an opportunity to compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Whether I continue to race with Brandon and Swan Racing or end up with another team, I will always give it my all on and off track to be the best I can be."

Although Kligerman said all of the right things one would have to imagine that this is hard for him. Losing his ride and watching his teammate still have a ride would be hard for anyone if put into that situation. The added layer to this situation is the fact that there was a point in time where Kligerman thought that he was going to be the only driver at Swan Racing in 2014. Earlier this season Beyond The Flag interviewed Kligerman and we asked him about the end of 2013 and when he was auditioning for a full time ride with Swan Racing.

"Yeah, I knew that they were going to decide on a driver; at the time I thought it would be one (laughter). Homestead was the first time that I knew of possibly a two car operation. I just made sure that we had the best runs that we could possibly have. I thought we had two great and clean runs. I felt that if they were going to decide on one driver that I had the upper hand there. They went with two cars and we are going through that right now."

Hindsight is always 20/20 and it’s clear now that Swan Racing got into things too deep. However, one has to wonder if the operation could have survived had they only fielded one car. If you are to believe Kligerman’s above comment, he clearly feels that if one driver would have been chosen it would have been him. As we all know that was not the case and as of right now Kligerman sits in the same position that he did at Homestead last season and that is without a full time ride.

I am sure that Swan racing will do everything in their power to find Kligerman a ride or partner with someone else who can. However until that happens Kligerman will be on the outside looking in.

Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.