A Talladega Turnaround? Destin's Team 42 giving it another run while Team 48 skips
The weather may be the only thing standing between Team 42 and a good race this weekend in the Nationwide Series at Talladega Speedway.
“Right now I’m just hoping it doesn’t rain,” said Destin’s Eddie Smith, owner of the No. 42, Smith/Penske Dodge.
The Weather Channel is calling for a 60 percent chance of rain on Saturday.
Thus far, Team 42 with rookie driver Parker Kligerman behind the wheel, has finished 22nd in the Stater Bros. 300 in Fontana and then 35th in Las Vegas due to transmission problems.
A couple of weeks ago they gave it another try at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Scotts Turf Builder 300.
Team 42 had a good practice run, but in the qualifying round “he made a rookie mistake,” Smith said.
Kligerman gave it a little too much gas, started to lose control on the turn and over corrected and wrecked.
“It’s hard not to get discouraged,” Smith said. “But it’ll turn around … hopefully this weekend at Talladega.”
Smith said he plans to head over to Talladega today. Team 42 will be on the track Thursday for practice and Friday is the qualifying round. Race day is Saturday.
“We’ve raced this car at Talladega before,” Smith said. “I know it’ll run up front.”
All Kligerman has to do is “hold it down and turn left,” Smith said.
The other Destin-owned Nationwide team, Blanton Motorsports Inc., is not making the trip to Talladega with its Team 48 Chevy.
“We're working hard, building cars,” Darrell Blanton said. “At the beginning of the season we planned on running four races, and that's still the plan. It's just going to be a different four races.”
Andrew Metz contributed to this story.
