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DAYTONA BEACH — It was a NASCAR Truck Series race at Daytona, with everything that comes with that.
The drivers ranged from ages 18 to 73, with celebrity Frankie Muniz sitting (Malcolm) in the middle at 39 years old and finishing 11th on the leaderboard. Turn 4 got slippery, producing multiple hard collisions with the inside wall despite little nudging from other cars. The last-lap jostling resulted in a crash and another yellow.
And the winner was a semi-retired guy. Because of course it was.
Let’s break down Friday’s Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
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Parker Kligerman: Part-time driver, forever Daytona winner
Parker Kligerman has spent a lot of time in Daytona Beach the past month. But Friday was the highlight.
He secured his fourth career Truck Series victory and first since 2022.
At the end of last season, Kligerman left his Xfinity Series seat, flipping the page to full-time broadcasting with NBC and the CW. He saved a little room for part-time Truck racing and other miscellaneous events on the side. He ran the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.
Then came the Fresh From Florida 250.
“Biggest win of my entire life,” he yelled moments after getting out of his car.
Not bad for a part-timer.
Ben Rhodes enjoys start to Friday but places 21st
Ben Rhodes’ fast afternoon became a fast evening.
For the first time since 2018, he won a pole, submitting the fastest average during the afternoon qualifying session. That continued after he led the field to the starting line.
He claimed a Stage 1 victory, his first since 2023, and ended Stage 2 in second.
He slid down to 21st after a last-lap wreck grabbed him.
Turn 4 gets slippery
Maybe the couple of rain drops that fell late in the afternoon left some residue.
Or maybe it was just the Trucks race at Daytona, which tends to see slips and slides and wrecks.
Kaden Honeycutt, Toni Breidinger and Clay Greenfield each brought out yellow flags in the same fashion.
On Lap 4, Honeycutt got loose in Turn 4 and swung hard into the inside wall. A few laps later, after going back to green, Breidinger brought out her own caution, spinning off and colliding with the inside wall.
Finally, on Lap 69, Greenfield simply lost traction and veered into the barrier.
Norm Benning fights off Father Time for respectable Daytona finish
In a race where a teenager — Gio Ruggiero — had a shot in the late stages, we saw a 73-year-old commercial pilot bring home a 15th-place finish.
Norm Benning, who continues to race a couple of times a year, has been around NASCAR for more than 35 years, with most of his racing coming in trucks since 2008.
Haven’t heard of him? Maybe because he’s had zero top-10s in 248 career Truck Series starts, almost entirely with his self-owned team.
Benning has a way to go, though, to match the longevity of Morgan Shepherd, who was still racing in the Xfinity Series at age 77, and James Hylton, who made his last ARCA start at age 79 in 2013.
Frankie Muniz starts rookie Truck Series season in OK fashion at Daytona
Frankie Muniz made his debut as a full-time NASCAR Truck Series racer on the sport’s biggest stage. After pinballing all around the scoring pylon during the 100-lap race, he landed in 11th place Friday night.
The former actor, and “Malcolm in the Middle” star, drives the No. 33 Ford for Reaume Brothers Racing after a 2024 season where he ran a handful of races in three different series. Two years ago, he ran the full ARCA season.
Michael McDowell’s return didn’t end well
Michael McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner, had not run a Truck Series race since 2009, and had run only two in his career.
His Friday night foray showed occasional promise, but in the end, he was caught up in a last-lap crash that dropped him to a finish of 27th. His fellow Cup racer, Justin Haley, also a former Daytona winner (Coke Zero 400), skated through the final crash and finished seventh.
Daniel Hemric, who ran the Cup Series full time for Kaulig Racing last year, is back in the Truck Series full time for the first time since 2018, driving for McAnally Hilgemann Racing. He escaped enough of the trouble to finish eighth.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Truck Series at Daytona: Takeaways from Fresh From Florida 250
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