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Dillon, South Carolina’s Cody McKenzie Joins Parker Kligerman In NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs

by Hunter Thomas September 22, 2024 0 comments

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Cody McKenzie, who is a native of Dillon, SC, is gearing up for his second NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs after driver, Parker Kligerman earned enough points at Bristol Motor Speedway to advance to the Round of 12.

McKenzie grew up in motorsports, and in his high school years at Dillon Christian School, he could be found competing at Dillon Motor Speedway. Now, the 30-year-old is serving as a Race Engineer for Big Machine Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

“I’m primarily responsible for the setup and making sure that the sim work is done, and that the physical car matches what we run on the simulator,” McKenzie said. “We can make adjustments for whatever the driver’s feedback is and keep track of notes and things like that.”

The Pee Dee region native has been working at Big Machine Racing on behalf of Richard Childress Racing (RCR) since November 2021. RCR has a technical alliance with the team, so McKenzie is serving his role in the overall success of the organization. So far this year, the team has amassed four top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in the first 26 races of the season.

McKenzie is no stranger to the NASCAR Playoffs. In fact, in his second season at Big Machine Racing, Kligerman and the team advanced and finished out the 2023 season 10^th in the standings. On Friday night in the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kligerman finished 16^th and earned enough points to compete for this year’s championship. Now, McKenzie and the team are hoping to advance even deeper into the Playoffs than they did last year.

“It’s really good,” McKenzie said. “We made the Playoffs last year, and then we come back this year and do it again. We actually made the owner’s Playoffs too this year, so we’re really excited about that. Really happy for all the hard work everybody has put in at Big Machine Racing. I’m looking forward to the challenge, and we’ll go get them next week.”

When you think of the Postseason, you typically think of added pressure; however, McKenzie isn’t feeling any added pressure because he and his teammates unload and try to win every single weekend.

“It’s just business as usual,” McKenzie said. “It really isn’t that much more pressure for me – it feels the same. I want to win every week. We do a good job keeping up with, you know, finishing strong.”

McKenzie has been competing in NASCAR’s highest levels since 2018, when he was hired as a Simulation Engineer by RCR. He then served as a part-time Race Engineer in 2021 for Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 NASCAR Cup Series team, which had a technical alliance with RCR. During his time on NASCAR’s highest level, McKenzie even experienced victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after AJ Allmendinger won the Verizon 200 at The Brickyard in 2021.

McKenzie studied Computational Physics at Francis Marion University, and he holds an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University.

The opening round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will get underway on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Kansas Speedway. The Kansas Lottery 300 will broadcast live on CW at 4 p.m. ET. Last year, Kligerman and the Big Machine Racing team finished fourth at Kansas Speedway.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com