During its tenure on NASCAR’s National Series schedules, Talladega Superspeedway has developed a knack for rewarding drivers with their first career victories. On Friday, the beneficiary of that very practice was Gio Ruggiero.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rookie was successful in parking his No. 17 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in Victory Lane in the Love’s RV Stop 225, defeating his TRICON Garage teammate Corey Heim by 0.059 seconds for the triumph.
While the 2.66-mile superspeedway has awarded some “fluke” victories in the past, Friday’s win by Ruggiero was anything but that, as the 19-year-old put his First Auto Group-sponsored machine on the pole, led a race-high 37 laps, and put himself in position to fight off the pack to cross the start-finish line first.
It’s the first career victory for Ruggiero, who in two starts on traditional superspeedways in the NASCAR Truck Series has never finished worse than second-place. However, it’s also the first win for TRICON Garage (since the team rebranded from David Gilliland Racing) that hasn’t come courtesy of Corey Heim.
RACE RESULTS: 2025 NASCAR Truck Series Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega
“It feels great. I’m so thankful to be here, just super thankful for all the guys on the No. 17 truck, they work their ass off, and they definitely brought the best piece today, we showed it in qualifying and there throughout the race, we definitely had the fastest piece,” said Ruggiero.”Thanks to everyone at Toyota [GAZOO Racing] and everyone that supports me, it’s great to win a race with my Mom and Dad here.”
With a Margin of Victory (MOV) clocking in at 0.059 seconds, Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway was the 30th-closest finish in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history, and the closest since February’s photo finish between Kyle Busch and Stewart Friesen at EchoPark Speedway.
Corey Heim, the only driver guaranteed a spot in the Championship 4, finished in the runner-up position on Friday. Heim, a 10-time winner on the season, won the series’ only other traditional superspeedway event earlier this year at Daytona International Speedway.
Defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ty Majeski, in his final season driving the No. 98 Ford F-150 (before moving to the iconic No. 88), finished third despite having a whole whack of damage to his Soda Sense-sponsored entry.
Majeski was one of (about) seven drivers collected in a multi-truck melee on the fourth lap of Friday’s 90-lap contest, which was triggered after a sketchy push from Chandler Smith to NASCAR Truck Series Playoffs driver Grant Enfinger.
Dawson Sutton, another young rookie driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, had an impressive showing throughout Friday’s event at Talladega, securing a career-best fourth in the No. 26 Chevrolet for Rackley WAR — the team that won this event in 2023 with Matt DiBenedetto behind the wheel.
Layne Riggs, who was involved in two incidents throughout Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega, managed to wheel his battered Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 to a top-five finish. It’s an impressive showing for a driver who has faced adversity all weekend, including a pre-race inspection penalty that prohibited them from posting a qualifying time.
Tyler Ankrum brought his McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet home in sixth, with Matt Crafton seventh, Corey LaJoie eighth, and NASCAR Truck Series Playoffs drivers Rajah Caruth and Kaden Honeycutt rounding out the top-10, in ninth and tenth.
Kris Wright recorded a career-best finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on Friday, finishing 11th in the No. 16 FNB Corporation Chevrolet, a fifth entry for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.
The only two NASCAR Truck Series Playoffs drivers that failed to finish inside the top-10 Friday afternoon at Talladega were Daniel Hemric and Grant Enfinger, both of whom sustained significant damage in the fourth-lap accident.
Ben Rhodes, who led the race late before getting spun around at the exit of Turn 2 by ThorSport Racing teammate Luke Fenhaus, had the Xfinity Fastest Lap, posting a 49.783-second lap on the final lap of the Love’s RV Stop 225.
With the middle event in the ‘Round of 8’ now complete, Rajah Caruth (+14), Tyler Ankrum (+8), and Kaden Honeycutt (+5) sit above the cutline, with Ty Majeski (-5), Layne Riggs (-6), Daniel Hemric (-26), and Grant Enfinger (-34) heading into Talladega below the cutline.
Next up for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a trip to Martinsville Speedway, scheduled to take place next Friday, October 24 at 6:30 PM ET on FOX Sports 1.
