Gio Ruggiero, at 19 years old, is officially a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race-winner.
The Seekonk, Massachusetts-native was able to outlast his TRICON Garage teammate, Corey Heim, and make it to the start-finish line first to win Friday’s Love’s RV Stops 225 at Talladega Superspeedway.
It’s the first career victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Ruggiero, and the first driver other than Corey Heim to win for TRICON Garage under the team’s current branding.
Corey Heim finished in the runner-up position, just 0.059 seconds behind Ruggiero. It’s the 30th closest finish in the history of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the closest finish in the series since Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Spring.
Defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ty Majeski came home in third place despite the immense damage to his ThorSport Racing entry, with Dawson Sutton picking up a solid fourth-place result in the No. 26 for Rackley WAR.
Layne Riggs rounded out the top five. Tyler Ankrum, Matt Crafton, Corey LaJoie, Rajah Caruth, and Kaden Honeycutt rounded out the top-10.
Only Daniel Hemric and Grant Enfinger, who were collected in an incident on the fourth lap of Friday’s event, finished outside the top-10 of those in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs.
Race Results:
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Laps | Diff | Status | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 17 | Giovanni Ruggiero | TRICON Garage First Auto Group Toyota | 90 | Running | 52 | |
| 2 | 3 | 11 | Corey Heim | TRICON Garage Safelite Toyota | 90 | 0.059 | Running | 45 |
| 3 | 2 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing Soda Sense / Curb Records Ford | 90 | 0.185 | Running | 34 |
| 4 | 12 | 26 | Dawson Sutton | Rackley WAR Rackley Roofing Chevrolet | 90 | 0.218 | Running | 36 |
| 5 | 35 | 34 | Layne Riggs | Front Row Motorsports Love's RV Stop Ford | 90 | 0.32 | Running | 32 |
| 6 | 8 | 18 | Tyler Ankrum | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing LiUNA! Chevrolet | 90 | 0.374 | Running | 39 |
| 7 | 4 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing Menards / Jack Links Ford | 90 | 0.389 | Running | 31 |
| 8 | 18 | 77 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports Gainbridge Chevrolet | 90 | 0.398 | Running | 43 |
| 9 | 11 | 71 | Rajah Caruth | Spire Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 90 | 0.445 | Running | 46 |
| 10 | 5 | 52 | Kaden Honeycutt | Halmar Friesen Racing Halmar International Toyota | 90 | 0.469 | Running | 41 |
| 11 | 13 | 16 | Kris Wright | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet | 90 | 0.474 | Running | 26 |
| 12 | 10 | 15 | Tanner Gray | TRICON Garage Place of Hope Toyota | 90 | 0.475 | Running | 25 |
| 13 | 16 | 7 | JJ Yeley | Spire Motorsports Delaware Life Chevrolet | 90 | 0.595 | Running | 38 |
| 14 | 14 | 81 | Connor Mosack | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing FOJ Foundation Chevrolet | 90 | 0.604 | Running | 26 |
| 15 | 19 | 76 | Spencer Boyd | Freedom Racing Enterprises Tibbetts Lumber Chevrolet | 90 | 0.665 | Running | 22 |
| 16 | 7 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing TYM Ford | 90 | 0.688 | Running | 27 |
| 17 | 22 | 44 | Andres Perez De Lara | Niece Motorsports Telcel Chevrolet | 90 | 0.706 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 31 | 02 | Nathan Byrd | Young's Motorsports GMS Chevrolet | 90 | 0.78 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 23 | 42 | Matt Mills | Niece Motorsports J.F. Electric Chevrolet | 90 | 0.84 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 28 | 33 | Frankie Muniz | Reaume Brothers Racing More Core Ford | 90 | 0.872 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 24 | 91 | Jack Wood | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet | 90 | 0.928 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 25 | 38 | Chandler Smith | Front Row Motorsports Wheelers Ford | 90 | 16.31 | Running | 15 |
| 23 | 6 | 66 | Luke Fenhaus | ThorSport Racing Soda Sense Ford | 90 | 5.244 | Running | 20 |
| 24 | 29 | 2 | Josh Reaume | Reaume Brothers Racing Aerial Titans Ford | 89 | 1 lap | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 34 | 35 | Greg Van Alst | Greg Van Alst Motorsports Top Choice Fence Toyota | 88 | 2 laps | Running | 12 |
| 26 | 21 | 75 | Parker Kligerman | Henderson Motorsports Pickers Vodka Chevrolet | 87 | 3 laps | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 27 | 69 | Tyler Tomassi | MBM Motorsports Elly Productions Ford | 87 | 3 laps | Running | 10 |
| 28 | 9 | 1 | Bret Holmes | TRICON Garage ShopTRICON.com Toyota | 87 | 3 laps | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 26 | 13 | Jake Garcia | ThorSport Racing Quanta Services Ford | 87 | 3 laps | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 33 | 22 | Jason White | Reaume Brothers Racing Powder Ventures Ford | 83 | 7 laps | Mechanical | 7 |
| 31 | 20 | 45 | Bayley Currey | Niece Motorsports DQS Solutions & Staffing Chevrolet | 68 | 22 laps | Mechanical | 6 |
| 32 | 32 | 6 | Norm Benning | Norm Benning Racing MDIA Inc. Chevrolet | 55 | 35 laps | Mechanical | 5 |
| 33 | 30 | 5 | Toni Breidinger | TRICON Garage Coach Toyota | 54 | 36 laps | Accident | 4 |
| 34 | 17 | 19 | Daniel Hemric | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet | 52 | 38 laps | Accident | 4 |
| 35 | 36 | 74 | Caleb Costner | Mike Harmon Racing Ironside Forestry Toyota | 43 | 47 laps | Mechanical | 2 |
| 36 | 15 | 9 | Grant Enfinger | CR7 Motorsports Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet | 3 | 87 laps | Accident | 1 |
