DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Gio Ruggiero was sitting tenth in the midst of the pack three-wide halfway down the Daytona backstretch on the ultimate lap. Half a lap later, Ruggiero completed second in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Sequence debut.
Driving the No. 17 Toyota for Tricon Storage, the 18-year-old recovered from shedding the lead late and averted the carnage round him within the last mile of Friday’s Recent from Florida 250 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway for a top-five end in his inaugural truck begin. Ruggiero was third on monitor when the yellow flag waved with the checkered, however Parker Kligerman’s No. 75 truck failed post-race inspection after measuring too low on either side of the rear of the car, bumping Corey Heim from runner-up to winner and Ruggiero into second place — a sudden 1-2 end for Tricon Storage.
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Ruggiero, the Seekonk, Mass., native, led 11 laps Friday however was shuffled from the highest spot with 5 laps remaining. Bayley Currey surged the within lane ahead previous Ruggiero earlier than Ruggiero’s Tricon teammates Tanner Grey and Heim determined they wanted to work previous Ruggiero too. However by means of steerage from spotter Frankie Kimmel II, Ruggiero stayed within the sport, missed a number of wrecks by means of the ultimate set of corners and persevered.
“Stuff occurs fast right here, and I used to be main that pack for a few laps,” Ruggiero stated. “And I feel 5 to go is once I misplaced the lead there. However I knew it was coming. I knew they had been going to have strains forming up and it was going to get loopy. So I’m simply glad we may cling on and have a powerful end and a clear truck there for the tip.
“My spotter, Frankie Kimmel, this was my actual first race with him aside from our race final yr, and I assumed he did an ideal job serving to me and training me tonight. I simply dragged brake and tried to maintain the blokes behind me tucked up and pushing me.”
Tricon Storage proprietor David Gilliland was thrilled seeing the rapid outcomes from considered one of his two full-time rookie drivers in Friday’s season opener — however he wasn’t shocked. Ruggiero’s background stems primarily from Late Mannequin racing on his manner by means of the racing ladder however moved to the inventory automotive ranks in 2024 with 10 ARCA Menards Sequence begins.
“From the Rockingham check to him being across the store, I’ve been tremendous, tremendous impressed along with his demeanor and his angle,” Gilliland informed NASCAR.com. “Right now, he impressed me, however actually, 0% shocked at what he completed right now. Actually proud. He had a whole lot of adversity thrown at him right now.”
Certainly, Ruggiero had a flat tire throughout his qualifying run Friday and subsequently had one other flat early in Friday’s 100-lap contest.
“Lots of these younger youngsters can come out right here and go quick,” Gilliland stated. “However to execute and put an entire race collectively … he by no means received panicked, by no means nothing. Simply very, very pleased with him. Very pleased with our group. Tricon Storage executed very, very nicely as a group right now. I used to be simply speaking to our guys — from our crew chiefs speaking to our drivers to spotters, everyone working collectively is hard. I used to be very pleased with everyone at our group.”
Heim, a championship risk in every of the previous two Truck Sequence campaigns, locked into the playoffs as soon as once more, this time through a win within the opening race. However on Friday, he couldn’t assist however discover how nicely Ruggiero tailored to the distinctive problem of superspeedway racing.
“For Gio’s first race, I feel he did an ideal job,” Heim stated. “There’s positively rather a lot to work on normally, however I imply he’s contemporary out of late fashions and a part-time ARCA schedule. I can’t anticipate him to be excellent. To have the ability to put himself in place on the finish of the race is spectacular, together with Tanner and William (Sawalich) as nicely. That is by far the most effective the group has labored collectively which is fairly stunning as a result of there’s a whole lot of rookies. However regardless, pleased with Tricon Storage.”
Subsequent is Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 22 (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the place Ruggiero will try to go for a second straight prime 5 to kick off his Truck Sequence profession.
“It’s actually good momentum headed into the yr, and as nicely to Atlanta being one other superspeedway subsequent weekend,” Ruggiero stated. “However, like my outdated tremendous late mannequin group proprietor Donnie Wilson used to inform me, (if) you end within the prime 5, then the highest threes will come. You end within the prime three, then the wins will come. So if we will hold constructing off this, we’ll get a win quickly.”
