Gio Ruggiero won the pole, led the most laps and held off the pack at Talladega Superspeedway to claim his first career win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in Friday’s (Oct. 17) Love’s RV Stop 225.
Ruggiero held off one final move in the trioval from his TRICON teammate Corey Heim to claim the victory; Heim had to settle for second but claimed his 19th top-five finish on the season.
“It feels great,” Ruggiero told FOX. “I’m so thankful to be here.
“Just super thankful for all the guys on the No. 17 truck. They definitely brought the best piece today. We showed in qualifying and there throughout the race. …
” Just thanks to everybody at Toyota and everybody who supports me. It’s great to win a race with my mom and dad here as well.”
Ty Majeski finished in third with heavy damage while Dawson Sutton finished a career-best fourth. After a chaotic day, Layne Riggs rallied to round out the top five.
Tyler Ankrum finished sixth. Matt Crafton crossed the line in seventh, with Corey LaJoie right behind him in eighth. Playoff drivers Rajah Caruth and Kaden Honeycutt rounded out the top 10.
Ruggiero took command at the start with a push from Heim as the bottom line surged ahead and the top line faded.
On lap four, playoff contender Grant Enfinger was sent spinning after contact from Chandler Smith. Enfinger spun across the track into the path of Jake Garcia, who made heavy contact with the front of Enfinger’s truck. Majeski and a few others also sustained damage in the incident.
Ruggiero continued to lead with Ben Rhodes challenging alongside before another caution when Riggs was sent into the side of Connor Mosack after a push from Smith. Riggs and Mosack both sustained minor damage but were able to continue.
Select drivers pitted under the caution for fuel, handing the front row to Heim and Caruth for the following restart. With a push from Rhodes, Heim took the lead as the field battled behind.
With four to go in the stage, Caruth surged ahead of Heim as the field continued to battle for stage points. As the stage wound down, Caruth’s teammate LaJoie took the fight to Caruth for the stage win.
In a photo finish, Caruth edged LaJoie at the line to collect his first stage win of 2025, along with 10 valuable points in his pursuit to make the Championship 4.
JJ Yeley and Ruggiero began the second stage up front, with Ruggiero prevailing ahead with a push from Riggs.
The field continued to battle two-by-two with Ruggiero and Luke Fenhaus leading the top and bottom lanes before Riggs went up the racetrack due to a left front tire failure. As the field stacked up, Bret Holmes spun into the inside wall to bring out the fourth caution of the race.
The race restarted with five to go in stage two, and Ruggiero made a bold move to take the lead from Fenhaus. Ruggerio’s lead was short-lived, however, as Caruth pulled alongside.
On the final lap of the stage, the field ran two-by-two until Ruggiero took control after a push from Honeycutt. Ruggiero took the stage with playoff drivers Honeycutt and Caruth claiming second and third, respectively.
The final stage kicked off with Parker Kligerman up front along with Tanner Gray as many of the leaders came to pit road. Gray led the way as the field ran single file on the bottom.
With under 35 to go, Daniel Hemric blew a tire and was rear-ended by Toni Breidinger in turns 3 and 4. No caution was thrown as many of the leaders began to make their final green flag pitstops.
After pit stops, Ruggiero drove to the front as the field began to jockey for positions behind. With 21 laps to go, the seventh caution was thrown when Norm Benning’s engine caught fire in turns 1 and 2.
Ruggiero led the field to the restart with Rhodes alongside. Rhodes, after receiving a push by teammate Fenhaus, took the lead exiting turn 2.
The top five ran single file as the top line led by LaJoie attempted to make its way forward. With three to go, the TRICON teammates of Ruggiero and Heim made their move to get alongside Rhodes.
With two laps left, Rhodes and Fenhaus spun as Fenhaus attempted to give a push to Rhodes on the exit of turn 2. No other drivers were involved, and the caution setup for an overtime finish to close it out.
TRICON teammates Ruggiero and Heim chose the bottom on the ensuing restart with Spire teammates LaJoie and Caruth choosing the top. Ruggiero inched ahead on the restart as they headed to the white flag.
On the final lap, the outside lane attempted to close, but Ruggiero received a push from teammate Heim which was enough to claim his first series victory in a TRICON 1-2 finish.
As the playoff drivers enter Martinsville’s elimination race, Caruth sits 14 points above the cutline with Ankrum eight points above. Honeycutt sits as last driver above with five points over Majeski and six points over Riggs. Hemric and Enfinger’s rough days have them sitting 32 and 40 points below, respectively.
Love’s RV Stop 225 Results
The final race of the Round of 8 for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series takes place at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, Oct. 24, with coverage beginning at 6 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
