For the fourth time in five races this season, Gio Ruggiero has found victory lane in the ARCA Menards Series, winning dominantly at Pocono Raceway on June 12.
Though Ruggiero didn’t start on the pole, after an early caution, he was able to take the lead on the first restart of the race and never looked back.
By the time the checkered flag flew, his lead over second place was nearly the full length of the front straightaway.
“I didn’t know we were going to be that quick,” Ruggiero told FOX Sports post-race. “I was thinking about it this morning that it would be really cool if Joe Gibbs Racing could sweep the whole weekend, and I got to be the one to start it.”
The second-place battle offered more to be desired than the lead did. It was Gavan Boschele who took the spot, making the pass during the white flag over Carson Brown. Boschele was able to overcome a flat tire that put him a lap down early in the going. Brown ended up finishing third.
Points leader Jake Bollman crossed the line in fourth, and polesitter Lanie Buice was able to hold on to a top-five finish in fifth. Buice has now finished fifth in all three of her starts this season.
“This is such a fun journey, I’m really determined to figure it out,” Buice told FOX Sports. “I feel like we should’ve finished a lot better, I have to go back to work and figure out what I have to do better.”
Thomas Annunziata, Daniel Dye, Jade Avedisian, Jason Kitzmiller and Ryan Vargas rounded out the top 10.
Buice utilized a strong push from Dye on the initial start to lead the opening lap but missed turn one on the following circuit. This allowed Dye to take the lead, with Ruggiero settling into second early in the going.
The chaos of the initial start had just begun to show signs of settling when the first caution flew on lap five. Bobby Dale Earnhardt backed his No. 89 into the turn 3 wall, forcing the yellow.
Buice returned the favor to Dye on the first restart of the race, but it was Ruggiero who came away with possession of the lead after a lap. Isabella Robusto made an unscheduled pit stop from inside the top 10 early in this green-flag cycle as well, citing a flat tire.
Back up front, Ruggiero was able to pull out to a five-second lead over Boschele, but the second caution of the day was for the driver of the No. 25. Boschele stopped on the exit of turn 1 with a flat tire, bringing out the yellow. He lost the tire on the frontstretch, spreading debris behind the car and putting him a lap down.
Boschele’s caution forced a short run leading up to the lap 30 scheduled caution. Vargas led the field back to the green flag with five laps to run, though he was left out to dry on the restart by the cars with fresher tires. That paved the way for Ruggiero to regain the lead, with Buice and Bollman following suit behind him. The running order didn’t change much ahead of the scheduled caution, but Ruggiero was able to extend his lead to just over two seconds in the short green-flag period.
Ruggiero received a beneficial push from Bollman on the restart out of the race break, propelling him back to sole possession of the lead by the time the field reached turn 1. However, it was Brown making the biggest moves on the restart, gaining a handful of positions and putting himself into second.
Bollman’s day would not finish without some drama, as he made contact with Takuma Koga while lapping him inside of 10 laps to go. Bollman suffered heavy right-side damage but continued, despite losing a handful of positions.
“I kind of got messed up with the lapped cars, but what are you going to do,” Bollman told FOX. “Our consistency is what keeps our points lead going, and we’ll be going for a win sometime or another.”
Ruggiero never truly had much competition for the lead under the final green-flag run of the race, extending his lead to well over 10 seconds by the time the checkered flag flew.
ARCA Pocono Results
The series will return next Saturday, June 20, at Berlin Raceway. The green flag for will fly at 6:30 p.m. ET, with television coverage being carried out by FOX Sports 2.
Josh joined Frontstretch in 2023 and currently covers the ARCA Menards Series. Born and raised in Missouri, Josh has been watching motorsports since 2005. He currently is studying for a Mass Communication degree at Lindenwood University
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