- Gio Ruggiero of Joe Gibbs Racing earns his fourth win in five starts this season.
- Rookies Carson Brown, Gavan Boschele round out the top three finishers.
- Lanie Buice becomes seventh female driver in series history to win a pole position.
LONG POND, Pa. (June 12, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Gio Ruggiero turned in a dominant performance, leading 51 of the 60 laps en route to victory in Friday’s ARCA Menards Series Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150 at Pocono Raceway.
Ruggiero (No. 18 First Auto Group Toyota), also a full-time driver in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, earned his fourth ARCA Menards Series victory in just five starts with a decisive margin of victory of 14.342 seconds over Gavin Boschele of Nitro Motorsports. Ruggiero’s previous wins came at Daytona, Kansas and Michigan and his only miss on the season was a solid fifth-place effort at Talladega.
“I definitely thought we were good in practice, but didn’t know we were going to be that quick,” said Ruggiero, the 21-year-old native of Seekonk, Mass. “Definitely was domination here, but not by me, by this whole 18 crew. Everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing works so hard, really collective as a team working together. I’m just proud to be part of the group. I was thinking about it this morning – it’d be really cool if JGR could sweep the whole weekend, and I had to be the one to start it.”
Rookie Lanie Buice won the pole position earlier in the day with a lap of 166.593 miles per hour (54.024 seconds), becoming the seventh female driver in series history to earn a pole and the first to do so at Pocono Raceway.
Buice, a 19-year-old driver with Pinnacle Racing Group, led the opening lap before Ruggiero took command of the race. He took the lead for the first time on Lap 8 and relinquished the point briefly after Lap 22 during a caution period when the leaders pitted, and Ryan Vargas stayed out.
Ruggiero regained the lead on Lap 25 and cruised from there to the comfortable victory. He was followed by four rookies to round out the top five. Boschele finished second, 17-year-old Carson Brown of Pinnacle Racing Group placed third, Nitro Motorsports driver Jake Bollman took fourth and Buice placed fifth. Buice’s fifth-place finish was the best performance by a female in the ARCA Menards Series since Erin Crocker recorded the same result in 2007.
Click HERE for full race results.
On Tap: Saturday’s on-track activity includes both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will open with practice (10:30 a.m.) and qualifying (11:35 a.m.), and close with the MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA race (4 p.m.). The NASCAR Cup Series makes its first appearance on track with practice (1 p.m.) and qualifying (2:10 p.m.).
For tickets or additional information about The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISIT PA race weekend, please visit www.poconoraceway.com.
About Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway, also known as ‘The Tricky Triangle,’ is family-owned and situated in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. In business for over 60 years, the Raceway hosts multiple, national motorsports events including the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series events. The facility’s calendar also consists of over 300 events including Elements Music & Arts Festival and a wide range of entertainment events, car clubs and racing schools. Pocono Raceway is recognized as the world’s first, privately-owned solar-powered sports facility. Their 25-acre, three-megawatt solar farm provides the energy needs of the Raceway, as well as, adds electricity to the local power grid. Each member of our raceway staff is committed to creating exciting experiences and lifelong memories. For more information, please visit www.poconoraceway.com.
