In just his 13th career ARCA Menards National Series start, Truck Series regular Gio Ruggiero earned his first career win in the series at Daytona International Speedway on a late race restart. The 20-year-old held off a late surging Jake Bollman off Turn 4 to grab the checkered flag after starting in the ninth position. The win was a bit of redemption for Ruggiero after being in contention to win Friday night’s race but ending up in the runner-up spot.
“Yeah, it’s awesome, obviously I wanted to win last night and came up short, so got one more to win in the afternoon (O’Reilly Auto Parts Series),” Ruggiero told Fox Sports 1 in his post-race interview. “The race got hectic there at the end. I was just trying to push our lane forward, and the 15 (Jake Finch) got squirrely in front of me and lost it. That was unfortunate for him, but I’m glad we came out with the win.”
The issue forced the No. 55 Nitro Motorsports car behind the wall after it failed to shift into gear and ran at low RPM, ending her bid for the win and any shot at a strong finish.
The ARCA Menards Series opened its 2026 season Saturday afternoon with the first race of the year. Veteran driver Gus Dean, who piloted the No. 25 Nitro Motorsports Toyota, claimed the pole Friday afternoon with a time of 49.13 seconds at 183.176 mph. It was his first pole since 2018 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. His Nitro Motorsports teammate, Jake Bollman, originally had the pole, but his time was disallowed after failing post qualifying tech, which then moved Dean up a spot.
Like Friday night’s race, there were numerous stars in the field. They included YouTube sensation Cleetus McFarland, also known as Garrett Mitchell, making another career ARCA start. Bobby Dale Earnhardt, the grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt, was also in the field. The RAM Race for the Seat winner, Timothy “Mini” Tyrell, made his ARCA debut as well.
The race saw an action-packed originally scheduled 80 laps, but went into overtime following a late-race accident on the backstretch. It involved two race leaders and teammates, Finch and Dean, who wrecked each other after a strong push from Ruggiero. Finch went in front of the field and took Dean with him, resulting in a DNF for both cars. Fortunately, no other cars were involved in the incident.
Throughout the race, there were six cautions, including a final caution with two laps to go, that slowed the General Tire 200. The first caution came on Lap 6 for Mini Tyrell, who spun on the backstretch. The backstretch would be the place for a few more cautions. On Lap 17, Wesley Slimp in the No. 90 spun on the backstretch with a left-rear tire going down. Then, at Lap 39, just one lap before the halfway break on Lap 40, Caleb Costner in the No. 93 stalled on the back straightaway.
At the halfway mark, it was leader Daniel Dye, Ruggiero, Thomas Annunziata, Jack Wood, Dean, Bollman, Finch, Mitchell, Jason Kitzmiller and Isabella Robusto, rounding out the Top 10. Unfortunately for Robusto, who had a strong showing early and led at times, was pushed behind the wall for gear problems. The issue forced the No. 55 Nitro Motorsports car behind the wall after it failed to shift into gear and ran at low RPM, ending her bid for the win and any shot at a strong finish.
After the halfway break, Ruggiero showed some speed by trying to make the second line work. Two laps later, with 28 to go, another yellow flag was thrown as the No. 9 of Presley Sorah wrecked in Turns 3 and 4. The race went green shortly afterward, but the yellow came out once more with 13 laps to go when Alli Owens went up in smoke going into Turn 1. She spun and collected the No. 8 of Sean Corr, and both wound up wrecked. A brief red flag was displayed for oil cleanup.
Then, in a late race restart with eight to go, as the cars went on the backstretch, Jason Kitzmiller in the No. 97 pushed Thomas Annunziata into the No. 70 and sent him spinning toward the wall, bringing out an extended fifth caution. Due to this incident, the caution period was extended. Then, while running under caution in the 10th position, rookie Taylor Reimer began having mechanical issues. This forced her to go behind the wall and relegated her to a 30th-place finish due to a dead battery.
McFarland was running one lap down before the yellow, but he was able to get his lap back, thanks to the lucky dog.
With two laps to go, Finch and Dean were hoping to give Nitro Motorsports a banner day by finishing one-two with Ruggiero lurking in the third position. Unfortunately, the two Nitro cars were involved in a wreck, forcing the event into an overtime situation. This meant the white flag would be displayed at the same time as the green flag. There was a spin involving Tim Richmond on the backstretch on the last lap, but no yellow was thrown, allowing the event to stay green.
Ruggiero had enough momentum to hold off the cars behind him and grab the victory. It was his first win at Daytona.
“Coming here this weekend, obviously had three races and three chances to win, so that was my goal,” Ruggiero told MRN Radio in victory lane. “Still disappointed about last night, especially with the strong truck we had, but hats off to this 18-team. They brought such a fast car and did a really good job at the end there to make the moves that we did and came home with the win. We have one (O’Reilly Auto Parts Series) later in the day, so going to try and get two today. It’s a good way to start the day.”
The victory was a special one for Ruggiero as he won with the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with Coach Joe Gibbs in attendance and in victory lane. The number has held a lot of significance throughout the years in NASCAR. Ruggiero was able to add his name to the list of winners in the No. 18 car with the win.
“Yeah, it’s awesome, I’ve had a couple of close chances now to win in this car, especially losing some of the races on restarts, so I finally got one.”
The victory was Ruggiero’s first in his 13th ARCA Menards Series National platform start. Ruggiero led twice for six laps en route to victory.
Bollman, Kole Raz, Dye, Glen Reen, Wood, Kitzmiller, Ryan Vargas, Bobby Earnhardt, and Andy Jankowiak rounded out the top-10. Cleetus McFarland secured the 11th position.
There were seven cautions for 32 laps and seven lead changes with six different drivers.
Official Results Following The General Tire 200 at Daytona International Speedway
- Gio Ruggiero led six laps
- Jake Bollman
- Kole Raz
- Daniel Dye led 20 laps
- Glen Reen
- Jack Wood
- Jason Kitzmiller
- Ryan Vargas – led one lap
- Bobby Earnhardt
- Andy Jankowiak
- Garrett Mitchell
- Michael Maples
- Bryce Applegate
- A.J. Moyer
- Robbie Kennealy
- Takuma Koga
- Willie Mullins
- Bryce Haugeberg
- Hunter Deshautelle
- Jake Finch – led 32 laps
- Ed Pompa
- Eric Caudell
- Tim Richmond
- Charles Weslowski, 1 lap down
- Brad Smith, 2 laps down
- Thomas Annunziata, 2 laps down
- Presley Sorah, 2 laps down
- Bryan Dauzat, 4 laps down
- Gus Dean led 15 laps, OUT, Accident
- Taylor Reimer, 5 laps down
- Con Nicolopoulos, 6 laps down
- Caleb Costner, 12 laps down
- Sean Corr, OUT, Accident
- Alli Owens, OUT, Accident
- Wesley Slimp, OUT, Mechanical
- Alex Clubb, OUT, Mechanical
- Isabella Robusto – led 10 laps, OUT, Mechanical
- Timothy Tyrell, OUT, Mechanical
- Derek White, OUT, Mechanical
- Ryan Huff, OUT, Mechanical
Up Next – The next event for the ARCA Menards Series is the General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway, Thursday night, March 5th, live on FS1 at 6 p.m./ET. This will be a combination event with the ARCA Menards West Series.
