Ruggiero Speeds To First Truck Series Pole At Charlotte
Gio Ruggiero in action at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Jacob Seelman/Race Face Digital photo)
CONCORD, N.C. – Leading a TRICON Garage-dominated qualifying session, rookie Gio Ruggiero earned his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Ruggiero turned a lap of 30.177 seconds (178.944 mph) with the No. 17 First Auto Group Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to snap his teammate Tanner Gray’s streak of two straight Charlotte Truck Series poles.
The 18-year-old from Seekonk, Mass., has four top-10 finishes in his last five races and hopes to notch a breakthrough victory in the epicenter of the NASCAR industry.
“It feels good,” said Ruggiero of topping qualifying for the first time. “I think we’ve got a really good truck for the race tonight. I feel relaxed … and now I’m just going to go out there, do my thing, and see where the chips fall for us. Being there at the end of the race is the most important thing, but we have a fast truck.
“This is three poles in a row at Charlotte for my crew chief, Jerame Donley, so that’s cool for him also.”
Gray still starts on the front row alongside Ruggiero, his third top-two qualifying effort in a row at Charlotte. His lap was 30.215 seconds (178.719 mph) in the No. 15 Black’s Tire Service Toyota.
Point leader Corey Heim completed a sweep of the top three grid spots by TRICON Garage, with the Niece Motorsports duo of Cup Series star Ross Chastain and young gun Kaden Honeycutt filling out the top five.
Sixth through 10th were Daniel Hemric, Layne Riggs, Rajah Caruth, Chandler Smith, and Jake Garcia.
Notables starting deeper in the field include defending series titlist Ty Majeski (11th), all-time series win leader Kyle Busch (12th), rookie Connor Mosack (15th), veteran Grant Enfinger (18th), and multi-time series champions Ben Rhodes (21st) and Matt Crafton (26th).
With 34 trucks entered, no drivers missed the field.
Broadcast coverage of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
The Truck Series race follows the ARCA Menards Series General Tire 150 in a Friday doubleheader.
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