April 18, 2026 | By Brandon White, ARCARacing.com

Gio Ruggiero powers tp ARCA Menards Series win at Kansas Speedway

KANSAS CITY, Kansas—In two starts so far during the 2026 ARCA Menards Series season, Gio Ruggiero found Victory Lane in both.

Ruggiero’s second win of the year proved to be slightly more difficult compared to his season-opening triumph at Daytona International Speedway. After fading during the final long green flag run, Ruggiero used two overtime restarts to cycle back to the front and emerge victorious Saturday in the Tide 150 at Kansas Speedway.

Multiple factors motivated Ruggiero’s drive to the win. Not only was he determined to overcome the loss in speed his car experienced in the closing stages, but he also wanted to reward the hard work his entire crew puts in both on and off the track.

“You just got to do whatever it takes to win,” Ruggiero said. “That’s what I did. I thought we had a really strong car, and I just couldn’t let these guys down and lose the race. My crew chief Matt Ross just had a baby, so I needed to get him a nice gift, [which was] to win. I definitely executed on those last restarts and did what it took.”

Ruggiero ended up making his own luck to turn Saturday’s Tide 150 in his favor, albeit unintentionally.

While trying to find his way around the slower car of Dystany Spurlock with three laps remaining, Ruggiero hit her rear bumper and sent her spinning into the infield. Spurlock successfully kept the car out of the wall, but the spin brought out a caution and forced overtime.

Standing in Ruggiero’s way for the ensuing restart was Jack Wood, who possessed one of the quickest cars at Kansas and had passed Ruggiero for the lead a few laps earlier. By lining up as the second car on the inside row, Ruggiero was confident he could overtake Wood if he timed his restart.

Everything went according to plan for Ruggiero. He dove underneath Wood on the frontstretch apron to re-take the lead. Wood’s race ended shortly afterwards when he was turned into the outside retaining wall following contact with Gavan Boschele, leaving Daniel Dye as the next driver up to challenge Ruggiero.

Dye kept Ruggiero in his sightlines during the second and final overtime restart, using the high line to generate momentum. Despite his best efforts, Dye was unable to find his way around the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 and settled for second while Ruggiero took the checkered flag.

Ruggiero’s triumph gave Gibbs’ ARCA Menards Series program its third victory at Kansas. Ty Gibbs earned the organization’s first Kansas win in 2021, with Tanner Gray being responsible for the team’s second checkered flag there during the 2024 season.

For as great as Ruggiero’s day was, he did express some remorse over the circumstances that set up the overtime restarts. Ruggiero wanted to find a clean avenue around Spurlock but was satisfied about turning a miscue on his behalf into another accomplishment for a storied organization like Gibbs.

“I was trying to work lapped traffic really aggressive to catch the leaders, or try to run them down,” Ruggiero said. “I was really struggling with a loose balance. Just kind of misjudged it, but I think [Spurlock] turned down, not sure if she was trying to go to the top or the bottom. Just got to work on that stuff, but I’m happy to get the win.”

ARCA Menards Series points leader Jake Bollman enjoyed another solid outing by coming home third. Boschele followed his Nitro Motorsports teammate home in fourth, with Lanie Buice completing the top five.

The rest of the top 10 finishers in the Tide 150 consisted of Jason Kitzmiller, Jade Avedisian, Monty Tipton, Thomas Annunziata and Spurlock.

The ARCA Menards Series immediately jumps back into action next weekend when the series tackles the largest track on the calendar, the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway. Saturday’s Alabama Manufactured Housing 200 commences at 11:30 a.m. CT/12:30 p.m. ET with FS1 providing live coverage.


ARCA MENARDS SERIES TIDE 150 RESULTS

Pos. No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff.
1 18 Gio Ruggiero First Auto Group Toyota 108  –
2 24 Daniel Dye Champion Container Corporation Chevrolet 108 0.19
3 20 Jake Bollman* SynerFuse Toyota 108 0.966
4 25 Gavan Boschele* All-Pro Auto Reconditioning Toyota 108 1.319
5 77 Lanie Buice* Sunoco Chevrolet 108 1.788
6 97 Jason Kitzmiller A.L.L. Construction/Carter Cat Chevrolet 108 2.053
7 15 Jade Avedisian* Yahoo Toyota 108 2.255
8 17 Monty Tipton* Bare Bones Toyota 108 3.304
9 70 Thomas Annunziata JBL Toyota 108 4.137
10 66 Dystany Spurlock* Foxxtecca Ford 107 1 Lap
11 91 Ryan Vargas Maples Motorsports Ford 106 2 Laps
12 0 George Siciliano* Heat Wave  Ford 106 2 Laps
13 89 Bobby Earnhardt Copeland Insurance Agency/Habco Inc Chevrolet 105 3 Laps
14 19 Matt Kemp Maples Motorsports Chevrolet 105 3 Laps
15 3 Alex Clubb Yavapai Bottle Gas Ford 103 5 Laps
16 99 Michael Maples Maples Motorsports Chevrolet 103 5 Laps
17 86 Jeff Maconi* Yavapai Bottle Gas Ford 102 6 Laps
18 28 Jack Wood Chevrolet Performance Chevrolet 101 7 Laps
19 12 Takuma Koga Kusumoto Chemicals Ltd/IKEDO Toyota 101 7 Laps
20 30 Garrett Mitchell* BaldEagle.com Ford 75 33 Laps
21 71 Andy Jankowiak Sbarro Toyota 75 33 Laps
22 55 Isabella Robusto Mobil 1 Toyota 75 33 Laps
23 6 Brayton Laster Peerless Pump.com/Panini Chevrolet 50 58 Laps
24 1 D.L. Wilson Rock Bottom Scrubs LLC Ford 37 71 Laps
25 11 Robbie Kennealy Jan’s Towing Chevrolet 30 78 Laps
26 48 Brad Smith Gary’s Speed Shop Ford 18 90 Laps
27 10 Craig Pellegrini Jr.* Lets Be Frank/Roscoes BBQ of Kansas City Toyota 16 92 Laps
28 69 Will Kimmel Jeff Hill Trailer Sales/Lentini Auto Detailing Ford 6 102 Laps
29 1 Nate Moeller Maples Motorsports Chevrolet 2 106 Laps



CURRENT ARCA MENARDS SERIES STANDINGS

THrough April 18, 2026

Driver Races Win T5 T10 Pole Laps Led Earnings AvSt AvFn Raf Miles LLF Points Diff
1    Jake Bollman 3 0 2 3 0 349 0 0 13.0 3.7 3 529.00 3 115 
2    Jason Kitzmiller 3 0 0 2 0 347 0 0 16.3 9.7 3 527.00 2 103 -12
3    Ryan Vargas 3 0 0 1 0 344 1 0 14.0 12.0 3 523.00 1 97 -18
4    Giovanni Ruggiero 2 2 2 2 0 192 56 0 5.5 1.0 2 372.00 2 95 -20
5    Thomas Annunziata 3 0 1 2 0 347 0 0 14.0 12.7 3 524.00 2 94 -21
6    Michael Maples 3 0 0 0 0 339 0 0 26.0 16.0 3 516.50 1 84 -31
7    Daniel Dye 2 0 2 2 0 192 36 0 11.0 3.0 2 372.00 2 84 -31
8    Andy Jankowiak 3 0 0 1 0 313 0 0 17.0 16.3 2 476.50 1 83 -32
9    Robbie Kennealy 3 0 0 1 0 271 0 0 11.3 16.7 2 412.00 2 82 -33
10    Takuma Koga 3 0 0 0 0 335 0 0 25.7 19.3 3 511.50 1 74 -41
11    Bobby Earnhardt 3 0 0 1 0 190 0 0 18.0 19.7 2 368.50 1 73 -42
12    Monty Tipton 2 0 0 1 0 265 0 0 21.0 10.0 2 319.00 2 68 -47
13    Jack Wood 2 0 0 1 0 185 39 0 6.5 12.0 1 361.50 1 65 -50
14    Alex Clubb 3 0 0 0 0 297 0 0 26.7 24.3 2 414.50 0 59 -56
15    Garrett Mitchell 2 0 0 0 0 159 0 0 15.0 15.5 1 322.50 1 57 -58
16    Isabella Robusto 3 0 0 0 0 267 10 0 7.3 26.7 1 367.50 0 53 -62
17    Jade Avedisian 2 0 0 1 0 250 0 0 14.0 17.5 2 304.00 1 53 -62
18    Carson Brown 1 1 1 1 1 157 157 0 1.0 1.0 1 157.00 1 49 -66
19    Brad Smith 3 0 0 0 0 101 0 0 31.0 30.0 1 233.00 0 42 -73
20    Tristan McKee 1 0 1 1 0 157 0 0 2.0 2.0 1 157.00 1 42 -73