June 12, 2026 | By Brandon White, ARCARacing.com

Gio Ruggiero takes fourth ARCA Menards Series victory of 2026 at Pocono

LONG POND, Pa.—No driver has been more dominant in the ARCA Menards Series this year than Gio Ruggiero.

In five appearances on the 2026 season, the full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor has now visited Victory Lane four times. Friday’s Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150 at Pocono Raceway was his most flawless race to date, as he dominated throughout on his way to a more than 14 second victory.

Winning has become routine for Ruggiero in the ARCA Menards Series, but even he was pleasantly surprised with how fast his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota was. Ruggiero missed out on the pole by more than a tenth, but he kept his confidence to deliver one of the most efficient runs of his career.

“I thought we were good in practice, but didn’t know we were going to be that quick,” Ruggiero said. “That was definitely domination, not by me, but by this whole No. 18 crew. Everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing works so hard and I’m just proud to be part of the group.

“It’d be really cool if JGR could sweep the whole weekend and I had to be the one to start it.”

Pocono was a much-needed change of pace for Ruggiero, who had to earn his last two ARCA Menards Series victories by being clutch in the waning moments.

Although he led 50 laps at Kansas Speedway, Ruggiero needed two overtime attempts to re-take control of the race for his second win. At Michigan International Speedway, a perfect restart from Ruggiero got him the lead shortly before Mother Nature brought premature end to the race on Lap 57.

After initially taking the lead on Lap 8, the only time Ruggiero lost the lead was when Ryan Vargas went off sequence during a mid-race caution period and inherited the lead. Ruggiero easily dispatched Vargas on the ensuing restart and didn’t face any opposition the rest of the afternoon, pulling away to a comfortable victory.

Ruggiero’s triumph was the third for Gibbs’ ARCA Menards Series program at Pocono. Riley Herbst claimed the first victory for the organization at Pocono in 2017 and while Ty Gibbs took home a victory in the No. 18 in 2020.

A proud tradition continued for Gibbs through Ruggiero in the ARCA Menards Series’ first trip to Pocono since 2023. Only a handful of opportunities remain for Ruggiero in Gibbs No. 18 this year, which is why he wants to keep capitalizing on the raw speed the No. 18 team always has while balancing out his title pursuit in the Truck Series.

Ruggiero does not see any reason why he and Gibbs cannot win all the ARCA Menards Series races left on their schedule.

“[Gibbs does] such a great job,” Ruggiero said. “Obviously, this is one of the most competitive cars in the series and I’m just really thankful to have the opportunity to drive it.”

Gavan Boschele overcame a blown tire early in the Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150 to finish second after passing third-place finisher Carson Brown on the last lap. ARCA Menards Series points leader Jake Bollman placed fourth, with Lanie Buice rounding out the top five after starting on pole.

The rest of the top 10 consisted of Thomas Annunziata, Daniel Dye, Jade Avedisian, Jason Kitzmiller and Vargas.

The ARCA Menards Series heads back to a short track next weekend with a visit to Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. The green flag for the Herr’s Snacks 200 will wave at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday evening, with live coverage on FS2.


RACE RESULTS (Pocono)

Pos No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff
1 18 Gio Ruggiero First Auto Group Toyota 60
2 25 Gavan Boschele* Toyota Racing Toyota 60 14.342
3 28 Carson Brown* Distributor Wire And Cable Chevrolet 60 15.16
4 20 Jake Bollman* Nitro Motorsports Toyota 60 16.721
5 77 Lanie Buice* Sunoco Chevrolet 60 17.511
6 70 Thomas Annunziata JBL Toyota 60 23.314
7 24 Daniel Dye Champion Container Corporation Chevrolet 60 24.514
8 15 Jade Avedisian* Mobil 1 Toyota 60 31.807
9 97 Jason Kitzmiller A.L.L. Construction/Carter Cat Chevrolet 60 33.179
10 91 Ryan Vargas Maples Motorsports Ford 60 39.816
11 79 Isaac Kitzmiller* A.L.L. Construction/Carter Cat Chevrolet 60 48.288
12 12 Takuma Koga Mannen/Fast Track Racing Toyota 59 1 Lap
13 55 Isabella Robusto Yahoo! Toyota 58 2 Laps
14 10 Ed Pompa WildForLifeInc.com/Double H Ranch Chevrolet 58 2 Laps
15 03 Alex Clubb Ferrel Gas/Blue Rhino Ford 56 4 Laps
16 86 Jeff Maconi* Chasity Tucker Realtor Ford 00:00.0 4 Laps
17 06 Brayton Laster PeerlessPump.com Chevrolet 00:00.0 6 Laps
18 99 Michael Maples Castle Packs Power Products Chevrolet 00:00.0 7 Laps
19 8 Sean Corr Nesco Bus Sales/Suffolk Transport Svcs/The Trans Group Chevrolet 00:00.0 44 Laps
20 11 Dustin Hillenburg* Hessert Chevrolet Ford 00:00.0 46 Laps
21 22 Nick White* Brooks Dockside Seafood Chevrolet 00:00.0 48 Laps
22 48 Brad Smith The Hillman Family of Companies Ford 00:00.0 53 Laps
23 89 Bobby Earnhardt Colony Ammo Chevrolet 00:00.0 56 Laps
24 66 Dystany Spurlock* Foxtecca Ford 00:00.0 57 Laps



CURRENT ARCA MENARDS SERIES STANDINGS

THrough June 12, 2026

1    Jake Bollman 8 0 5 7 0 782 6 0 7.3 6.1 8 1,192.95 7 348 
2    Thomas Annunziata 8 0 3 6 0 774 0 0 10.1 10.1 7 1,171.99 6 321 -27
3    Ryan Vargas 8 0 0 4 0 776 3 0 14.4 11.1 8 1,186.66 4 315 -33
4    Isabella Robusto 8 0 1 4 0 699 16 0 14.5 14.5 6 1,029.11 4 288 -60
5    Jason Kitzmiller 8 0 0 4 0 747 0 0 13.3 15.5 5 1,112.44 4 278 -70
6    Takuma Koga 8 0 0 0 0 728 0 0 18.1 17.3 7 1,145.26 2 264 -84
7    Andy Jankowiak 7 1 1 2 0 641 1 0 11.6 14.1 6 968.61 3 263 -85
8    Michael Maples 8 0 0 0 0 600 0 0 19.3 19.1 7 1,051.05 1 249 -99
9    Giovanni Ruggiero 5 4 5 5 0 385 161 0 3.8 1.8 5 838.16 5 231 -117
10    Alex Clubb 8 0 0 0 0 698 0 0 21.6 22.3 7 1,011.67 0 224 -124