LINCOLN, AL - APRIL 24: Gio Ruggiero 18 First Auto Group Toyota during practice for the ARCA Menards Series Alabama Manufactured Housing 200 race on Friday April 24, 2026 at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, AL. Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire AUTO: APR 24 ARCA Menards Series Alabama Manufactured Housing 200 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon953260424091
LINCOLN, AL - APRIL 24: Gio Ruggiero 18 First Auto Group Toyota during practice for the ARCA Menards Series Alabama Manufactured Housing 200 race on Friday April 24, 2026 at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, AL. Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire AUTO: APR 24 ARCA Menards Series Alabama Manufactured Housing 200 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon953260424091
May 10, 2026, 1:04 PM CUT
NASCAR Admits Costly Error After Gio Ruggiero’s Race-Changing Penalty
Right after the NASCAR Truck Series race, the Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at Watkins Glen, Gio Ruggiero spoke to the media and shared his disagreement with the penalty he received from NASCAR. A penalty so hard that it made him lose the victory he was so close to.
In Lap 68 of the race, Ruggiero was ahead of Connor Zilisch and was leading the race. However, he fell victim to a restart penalty as NASCAR deemed his restart was wrongfully executed. As a result, the governing body demoted him to 17th place.
However, NASCAR soon realized its mistake and apologized for it. But it was a simple apology, with no follow-up action. As per Ruggiero's statement, "they were just apologized to."
What happened was that Ruggiero had actually received a bump from Brenden Queen, and that's what pushed Ruggiero's car ahead before he reached the restart zone.
As a consequence of the penalty, Gio Ruggiero came home in 15th place, ahead of Christian Eckes and behind Tyler Reif. This would have been his very first Truck win of the season. Kaden Honeycutt won the race, while Connor Zilisch finished as runner-up.
The penalty also cost Gio Ruggiero enormously, as he lost a significant number of points and failed to move ahead in the Drivers' Standings. As a result, he was upset to say the least.
Upset Gio Ruggiero shared his thoughts
Despite having a brilliant run on Friday in the Watkins Glen Truck Series race, Gio Ruggiero had to settle for 15th place. That too not because of his fault but of NASCAR's. Sharing his thoughts on the same, Ruggiero told Frontstretch after the race:
“I think it was just a bad call, obviously. I didn’t jump the restart. I think we just gave the No. 11 team a nice gift there. We definitely would’ve won the race or had a close battle with the No. 71.
"Really unfortunate from a points standpoint. Everybody on this team works really hard and puts all their time and dedication into this.”
Currently, Gio Ruggiero is in fourth place in the Drivers' Standings with 257 points. He trails Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith, and Layne Riggs by 55, 26, and 12 points, respectively.
Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!
Written by
Sabyasachi Biswas
Edited by
Suyashdeep Sason