LINCOLN, Ala. — Gio Ruggiero led the most laps in Friday evening’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Talladega and earned his first career win.

Getty Images/NASCAR

Ruggiero bagged his first win in any of the top three NASCAR national series after leading 37 of the 90 laps run Friday. He finished ninth in the first stage and claimed the second stage en route to the win from the pole.

The victory took some effort. Ruggiero and teammate Corey Heim sat third behind ThorSport Racing teammates Ben Rhodes and Luke Fenhaus as the laps ticked down. Ruggiero and Heim eventually made the move and took the lead with two laps left in regulation.

While Rhodes and Fenhaus’s effort to thwart the TRICON duo ended up in a spin off of turn two that sent the race into overtime, Ruggiero and Heim held on to finish 1-2.

Getty Images/NASCAR

Ruggiero is the seventh first-time winner in 20 Truck races at Talladega. The other first-time Truck winners at Talladega are:

Parker Kligerman: 2012

Grant Enfinger: 2016

Spencer Boyd: 2019

Raphael Lessard: 2020

Tate Fogleman: 2021

Matt DiBenedetto: 2022

Getty Images/NASCAR

TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 90): Gio Ruggiero, Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, Dawson Sutton, Layne Riggs, Tyler Ankrum, Matt Crafton, Corey LaJoie, Rajah Caruth, Kaden Honeycutt.

LaJoie and Caruth finished eighth and ninth after coming into the tri-oval leading the outside lane with momentum. LaJoie raced side-by-side with Heim until Caruth appeared to pull out of line, either on his own accord or from Tanner Gray giving them a bad push.

Regardless, Caruth leaves Talladega at 14 points above the cutline after earning a race-high 18 stage points on the day.

On the other end were Daniel Hemric and Grant Enfinger. They finished 34th and 36th after damage took them out of the race. Enfinger exited the race after three laps while Hemric exited after 52 laps.

They will need to win at Martinsville to join Corey Heim in the Championship 4.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoff standings after Talladega

Corey Heim WIN

Rajah Caruth +14

Tyler Ankrum +8

Kaden Honeycutt +5

Ty Majeski -5

Layne Riggs -5

Daniel Hemric -32

Grant Enfinger -40

Full NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Talladega rundown

Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.

A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.

Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick’s final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers’ stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.

Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com