Gio Ruggiero holds off Daniel Dye to win ARCA Menards Series race at Kansas

In his first race since he was suspended by NASCAR for inappropriate comments on a livestream, Daniel Dye nearly found himself in Victory Lane. 

But Gio Ruggiero held Dye off in Saturday's Tide 150 at Kansas Speedway, beating the ARCA Menards Series field in a race that saw two overtime restarts. 

Dye had a run in the final corner, was unable to close on Ruggiero as the latter took the checkered flag. 

Ruggiero faded on the last long run of the race and ended up bringing out the yellow with two laps to go after contact with Dystany Spurlock. He then took the lead on the first overtime restart and never gave it back.

"I just couldn't let these guys down and lose the race," Ruggiero told Fox Sports. 

The victory is the second of Ruggiero's ARCA career. Ruggiero is a full-time driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with TRICON Garage.

Notable results

Dye, Jake Bollman, Gavan Boschele and Lanie Buice rounded out the top five, with Jason Kitzmiller, Jade Avedisian, Monty Tipton, Thomas Annunziata and Spurlock completing the top 10. 

Other notable finishers include Ryan Vargas in 11th, Squirrel McNutt in 12th, Jack Wood in 18th, Cleetus McFarland in 20th and Isabella Robusto in 22nd.