Gio Ruggiero wins pole for NASCAR Truck Series race at Charlotte

Gio Ruggiero. Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Gio Ruggiero wins first career pole for NASCAR Truck Series race at Charlotte

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated May 23, 2025 5:38 PM ET

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rookie Gio Ruggiero won his first career pole on Friday afternoon at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Ruggiero will lead the 34-truck field to the green flag for Friday's North Carolina Education Lottery 200. He is the fifth Truck Series driver to win their first career pole at Charlotte.

"It feels good," Ruggiero told Fox Sports. "I think we have a really good truck going into the race tonight."

First Kennametal Pole Award for @Gio_Ruggiero1.

The No. 17 will be seeing green first tonight at @CLTMotorSpdwy! pic.twitter.com/EJZHe2qxaA
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) May 23, 2025

Tanner Gray earned his third consecutive front-row start at Charlotte, with Corey Heim, Ross Chastain and Kaden Honeycutt rounding out the top five. Daniel Hemric, Layne Riggs, Rajah Caruth, Chandler Smith and Jake Garcia complete the top 10. TRICON Garage swept the top-three qualifying spots, doing so for the first time in team history.

Other notable qualifying efforts include defending Truck Series champion Ty Majeski in 11th, Kyle Busch in 12th, Grant Enfinger in 18th, BJ McLeod in 19th and Toni Breidinger in 25th.

Stewart Friesen will start 32nd after his truck lost power as he began his qualifying run.

The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 will go green shortly after 8:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Nick Sanchez is the defending winner.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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