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Giovanni Ruggiero achieves first Truck career pole at Charlotte

Originally posted on SpeedwayMedia.com | By Andrew Kim | Last updated May 24, 2025 11:10 AM ET

Rookie Giovanni Ruggiero notched his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career pole position for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 23.

The event’s starting lineup was determined through a standard practice and qualifying procedure. The field was split into two 25-minute practice sessions. Nest, they participated in one single-lap qualifying session (impound). The groups and qualifying order were determined by metrics that included 70% based on previous race finish by owner and 30% based on owner points standings, with the best-scoring competitors placed in the second group.

During the qualifying session, Ruggiero was the fifth-fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session. He clocked in a pole-winning lap at 178.944 mph in 30.177 seconds, which was enough for him to claim his first-ever top-starting spot for Friday night’s main event at NASCAR’s backyard in Concord, North Carolina.

With the pole, Ruggiero, a first-year Craftsman Truck Series competitor in TRICON Garage’s No. 17 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry, became the 147th competitor overall to win a pole position in the Truck division and the fifth to do so in 2025. Ruggerio’s pole will also mark the fourth time where both a TRICON Garage and a Toyota entry will lead the field to the start of an event this season.

“[The pole] feels good,” Ruggiero, a native of Seekonk, Massachusetts, said. “I think we got a really good truck going into the race tonight. I feel calm, relaxed and just got to go out there and do my thing tonight, be there at the end of the race. That’s the most important thing. My crew chief, Jerame Donley, I think three year in a row, he’s got the pole here now, so that’s pretty cool for him.”

“Going to all these tracks that I’ve never been to try to get up to speed the best I can in practice and kind of learn everything that I can quickly as the race goes on, I’m still learning,” Ruggerio added. “Really excited to be on the pole tonight and have some clean air out front.”

Qualifying Highlights

Ruggiero will share the front row with teammate Tanner Gray, the latter of whom fell short in notching his third consecutive Truck pole at Charlotte as he clocked in his best qualifying lap at 178.719 mph in 30.215 seconds. They will be followed by teammate Corey Heim, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 178.707 mph in 30.217 seconds, as TRICON Garage competitors swept the top-three starting spots.

Ross Chastain, a Cup Series competitor for Trackhouse Racing, will start in fourth place as he will pilot the No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for Niece Motorsports for his second Truck start of the 2025 season. Teammate Kaden Honeycutt will round out the top five by starting in fifth place.

Daniel Hemric, Layne Riggs, Rajah Caruth, Chandler Smith and Jake Garcia completed the top-10 starting spots.

Notably, the following names that include Ty Majeski, Kyle Busch, Brandon Jones, rookie Andres Perez de Lara, Grant Enfinger, BJ McLeod, Ben Rhodes, Tyler Ankrum, Parker Kligerman, rookie Toni Breidinger, Matt Crafton, Timmy Hill, rookie Frankie Muniz and Stewart Friesen will start 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 18th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 31st and 32nd, respectively.

With 34 competitors vying for 34 starting spots, all of the entered competitors made the main event.