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NASCAR Truck Star Gio Ruggiero Avoids Going Bald With Dramatic Talladega Win

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Gowtham Ramalingam | Last updated Oct 18, 2025 7:48 AM ET

NASCAR has produced a brand new winner in the form of 19-year-old Gio Ruggiero. The Tricon Garage rookie held off his teammate Corey Heim in a two-lap overtime battle to the checkered flag to secure victory in Friday's Love’s RV Stop 225. For one reason more than most, he will be immensely relieved that he was able to achieve this feat.

Word is that Ruggiero had promised that he would shave his head completely bald on Instagram Live if he failed to win at least one of the final seven races of the Craftsman Truck Series season. That's quite the self-imposed dare a driver can have. Fortunately, though, the racing gods aren't ready to see him in that avatar yet.

Tricon Garage's social media team pulled his leg on X, writing, "bro dodged a bullet ‍"

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A post shared by TRICON Garage (@tricongarage)

The youngster led 37 of the 90 laps in the race after winning pole position. He had taken the lead with two laps remaining in the schedule and held his position through overtime to reach the checkered flag 0.059 seconds ahead of Heim. Overall, it was a very solid day that ended in great relief for him.

The Massachusetts native told the press, "Super thankful all the guys on this 17 truck, they worked their butts off today and definitely brought the best piece today. We showed it in qualifying and throughout the race that we had the fastest piece. Thanks to Toyota and everybody who supports me. Great to win a race with my mom and dad here."

The Special Place Ruggiero Holds With Tricon

Ruggiero is only the second driver behind Heim to ever secure a victory for Tricon Garage. The last time a driver not named Heim won for the team was Ryan Preece in 2022. But back then, it was known as DGR-Crosley and fielded Ford trucks instead of Toyotas.

bro dodged a bullet ‍ https://t.co/TPiRs2QUa6
— TRICON (@TRICONGarage) October 17, 2025

With the strong performances he has been putting, it was only a matter of time before he reached Victory Lane. Now that he has, it might open the floodgates for him to achieve a lot more. There was a lot of question about how Tricon might hold up when Heim moves up the NASCAR ladder next season. The answer is now apparent.

Ruggiero will fill up the shoes capably in 2026 if he decides to stick to his seat. Also, he will be crowned as the Rookie of the Year after the Talladega performance. The only hope now is that he takes after Heim and hits the ground running next season to secure a championship with a head full of hair.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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