NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Gio Ruggiero said that NASCAR apologized to him after he was penalized for allegedly jumping the start on a restart on lap 69 at the end of the race.
On the restart Ruggiero, is hit from behind by Brenden “Butterbean” Queen right as he is coming to the beginning of the restart zone. During the NASCAR ruled that Ruggiero jumped the restart and started before he got to the line.
Here’s a replay of the restart where Gio Ruggiero was penalized for jumping early.
Gio told Frontstretch he was “apologized to” after the race (video coming soon). NASCAR had no further comment. pic.twitter.com/mK5MQTrJ7C
— Stephen Stumpf (@stephen_stumpf) May 9, 2026
The penalty would send him to the rear of the field and he ended up finishing in 15th. In an interview with FrontStretch following the race, Ruggiero shared that not only did he believe that NASCAR made a bad call, but that he was apologized to.
He said, “I think it was just a bad call. Obviously, you know, I didn’t jump the restart. I think we kinda just gave the 11 (Kaden Honeycutt) team a nice gift there. I definitely think we would have won the race or had a close battle with the 71 (Connor Zilisch).”
Ruggiero was later asked, “Was there any explanation afterward?” He answered, “We were just apologized to. … It was a bad call like I said, but there’s really nothing they can do about it now. So, it’s unfortunate, but gotta focus forward and on to Dover.”
“I think it was just a bad call. I didn’t jump the restart.”@Gio_Ruggiero1 talks about his day and his controversial penalty that took away his chance for the win @WGI. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/VTVhBusgkW
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) May 9, 2026
With Ruggiero being penalized, Kaden Honeycutt restarted on the front row and was able to outduel Connor Zilisch in NASCAR Overtime to get his first win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. It was his second of the day as he also won the ARCA race earlier in the day.
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