LONG POND, Pa. – No driver has been more dominant in the ARCA Menards Series this year than Gio Ruggiero.

In five appearances on the 2026 season, the full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor has now visited Victory Lane four times. Friday’s Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150 at Pocono Raceway was his most flawless race to date, as he dominated throughout on his way to a more than 14 second victory.

RELATED: Complete results from the Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150

Winning has become routine for Ruggiero in the ARCA Menards Series, but even he was pleasantly surprised with how fast his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota was. Ruggiero missed out on the pole by more than a tenth, but he kept his confidence to deliver one of the most efficient runs of his career.

“I thought we were good in practice, but didn’t know we were going to be that quick,” Ruggiero said. “That was definitely domination, not by me, but by this whole No. 18 crew. Everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing works so hard and I’m just proud to be part of the group.

“It’d be really cool if JGR could sweep the whole weekend and I had to be the one to start it.”

Pocono was a much-needed change of pace for Ruggiero, who had to earn his last two ARCA Menards Series victories by being clutch in the waning moments.

Although he led 50 laps at Kansas Speedway, Ruggiero needed two overtime attempts to re-take control of the race for his second win. At Michigan International Speedway, a perfect restart from Ruggiero got him the lead shortly before Mother Nature brought premature end to the race on Lap 57.

After initially taking the lead on Lap 8, the only time Ruggiero lost the lead was when Ryan Vargas went off sequence during a mid-race caution period and inherited the lead. Ruggiero easily dispatched Vargas on the ensuing restart and didn’t face any opposition the rest of the afternoon, pulling away to a comfortable victory.

Ruggiero’s triumph was the third for Gibbs’ ARCA Menards Series program at Pocono. Riley Herbst claimed the first victory for the organization at Pocono in 2017 and while Ty Gibbs took home a victory in the No. 18 in 2020.

A proud tradition continued for Gibbs through Ruggiero in the ARCA Menards Series’ first trip to Pocono since 2023. Only a handful of opportunities remain for Ruggiero in Gibbs No. 18 this year, which is why he wants to keep capitalizing on the raw speed the No. 18 team always has while balancing out his title pursuit in the Truck Series.

Ruggiero does not see any reason why he and Gibbs cannot win all the ARCA Menards Series races left on their schedule.

“[Gibbs does] such a great job,” Ruggiero said. “Obviously, this is one of the most competitive cars in the series and I’m just really thankful to have the opportunity to drive it.”

Gavan Boschele overcame a blown tire early in the Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150 to finish second after passing third-place finisher Carson Brown on the last lap. ARCA Menards Series points leader Jake Bollman placed fourth, with Lanie Buice rounding out the top five after starting on pole.

The rest of the top 10 consisted of Thomas Annunziata, Daniel Dye, Jade Avedisian, Jason Kitzmiller and Vargas.

The ARCA Menards Series heads back to a short track next weekend with a visit to Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. The green flag for the Herr’s Snacks 200 will wave at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday evening, with live coverage on FS2.