Mark J. Rebilas - Imagn Images
19-year-old Gio Ruggiero has had a strong start to the 2026 NASCAR Truck Series season, sitting fourth in the point standings for Tricon Garage. But he could well have been even further up if not for a controversial call on a late restart Friday at Watkins Glen.
Ruggiero took the penultimate restart of the race on lap 68 on the front row alongside leader Connor Zilisch. However, he was sent to the back of the pack after NASCAR deemed that he jumped the restart, launching before Zilisch, who was in control of the race at the time.
Video of the incident, meanwhile, suggests that’s something else entirely.
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
NASCAR Missed Call Against Gio Ruggiero That May Have Cost Him Race Win
Upon replay, it appears that fellow driver Brendan Queen, who restarted behind Ruggiero, was the one who launched early, pushing Ruggiero out ahead of Zilisch.
“I think it was just a bad call, obviously, I didn’t jump the restart,” Ruggiero told Frontstretch after the race.
“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
“I think we just gave the No. 11 team (eventual race-winner Kaden Honeycutt) a nice gift there. We definitely would’ve won the race or had a close battle with the No. 71 (Zilisch). (I’m) Just really happy with the fact that we were going to be on the front row for the final two restarts of the last two weeks and to be in contention to win.
“…We were just apologized to. It was a bad call, like I said,” Ruggiero added. “But there’s really nothing (NASCAR) can do about it now. So it’s unfortunate, but (I’ve) got to focus forward and on to Dover.”
Eventually, points leader Kaden Honeycutt went on to pass Zilisch for the lead on the final restart and win his career Truck Series race. Ruggiero, meanwhile, battled back for a 15th-place finish.
Had he won, Ruggiero would’ve sat second in the points behind Honeycutt. Instead, he’s left with a hollow apology and the question of what could have been if not for the blown call.