With a sixth place run in the Snowball Derby earlier in the month, Gio Ruggiero concluded his run as a full-time Super Late Model driver and part-time ARCA prospect and now turns his attention to Daytona International Speedway in February.
With wins in marquee events like the Winchester 400 and regional championships, not to mention an ARCA East win at Pensacola, 2025 will be about learning a completely different discipline of racing and will be paired with good people at Tricon Garage to do it.
“It’s super awesome,” Ruggiero said. “I’m really excited for it. I think we will have a chance to run really well. I’m really fortunate and excited to be able to do this with a good team too.”
With that said, the 18-year-old from Seekonk, Massachusetts has set realistic goals too.
“I definitely have high expectations for myself,” Ruggiero said. “I want to go for rookie of the year. That’s goal number one. But really, it’s about the process, just trying to put together good races, run up front and learn as much as I can.”
Much of his homework, he suspects, is going to center around the aerodynamics of racing on big tracks and a platform that is nothing like the Super Late Model or ARCA cars.
“They have a really good simulator program to get me ready and having Corey (Heim) as a teammate is going to be really helpful,” he said. “There are a lot of tools that I can’t wait to take advantage of.”
Lastly, Ruggiero will still make occasional Super Late Model starts where his schedule allows, both to continue improving as check off some additional big wins. He still wants the Derby.
“I definitely can see us coming back here next year,” he said of the Derby. “We’ve had some good runs in this race and its one I want to win for sure.”
His Late Model tenure was split between two of the best teams in the category, Anthony Campi Racing and then Donnie Wilson Motorsports.
“A lot of good people helped me stay on track and keep getting better and I made a lot of friends here too.”
