Gio Ruggiero wins ARCA Kansas race after run-in with Dystany Spurlock

TL;DR

Gio Ruggiero won the ARCA Kansas race after a late incident with Dystany Spurlock. Ruggiero moved into the lead during the restart, while Jack Wood was involved in a separate collision.

Key points

Gio Ruggiero won the ARCA Kansas race.
Dystany Spurlock spun out after being hit by Ruggiero.
The incident triggered a caution during the race.
Ruggiero took the lead on the restart.
Jack Wood was involved in a collision with Gavan Boschele.

Gio RuggieroDystany SpurlockJack WoodGavan Boschele

Motorsport photo

Gio Ruggiero was running third with just a few laps to go in Saturday's ARCA race at Kansas, and Jack Wood appeared to be in position to win the race.

However, Ruggiero got into the back of Dystany Spurlock while trying to lap her, sending the No. 66 spinning sideways. Making her national ARCA debut, Spurlock regained control of the car on the apron, but the incident triggered a caution.

On the restart, Ruggiero took Wood three-wide for the race lead, powering into the top spot. Unfortunately for Wood, he never got the opportunity to fight back as he got turned down the backstretch in contact with Gavan Boschele.

Ruggiero then fended off Daniel Dye (making his first start since being suspended for insensitive comments) in overtime, winning the race for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Ruggiero has now won in both of his ARCA starts so far this year, also prevailing at Daytona.

"You just got to do whatever it takes to win," remarked Ruggiero. That's what I did. I thought we had a really strong car, and I just couldn't let these guys down and win the race ... definitely executed on those last restarts and did whatever it took."

Of course, there was some controversy over how those restarts came about, with Ruggiero's run-in with Spurlock triggering the yellow that would help him take the lead.

On the contact, Ruggiero said: "I was just trying to work lapped traffic really aggressive to catch the leaders or try to run them down. Really struggling with a loose balance. Just kind of misjudged it. I think she turned down. I'm not sure if she was trying to go to the top or the bottom, but just gotta work on that stuff. Happy to get the win."

Behind Ruggiero and Dye, Jake Bollman finished third, Gavan Boschele fourth, and Lanie Buice fifth. Despite the half-spin late in the race, Spurlock still held on for tenth in her national ARCA Menards Series debut.

Cleetus McFarland was also in the race, but finished 20th after a late-race engine failure.