by Toby Christie, TobyChristie.Com
The bad-fast two-day (expanded to a second day after a damp track delay on Tuesday morning) NASCAR Xfinity Series/NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series test at Rockingham Speedway concluded on Wednesday afternoon. While every driver flashed speeds good enough to surpass the track record over the two days, no driver turned a faster lap than NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year contender Gio Ruggiero of Seekonk, MA..
In the first of two NASCAR Truck Series one-hour test sessions on Wednesday, Ruggiero clocked in an impressive 21.888 second lap time driving the No. 17 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, which equates to an average speed of 167.270 mph around the 1.017-mile oval in Rockingham, North Carolina.
Ruggiero narrowly out-paced Kaden Honeycutt, who drives the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports, by 0.029 seconds. Ty Majeski, who turned the fastest lap of the opening day of the test, was third-fastest at 0.095 seconds off Ruggiero’s lap time.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Two-Day Cumulative Best Lap Times
Rank | No. | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Diff | Speed |
|---|
1 | 17 | Gio Ruggiero | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 21.888 | — | 167.270 |
2 | 45 | Kaden Honeycutt | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.917 | 0.029 | 167.048 |
3 | 98 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 21.983 | 0.095 | 166.547 |
4 | 38 | Layne Riggs | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 22.073 | 0.185 | 165.868 |
5 | 91 | Jack Wood | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 22.155 | 0.267 | 165.254 |
6 | 26 | Dawson Sutton | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 22.251 | 0.363 | 164.541 |
7 | 42 | Matt Mills | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 22.298 | 0.410 | 164.194 |
8 | 81 | Connor Mosack | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 22.350 | 0.462 | 163.812 |
9 | 11 | Corey Heim | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 22.398 | 0.510 | 163.461 |
10 | 9 | Grant Enfinger | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 22.403 | 0.515 | 163.425 |
11 | 19 | Daniel Hemric | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 22.405 | 0.517 | 163.410 |
12 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 22.420 | 0.532 | 163.301 |
13 | 38 | Chandler Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 22.435 | 0.547 | 163.191 |
14 | 15 | Tanner Gray | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 22.439 | 0.551 | 163.162 |
15 | 13 | Jake Garcia | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 22.444 | 0.556 | 163.126 |
16 | 5 | Toni Breidinger | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 22.450 | 0.562 | 163.082 |
17 | 71 | Rajah Caruth | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 22.480 | 0.592 | 162.865 |
18 | 77 | Andres Perez de Lara | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 22.484 | 0.596 | 162.836 |
19 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 22.565 | 0.677 | 162.251 |
20 | 7 | Sammy Smith | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 22.574 | 0.686 | 162.187 |
21 | 66 | Luke Fenhaus | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 22.578 | 0.690 | 162.158 |
22 | 18 | Tyler Ankrum | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 22.581 | 0.693 | 162.136 |
23 | 7 | Corey Day | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 22.605 | 0.717 | 161.964 |
24 | 42 | Ross Chastain | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 22.635 | 0.747 | 161.750 |
25 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 22.649 | 0.761 | 161.650 |
26 | 1B | Brandon Jones | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 22.797 | 0.909 | 160.600 |
27 | 1A | Brent Crews | TRICON Garage | Toyota | 22.813 | 0.925 | 160.487 |
28 | 02A | Stefan Parsons | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 22.813 | 0.925 | 160.487 |
29 | 02B | Nathan Byrd | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 23.184 | 1.296 | 157.919 |
30 | 33 | Frankie Muniz | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 23.408 | 1.520 | 156.408 |
31 | 22 | Josh Reaume | Reaume Brothers Racing | Ford | 23.621 | 1.733 | 154.998 |
32 | 76 | Spencer Boyd | Freedom Racing Enterprises | Chevrolet | 23.721 | 1.833 | 154.344 |