Joe Gibbs Racing has announced that Gio Ruggiero will make his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Daytona in the No. 19 car. He will follow that up by running the same race and car the following week at EchoPark Speedway.
Ruggiero is running a full Craftsman Truck Series schedule for TRICON Garage in 2026, plus select ARCA Menards Series races this season for Joe Gibbs Racing. A pipeline driver for the Toyota Racing Development, Ruggiero will fill in for Brent Crews until he is old enough to race at Superspeedways.
With this new update, Ruggiero will race twice at Daytona and do triple duty at EchoPark Speedway, where the ARCA Menards Series will make its season debut.
Brent Crews Awaits 18th Birthday
Joe Gibbs Racing has Crews slated to run a full-time schedule in the No. 19 O'Reilly Series Toyota GR Supra. However, he is subject to limitations until his 18th birthday on March 30. This brings his schedule down to 29 total races.
Under NASCAR's participation guidelines, a racer must be 17 years old to race ovals and 18 years old to race superspeedways. That guideline limits Crews for another few weeks, and takes him out of the NASCAR opening stretch that runs back-to-back superspeedways to open the season.
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Fans React to Gio Ruggiero in the O'Reilly Series
- "Does JGR hate Corey Heim?" one fan exclaimed
- Other fans ask about the status of Aric Almirola and Ryan Truex.
- "Any status on the No. 11 car?"
Speculation can shift towards promise for the No. 11 car. It is listed part-time for the series under Joe Gibbs Racing. With Ruggiero getting the bump over an experienced superspeedway driver like Almirola, it suggests that he will race in the No. 11. Until that becomes official, this remains all speculative. The No. 11 is not entered at Daytona.
What This Means for Gio Ruggiero, Toyota Racing Development?
Ruggiero is 21 years old from Massachusetts. In 2025, he debuted for TRICON Garage in their Toyota, winning one race and 11 top-10 finishes in 25 races. Ruggiero would finish the season in 11th place as the second-best Toyota, behind Kayden Honeycutt. He did gain the honor of "Rookie of the Year."
In the ARCA Menards Series, Ruggiero has 12 career starts. Though with zero victories, he has nine top-5 finishes in those 12 races. In the ARCA Menards Series East, Ruggiero has nine career starts with one win and six top-5 finishes.
The options for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota would have been either Ruggiero or Heim. Given Heim's new undertaking in the No. 67 23XI Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series, the load is taken off him and given to their next brightest star — Gio Ruggiero.
Ruggiero will aim to perform well at Daytona and EchoPark Speedway. According to Racing Reference, Ruggiero has his 2nd-best average finish on superspeedways (6.5), with road courses his only superior (3.0) in the Craftsman Truck Series. If Ruggiero can show promise this season, he can further his case for a full-time ride upgrade to the O'Reilly Series in 2027.