Sure, John Ruggiero Jr. runs the house car for Longhorn Chassis. Yes, he works for Hendrick Motorsports. But don’t think of Ruggiero having big money behind him, necessarily. He rolls into races with just this modest open trailer. And, he wins.
Ruggiero’s most recent example came on Monday. He finished first in the $10,000-to-win American All-Star Series Presented by PPM Racing Products feature at Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Virginia.
A Winning Mentality Instilled in John Ruggiero Jr.
Away from the track, John Ruggiero Jr. works as an electrical guy on the Cup cars for Hendrick Motorsports. There, he builds wiring harnesses and installs electrical components. Before that, Ruggiero was a fabricator. Hendrick, with more than 300 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series, instilled in Ruggiero the mentality of a winner.
“We got to do whatever it takes to win,” Ruggiero said of working at Hendrick. “Everybody comes into work knowing they have everything necessary to go out and build cars that can win races. I try to keep the same mentality in my shop, making sure I got everything I need, everything that’s necessary, and if I don’t have it, I’ll get it.”
One thing Ruggiero didn’t deem necessary was a toter home with a stacker trailer. He picked up this open trailer in 2020 and refurbished it himself. Since then, he’s traveled as far as Volusia Speedway Park in De Leon Springs, Florida, from his hometown of Lincolnton, North Carolina, a 500-mile-or-so haul.
“[A stacker trailer] is certainly nice, for the convenience of it,” said Ruggiero, “but it’s nothing that’s make or break when it comes to who’s going to be standing in victory lane.
“I had a 40-foot gooseneck trailer. The back door wasn’t wide enough for my late model to fit in. We were getting aggravated with scraping up the sides or dealing with the quarter panels hitting or scratching something. The fuel mileage was terrible because it was so heavy. We sat back and thought about what we needed. There’s really nothing better than an open trailer.”
The Advantages of an Open Trailer
John Ruggiero Jr. loves what an open trailer brings to the table.
“You pull into a gas station and people are always looking, taking pictures, asking questions,” Ruggiero said. “Going down the interstate, people are waving at you. I love the feeling of an open trailer, because it’s simple and it gets people interested in what you got.”
With that kind of promotion, no wonder why Longhorn Chassis picked Ruggiero as their guy to run the Longhorn house crate car this year. However, some questioned if he really runs the house car when he pulls in with his open trailer.
“[Longhorn] made it clear if I needed to use their trailer or toter home, it’s available,” said Ruggiero. “It’s one of them deals where I know what I got in my trailer. The big thing is making sure you have what’s necessary to be competitive. Some guys can do it with an open trailer, but there are other guys who got a stacker trailer, bringing another car, shock dynos and spring smashers. But I never felt like I was at a disadvantage because I didn’t have that stuff at the track with me.”
It’s hard to argue against that. John Ruggiero Jr. led from start to finish at Wythe Raceway, proving that a trailer doesn’t necessarily win the race. Or maybe, with all the advantages Ruggiero outlined, the trailer did.
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Outside Groove is a sponsor of the American All-Star Series. The American All-Star Series paid for the production of this article. The content is not subject to the approval of the American All-Star Series.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
