The young driver Tristan McKee, at just 16 years old, has secured the championship title of the East division of the ARCA Menard’s Series 2026, surpassing Max Reaves in the final race held at Bristol Motor Speedway.
McKee, who is part of the Spire Motorsports development, entered the race with a mere one-point advantage over Joe Gibbs Racing’s rising star. Despite the pressure, he kept ahead of Reaves for almost the entire competition.
The race victory went to Carson Brown, who led all the laps. McKee, on his part, finished in second place. Reaves, who fell to seventh in the final restart, recovered to fourth but crossed the finish line 3.8 seconds behind the new champion.
McKee expressed his satisfaction with the victory: ‘I feel really good. It means a lot to win a championship in ARCA and to start in the lower categories of NASCAR. It’s been a good year, and we knew we had to give it our all here today.’
Throughout the season, McKee has stood out with four victories in a total of eight races, never finishing below third place. Reaves, for his part, has also shown his talent, winning two ARCA East races this year.
Additionally, McKee recently debuted in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Spire, managing to finish among the top ten in his first two outings. In fact, he finished eighth in Richmond and sixth in Loudon.
McKee will participate in the truck race in Bristol immediately after the ARCA race this Thursday, which promises to be another exciting opportunity for the young driver.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
