MARTINSVILLE, VA — In just his fifth start, Tristan McKee has already written his name in the NASCAR record books.
Piloting the No. 77 Chevrolet truck for Spire Motorsports on Friday, Oct. 30, McKee won the pole at Martinsville Speedway for the night’s race in the Craftsman Truck Series, the Black’s Tire 250. Going around the paperclip-style short track at 96.864 miles-per-hour – making a qualifying lap time of 19.549 seconds – McKee became the youngest pole winner in any of NASCAR’s top three national touring circuits.
At the age of 16 years, two months and 27 days, McKee bested the previous record set by current Cup Series driver Cole Custer. He did it at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway at the age of 16 years, four months and 22 days.
McKee made his NASCAR debut earlier this season at Richmond just 11 days after his 16th birthday and finished eighth in the Truck Series race that day. He became the second-youngest driver to compete in the Truck Series after Casey Atwood, who made his debut at Nashville in 1996 when he was 16 years and six days old.
What were you doing at 16? Tristan McKee just went out and put it on the pole at Martinsville.@kaitlynvincie | @NASCAR_Trucks pic.twitter.com/ylF62ZOEUh
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) October 30, 2026
A native of Williamsburg, Virginia, McKee turned 16 on Aug. 3, which made him eligible to race in the Truck Series on road courses and tracks measuring 1.25 miles or less. In those venues for NASCAR, the speeds are a bit more controlled. Because of the short distances and tight corners, drivers can’t reach the speeds of up to 200 miles per hour that they might at super speedways like Talladega or Daytona.
For Spire, McKee has raced in four Truck Series races this season. In addition to his top-10 finish in his debut at Richmond, he finished sixth at New Hampshire, fifth at Bristol and 14th at Phoenix. At Bristol, he became the youngest driver to finish inside the top-five in the Truck Series.
McKee has been widely viewed as a budding prospect in stockcar racing for several years. He won the pole in a late-model race when he was 10-years-old. He was the first signee to Spire’s Ascent Driver Development Program, and he caught the attention of more folks in motorsports a few years ago when he won a race in the CARS Tour — the series that has Dale Earnhardt Jr. amongst its group of co-owners — in Dillon, South Carolina at just 12-years-old that made him the youngest winner in CARS Tour history.
Last year, five days after turning 15, he won his debut race in the ARCA Menards Series (akin to NASCAR’s minor leagues) at Watkins Glen. This year, he has won five ARCA races at Hickory, Rockingham, Toledo, Iowa and Madison.
In the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 in September – a prestigious late-model race held annually at Martinsville – McKee set the track record for the fastest qualifying lap at 19.550 seconds, securing the pole over Brickyard 400 winner Corey Heim.
“Anything he's ever sat in, he's been super fast,” NASCAR Cup Series driver Michael McDowell said of McKee in August. “He has all the fundamentals to be really successful in the sport. I've been very impressed with him. He's got great parents, he's got a great upbringing, he has all the right things.”
McKee is expected to have a fuller Truck Series schedule racing for Spire next season. He’s eligible to compete on 11 tracks on the Trucks schedule next season.
Also in 2027, McKee will make his debut in the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, running a part-time schedule in the No. 9 Chevrolet with JR Motorsports, the team owned by Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley Earnhardt-Miller. He’ll make his JRM debut on Aug. 13 at Bristol.
McKee will also run part-time in the O’Reilly Series for JRM in 2028, then become a full-time driver for the team in 2029.
“JRM has always looked to help the growth of young, up-and-coming drivers, and Tristan fits that mold,” Earnhardt-Miller said in a statement. “His accomplishments at such a young age behind the wheel speak for itself, and I’m really looking forward to watching him develop and mature over these next three years while competing for race wins and championships.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At 16, Tristan McKee becomes youngest pole winner in NASCAR history
