MOORESVILLE, N.C. (January 16, 2025) – Spire Motorsports has signed pavement late-model standout Tristan McKee to a driver development agreement prior to this weekend’s Protect Your Melon Buckle Up Speedfest at Cordele (Ga.) Motor Speedway.
The 14-year-old will test his mettle against some of the country’s most skilled racers at the three-eighths mile south-central Georgia oval in the JEGS/CRA All-Star Pro Late Model tour season opener.
McKee began turning heads two seasons ago when, at just 12-years-old, he won a 100-lap CARS Pro Late Model feature race at Dillon (S.C.) Motor Speedway to become the youngest winner in CARS Tour history.
Since then, the Williamsburg, Va., native has gone on to collect CARS Tours wins at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway and Caraway (N.C.) Speedway. McKee has also been identified as a rising star by Chevrolet and is mentored by Josh Wise through his driver development program ‘Wise Optimization’.
“We are really excited to have Tristan on board with us at Spire,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. “We’ve taken a lot of pride through the years in identifying young talent and bringing them to NASCAR, however this wasn’t one of those cases. Josh Wise and Lorin Ranier from General Motors called and, based on my long history with both, it was one of those ‘if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me’ kind of things. Frankly, everyone around Tristan has nothing but good things to say about his speed, work ethic and versatility. He obviously comes from a great family so we can’t take too much credit. Tristan will be making noise in this sport in the short and long term, so we’re excited to be on this journey with him.”
“I think it’s pretty cool, so I’m really grateful for the opportunity that Jeff Dickerson and everyone at Spire Motorsports has given me,” said McKee. “I think 2025 is going to be a really good year. We’re going to have plenty of races on the schedule, so I’m just looking forward to the opportunity and I can’t thank the people from Spire enough.”
McKee will compete across multiple different series and disciplines in 45-plus events in 2025, including the zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Car and Pro Late Model tours, ARCA Menards Series and the Trans Am CUBE3 Architecture TA2 Series where he is expected to race for the series title. The upstart teenager will also see action at select NASCAR Weekly Racing Series events and holds high hopes for the coming season.
“I’m definitely looking forward to running the whole Trans Am schedule,” said McKee. “I’ve never really raced road courses like that before, so I’m going to be learning every time I’m on the track. I’m working as hard as I can for all those races, you know, that’s a big deal. I’m really excited about a few of the CARS Tour races, especially (North) Wilkesboro. All those big late model stock races at the end of the year are important. They are pretty long races and you have to be really good at the end, so we’re going to focus our attention on those, as well. Martinsville at the end of the year is a big one.”
Despite his youth, McKee has a resume dotted with wins that would afford even the most seasoned veteran with justifiable bragging rights. In addition to his historic 2023 win, he recorded multiple late model stock car victories in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. McKee also collected the checkered flag in the limited late model feature at the 2023 Fall Brawl at Hickory (N.C) Motor Speedway.
The season prior, McKee claimed both Rookie of the Year and championship honors at Orange County (N.C.) Speedway as an 11-year-old.
Prior to his ascent up the late-model ranks, McKee cut his teeth racing Bandoleros where he won the 2020 national championship, a Charlotte Motor Speedway Summer Shootout championship and a Thursday Night Thunder championship at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He began his four-wheel journey in karting where he collected 44 wins and six class championships.
About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win on April 7, 2022 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on April 12, 2024, when Kyle Busch took the checkered flag in the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
In 2025, Spire Motorsports will campaign the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team will also field the Nos. 07, 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and the No. 77 Chevrolet in the ARCA Menards Series in select events.
