RICHMOND, Va. — Most teenagers eye the date when they can get their driver’s license.
For 16-year-old Tristan McKee, he had Aug. 14 circled on his calendar — the day he could make his debut in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series and drive at speeds over 100 miles per hour.
“I'm super excited. It's been a busy couple weeks, there's been a lot of preparation work. Definitely a difficult track to start off at,” McKee said before the Black’s Tire 250. “There's been a lot of learning, leaning on everyone and getting info from everyone that I can, just getting as well prepared as possible.”
But McKee’s dream was delayed by a day. Thunderstorms rolled into Richmond on Friday night, soaking the track and causing power outages, pushing the race to Saturday, Aug. 15 at noon. After qualifying 13th at the 0.750-mile short track, McKee made his NASCAR debut driving the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports and finished strong in eighth place.
McKee is the second youngest driver to compete in the Truck Series in the history of NASCAR at 16 years and 11 days old. Casey Atwood was 16 years and six days old when he made his debut at the Nashville Fairgrounds in 1996, where he finished 32nd.
“We had a good day. Pit crew did a good job, we didn't have any penalties, anything like that, and put a good truck on the track,” McKee told USA TODAY Sports after getting out of his ride Saturday. “It was tough for me to pass the way our truck was handling, but a good first race at a really tough track.”
An iconic stop on the NASCAR schedule since 1955, Richmond presented a challenge for the youngster, but McKee managed it well — finishing on the lead lap without a wreck and battling around the top 10 for much of the competition.
“Just the fall off with the tire, how abrasive the track is, how the race plays out,” McKee said. “Restarts with old tires gets pretty wild here, especially the four-wide restarts into turn 1. Overall, tough track to get around. You have to be super disciplined on your lines and drive straight out the corners.”
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.
And yes, McKee can compete in NASCAR even without his driver’s license, because the sport competes on private tracks and has its own licensing for drivers based on skill, fitness and experience. Given his experience, McKee received NASCAR’s approval.
McKee — who now lives in Kannapolis, North Carolina — will race on a few more short tracks in the Truck Series this season with Spire at New Hampshire, Bristol, Phoenix and Martinsville.
“I'm excited,” McKee said of his next start at New Hampshire on Aug. 22. “Obviously, the short tracks are what I've been doing so far, racing late models and stuff like that. So, that's what I feel comfortable with. … I learned a lot the whole entire race (at Richmond), just how these guys race, pit road, everything. I feel really prepared going into the next couple weeks now that I have a race under my belt.”
Mentored by Lorin Ranier and Josh Wise, 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.
McKee was the first signee to Spire’s Ascent Driver Development Program. He caught the attention of more folks in motorsports a few years ago when he won a late-model race in the CARS Tour — the series that has Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick amongst its group of co-owners — in Dillon, South Carolina at just 12-years-old, making him the youngest winner in CARS Tour history.
“We look at Tristan McKee and see someone with a huge upside and potential to make a positive impact across Spire Motorsports’ driver lineup,” Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson said in a statement. “Make no mistake, Tristan has earned this opportunity, and we expect he’ll make the most out of it.”
McKee went on to win three more races in the CARS Tour and last year, five days after turning 15, won his debut race in the ARCA Menards Series — akin to NASCAR’s minor leagues — at Watkins Glen. This year, he’s won four ARCA races at Hickory, Rockingham, Toledo and Iowa.
Earlier this week, McKee notched a victory in a super late-model race at Berlin Raceway at Michigan, outdueling 39-year-old Bubba Pollard for the final nine laps after a late restart to take the checkered flag in the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin. Previous winners of that prestigious late-model competition include Cup Series drivers Erik Jones, Carson Hocevar and the late Kyle Busch.
McKee is expected to have a fuller schedule of Truck Series racing for Spire next season.
“Tristan is so smart, and the thing is, for his age, he has a lot of experience. My feedback was like, enjoy the moment,” NASCAR veteran Michael McDowell told USA TODAY Sports. “Anything he's ever sat in, he's been super fast. And so I have no doubt that he'll go out there and be fast. But pit stops and all the things he hasn't done yet — I would just tell everyone he's 16, give him some room to figure it out. Extra grace is going to be needed.”
A former Daytona 500 winner, the 41-year-old McDowell drives the No. 71 Chevrolet for Spire in the Cup Series. He’s said in previous interviews this year that he plans to retire when McKee is ready to move up to the Cup Series in a few years.
“He has all the fundamentals to be really successful in the sport,” McDowell said. “I've been very impressed with him. He's got great parents, he's got a great upbringing, he has all the right things.”
Between now and McKee’s next birthday, a big challenge awaits: the test for his North Carolina driver’s license. In the Tar Heel State, drivers have to hold their permit for nine months before getting their license.
Obviously, he won’t be taking his driver’s exam or doing a three-point-turn in one of NASCAR’s Craftsman trucks. What he’ll drive during one of the biggest tests most teenagers face is just one more thing he’ll have to figure out.
“I don’t know,” McKee said with a laugh when asked what he’ll take his driver’s exam in. “I don’t have a car yet.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tristan McKee is 16, without a license and racing high speeds in NASCAR