{"id":270987,"date":"2025-10-02T04:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/270987\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:33:08","slug":"chevrolet-chiefs-opinion-clear-on-nascar-prodigy-motorsport-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/270987\/","title":{"rendered":"Chevrolet chief’s opinion clear on NASCAR prodigy – Motorsport – Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

At only 15, ARCA Menards prodigy Tristan McKee has been rewriting record books during the 2025 racing season<\/a>. Driving the No. 28 Spire\/Gainbridge\/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro, he currently holds an 82-point lead in the overall Trans Am TA2 National Championship standings, outpacing veterans twice and three times his age.<\/p>\n

As he races toward a likely title, McKee is already earning a reputation for aggressive mistakes, leading peers and fans to call for his benching<\/a> and casting doubt on his NASCAR<\/a> future. McKee’s numbers suggest he’s running away with the Rookie of the Year and Young Guns standings for drivers under 25.<\/p>\n

He’s dominating the entire championship, outperforming past winners and well-known competitors in the TA2 grid, such as last season’s Xfinity Series driver William Sawalich. His rise within TeamSLR, the father-son team led by Scott Lagasse Sr. and Jr., is expected by those familiar with Chevrolet’s development program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This program guided McKee to the team with the support of mentors such as Josh Wise, Scott Speed, and Lorin Ranier. “What we noticed about Tristan was that he really listens well. He’s like a sponge,” Lagasse Sr. said. “He doesn’t talk a lot, but he executes extremely well. He shows up ready, does the simulator work, and studies video and data, just like anyone. He might analyze data better than I can, and I\u2019ve been at it way longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lagasse Jr. went further, putting McKee in the same conversation as the icons. “He’s one of those generational talents,” Lagasse Jr. said. “You’ll never forget Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, who really changed the game. Why not Tristan? Why not be that guy?”<\/p>\n

McKee’s decisions on the track have cast doubt on that optimism. During September\u2019s ValleyStar Credit Union 300, the young driver acknowledged he “misjudged” Turn four, leading to a crash that took out Sam Yarbrough and involved Chase Brurrow and Ty Majeski. Yarbrough was quite direct in his comments afterward.<\/p>\n

“You got kids like that, and I think it probably starts with the parents,” Yarbrough said. “They don’t discipline the children. His dad probably should have pulled him out of the car, taken his belt off, and whipped his ass right there.”<\/p>\n

Two weeks earlier in Boston, McKee repeatedly doored Mini Tyrell in a CARS Tour race, adding to a pattern other drivers claim is becoming predictable. CARS veteran Bobby McCarty said “enough is enough,” calling out McKee for consistently wrecking people and getting away with unethical driving.<\/p>\n

DON’T MISS…<\/p>\n

McKee apologized but stopped short of changing his identity as a racer. “Super sorry to those guys, nothing intentional at all,” he said after the Yarbrough incident. “I was just trying to get down and heard ‘quick clear.’ By the time I lifted, it was too late, and I was in his right rear. Never want to tear up anyone\u2019s car like that. Just a mistake.”<\/p>\n

Fans aren’t convinced. Social media has piled on, with some writing, “I like Tristan McKee, but someone needs to dump that kid,” while another added, “Can’t believe Spire endorses Tristan McKee. Yeah, he’s fast. But the kid can’t drive around people.”<\/p>\n

The Barber Speedtour at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, will be the second-to-last race of the year, taking place from October 17-19. The season will conclude with the Mission Foods COTA Speedtour in Austin, Texas, from late October into November.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At only 15, ARCA Menards prodigy Tristan McKee has been rewriting record books during the 2025 racing season.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":270988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[32502,6162,140740,20503,4423,1406,62,140739,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-270987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-aggressive-driving","9":"tag-chevrolet","10":"tag-chevrolet-camaro","11":"tag-driving","12":"tag-motorsport-section","13":"tag-nascar","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-tristan-mckee","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115302708350463610","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}