NEWTON, Iowa — Tristan McKee (No. 77 Chili’s Chevrolet) started from the Sioux Chief PowerPEX Pole and led the most laps on his way to his second ARCA Menards Series victory of the season in Friday’s JR & CO 150 at Iowa Speedway.
McKee, who turned 16 years old on Monday, also won earlier this season at Toledo Speedway.
The win is also McKee’s fourth ARCA Menards East victory of the season; he also won the season opener at Hickory Motor Speedway, Rockingham Speedway, and the combination race with the ARCA Menards Series at Toledo Speedway. McKee unofficially reassumes the ARCA Menards East championship points lead by just two points over Max Reaves (No. 18 Cook Out Toyota), who finished fourth.
McKee has made a habit of winning races in conjunction with his birthday. He earned his first-ever ARCA Menards Series win in his series debut at Watkins Glen International in 2025 just three days after turning 15.
McKee’s Pinnacle Racing Group teammate Carson Brown (No. 28 DWC Distributor Wire & Cable Chevrolet) finished second, giving the PRG team its third 1-2 finish of the season. Brown won at Phoenix Raceway in March and was followed by McKee at the finish and Connor Mosack won at Chicagoland with Lanie Buice in second.
ARCA Menards Series championship points leader Jake Bollman (No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota) finished third, his ninth top-five finish of the season. Bollman added four points to his lead over Thomas Annunziata (No. 70 JBL.com Toyota), who recovered from mid-race contact with Brad Smith (No. 48 Hillman Family of Companies Ford) to finish seventh despite damage to the right rear quarter panel.
Reigning ARCA Menards East champion Isaac Ktzmiller (No. 79 A.LL. Construction / Carter CAT Chevrolet) finished fifth, his third consecutive top-five finish. Kitzmiller finished fifth at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and third in the East stand-alone race at Flat Rock Speedway last Saturday. Kitzmiller unofficially trails McKee by 18 points with only the season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 17 remaining.
Gavan Boschele (No. 25 Toyota Racing Toyota) finished sixth to give Nitro Motorsports three finishers in the top seven. Nitro’s other two drivers, Jade Avedisian (No. 15 Mobil 1 Toyota) and Isabella Robusto (No. 55 Yahoo! Toyota) finished tenth and eleventh respectively despite being involved in the lap 71 incident that also involved Annunziata and Smith.
Andy Jankowiak (No. 71 USNE Power Chevrolet) finished eighth in his second career ARCA Menards Series appearance at Iowa Speedway. Jankowiak finished fourth in his only other start at Iowa in 2023.
Ryan Vargas (No. 91 Maples Motorsports Ford) kicked off a unique doubleheader weekend with a ninth-place finish, the last driver on the lead lap. Vargas will also compete in Saturday’s ARCA Menards West Portland 112 at Portland International Raceway, and in doing so will become the first driver to earn points in all three ARCA Menards Series platform divisions on the same weekend.
McKee earned the Sioux Chief PowerPEX Pole Award with a lap at 23.383 seconds/1345.713 miles per hour.
McKee led 125 of the race’s 150 laps. Brown, the race’s only other leader, led the other 25. There were two lead changes among the two drivers.
There were seven cautions for a total of 46 laps which slowed the race’s average speed to 83.940 miles per hour.
McKee’s margin of victory was 0.950 seconds.
