At 14 years of age, Tristan McKee is the youngest driver in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series.
But just five races into his official rookie season and with just seven points-paying TA2 events on his resume dating back to last fall, the driver of the No. 28 Spire/Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro for TeamSLR sits atop the standings.
McKee, who drives for SLR Motorsports, puts that point lead on the line Sunday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Watch the event Live on SPEED SPORT 1 at 1:00 p.m.
SLR Motorsports is owned by Scott Lagasse Sr., and Scott Lagasse Jr., who began working with McKee six months before his 14th birthday last August, and eight months before his official TA2 Series debut in October at Virginia Int’l Raceway.
“What we noticed about Tristan was he really listens well – he’s like a sponge,” said the elder Lagasse, who with his son and their M1 Racecars stable of equipment has helped a growing number of young drivers springboard into the NASCAR ranks, including current Xfinity Series regulars Sam Mayer, Carson Kvapil, William Sawalich and Sammy Smith, and Craftsman Truck Series regulars Connor Mosack and Jack Wood.
“Tristan doesn’t talk a lot, but he executes extremely well and he shows up ready. He does the work on the simulator, and he studies the video and the data when he’s out of the car. He’s as good or better at analyzing data and video than I am, and I’ve been doing it way longer (laughs).”
“He’s one of those generational talents,” adds Lagasse Jr. “You’ll never forget about Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, those drivers who really changed the game, right? So when it comes to Tristan, I feel like, why not be that guy?”
Even before he began working with TeamSLR early last year, McKee’s talent, discipline and tremendous work ethic were apparent in his rise through primarily oval-track racing in go-karts, Bandoleros, Legend Cars and late models.
He became the CARS Tour’s youngest winner in the Pro Late Model division as a 12-year-old in 2023. His TA2 debut at VIR last fall was a head-turner as he qualified sixth and held position among the leaders en route to a fourth-place finish.
Then, at the season-ending race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, McKee was racing for another top-five finish when a cut tire dropped him to the back of the field. He rallied from 37th to finish 15th over the closing laps.
Committed to run for this year’s TA2 championship, the Kannapolis, N.C., driver, who in January signed a multi-year development agreement with Spire Motorsports, has shown consistency at the front of the field at each of the first five events.
He opened with a seventh-place finish at Sebring (Fla.) Int’l Raceway, fifth place at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, second at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, third at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca near Monterey, California, and third at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut.
“Everything I’m doing right now is part of the learning experience – this was a totally different discipline for me,” McKee said. “I’m used to oval racing on dirt and on the asphalt. I’d never really done the road-course stuff, but I feel like it’s going to prepare me for anything I’m going to do in the future. I’ve learned a ton and a lot of that has translated to the oval stuff and making me better in that, as well. The Lagasses have done an amazing job helping me learn and teaching me things that are really useful here and in other places, as well.”
Chevrolet’s Lorin Ranier, who’s built a legacy of discovering names like Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Kyle Larson, began taking notice of McKee’s ability almost five years ago.
“We signed him when he was 12 or 13,” Ranier said. “What magnified it was just the fact that he could handle a full-size racecar at 10 or 11 years old. We saw his initial speed, he has that. His ability to communicate with his team has gone really well. It’s about putting the whole race together and coming home with a solid finish. That’s a successful day.
“Trans Am has a great formula. The shifting and the braking are things you learn there that will carry you all the way up through NASCAR. So what drivers like Tristan learn is not just to become a better road racer, they become a better racecar driver, and that’s why we like Trans Am so much.”
TeamSLR has worked in close partnership with Chevrolet and its driver development program under Wise Optimization over the years, and the multiple entities have developed a solid chemistry that continues to generate positive results, as evidenced by the performance of McKee and other young drivers.
“It’s an honor to be able to work with this caliber of individuals, and more importantly that they trust us with their up-and-coming drivers,” said Lagasse Jr. “It’s nice to have Josh Wise and Scott Speed and Lorin Ranier to lean on. Not only do they find the best talent, but they provide the best resources to help continue to move the needle in the right direction.”
