TRENDING Fantasy Basketball Sign Up Brewers sweep Dodgers Ryan Fitzpatrick rips Bo Nix How WNBA Finals will be won Guardians take 2-1 ALCS lead Story by Story by Tristan McKee Signs Multi-Year NASCAR Deal With JR Motorsports (NASCAR Media) Jonathan Fjeld Fri, October 16, 2026 at 8:06 PM UTC · 2 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AVONDALE, Ariz. -- JR Motorsports signed 16-year-old Tristan McKee to a multi-year deal to race in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series.
McKee will make his NOAPS debut next August at Bristol Motor Speedway in JRM's No. 9 Chevrolet. He will be competing in select races in 2027 and 2028 before going full-time with the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned team in the series in 2029.
One of the top prospects for the future of NASCAR, McKee is currently signed to Spire Motorsports. He will also race part-time for Spire in its No. 7 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry in 2027. The other drivers for that ride have yet to be announced.
McKee has been turning heads at a very young age. At age 15, he won in his ARCA Menards Series debut at Watkins Glen International. Then, back in August, just after he turned 16 years old, he scored a top-10 finish in his NCTS debut at Richmond Raceway.
Through three NCTS starts, McKee hasn't finished outside of the top-10. Along the way, he also clinched the ARCA Menards Series East championship.
McKee is projected to be the successor to one of Spire's NASCAR Cup Series drivers. He'll be eligible to race in NOAPS part-time after he turns 17 next year and eligible to race both NOAPS and the NASCAR Cup Series full-time after he turns 18 in August 2028. With a full NOAPS season under his belt in 2029, the earliest he could get to Cup is 2030.
By 2030, Carson Hocevar will be in his ninth full-time Cup season, Daniel Suarez will be in his 14th and Michael McDowell will be 22 years removed from his Cup debut, at age 45. Hocevar has a long-term deal with Spire while McDowell has a multi-year deal and Suarez just signed a deal for 2027.
When McKee races for JRM in 2027, the organization has confirmed to have Sam Mayer in the No. 1 car and Carson Kvapil in the No. 8 car as his teammates. Mayer is moving back to the team after two seasons with Haas Factory Team while Kvapil is set for his third full-time season with them. Kvapil made the Championship 4 in 2025 and remains in championship contention, along with Mayer, in 2026.
Mayer will be succeeded at Haas Factory Team by Dean Thompson. The rest of their lineup hasn't been announced yet for the 2027 NOAPS season.
Source: Sports
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