Spire Motorsports signs 14-year-old prodigy to driver development deal

In a major signing, Spire Motorsports is bringing 14-year-old Tristan McKee into the organization as its first development driver. Spire has its hands in the Cup Series, Truck Series, and now with a young driver on the fast track to NASCAR.

Of course, Tristan McKee likely won’t enter NASCAR competition for some time. He can’t go full-time and race on large ovals until he turns 18 in any of the national series. However, we are going to see him race plenty as a Spire Motorsports development driver.

McKee will debut as a Spire driver at Speedfest at Codele Motor Speedway. He is set to race in the Pro Late Model race with the JEGS/CRA All-Star series.

McKee is great in a Pro Late Model, he won a CARS Tour Pro Late Model race at 12 years old. He is the youngest winner in series history. That win came in 2023 and in 2024 he picked up two more wins in the division.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” said McKee in a team release. “Nothing like this has happened to me before, so I’m really grateful for the opportunity that Jeff Dickerson and everyone at Spire Motorsports has given me. I think 2025 is going to be a really good year. We’re going to have plenty of races on the schedule, so I’m just looking forward to the opportunity and I can’t thank the people from Spire enough.”

Tristan is so young but he is incredibly talented. This year fans can see him back in the CARS Tour, ARCA Menards Series, and Trans Am TA2 Series. He will compete for the TA2 championship.

Spire Motorsports was told to sign Tristan McKee

Already a Chevy driver, Tristan McKee now has a home at Spire Motorsports. All thanks to Josh Wise, who runs the Chevy fitness program in Concord, North Carolina.

“We are really excited to have Tristan on board with us at Spire,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. “We’ve taken a lot of pride through the years in identifying young talent and bringing them to NASCAR, however this wasn’t one of those cases. Josh Wise and Lorin Ranier called from General Motors, and based on my long history with both, it was one of those ‘if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me’ kind of things.

“Frankly, everyone around Tristan has nothing but good things to say about his speed, work ethic and versatility. He obviously comes from a great family so we can’t take too much credit. Tristan will be making noise in this sport in the short and long term and we’re excited to be on this journey with him.”

Running full-time in Trans Am, Tristan McKee is taking a path that has become increasingly familiar for young drivers. Connor Zilisch, Brent Crews, Thomas Annunziata, Connor Mosack, and more have competed in the series to sharpen their skills. Now McKee will test his hand at the full season.

In his one start in the Trans Am TA2 Series, McKee recorded a P4 and P14 finish in two starts.