Tristan McKee turned 16 years old on Aug. 3. He doesn’t have his driver’s license yet. He certainly knows how to drive a car fast, leading the most laps at Iowa Speedway after winning the pole, en route to winning the ARCA Menards Series race on Friday, Aug. 7.
McKee unofficially retook the ARCA Menards Series East points lead thanks to his triumph. McKee captured his second national-division victory this season and third of his career. He also took home his fourth victory of the East season, the same as his career.
McKee led a dominant day for Pinnacle Racing Group, as his teammate Carson Brown led laps and finished second. It’s the third 1-2 performance for PRG in ARCA main-series competition this season.
Jake Bollman finished third to slightly extend his points lead in the main series.
Max Reaves finished fourth, though he unofficially lost the East points lead as that season now has one race left.
Isaac Kitzmiller started third and had a fast No. 79 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet. However, on an early restart, he beat the leader to the restart line, thereby receiving a pass-through penalty. Kitzmiller regained his lost lap later in the race to recover to a fifth-place result.
Nitro Motorsports had four drivers finish inside the top 10: Bollman, Gavan Boschele in sixth, Thomas Annunziata in seventh, and Jade Avedisian in 10th. Andy Jankowiak and Ryan Vargas were the other two top-10 finishers in eighth and ninth. Only the top eight drivers finished on the lead lap, about a quarter of the 33-car field.
The 0.875-mile short track had a few single-car spins early in the race, with Brad Smith’s second one collecting two Nitro racecars. Avedisian and Isabella Robusto received damage to their Toyotas. While Avedisian scored a top 10, Robusto came home two laps down in 11th, and Smith’s race ended with a 29th-place DNF.
McKee continued to lead the field, though his competitors had one more opportunity to beat him after Jason Kitzmiller crashed out after running inside the top 10. Kitzmiller wound up 25th.
Before the final restart, the broadcast reported that McKee asked his team what he needed to do to win. He listened to the advice and piloted his No. 77 Chevrolet to victory on Friday.
ARCA Results from Iowa
The main series next visits its first dirt track, the Illinois State Fairgrounds, on Aug. 23. FOX Sports 1 will broadcast that race at 1 p.m. ET. The East series will wrap its season at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 5:30 p.m. ET with FS1 also airing that race. Meanwhile, the ARCA Menards Series West will compete on Saturday, Aug. 8 at Portland International Raceway at 9 p.m. ET with the race live on FloRacing.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.