Tristan McKee Clinches 2026 ARCA Menards Series East Title

At Bristol Motor Speedway, Pinnacle Racing Group teammates Carson Brown and Tristan McKee secured a one-two finish in the ARCA Menards Series Bush's Best 200. Brown held off McKee to take his third ARCA win of the 2026 season.

By finishing second in the 200-lap event, McKee officially clinched the 2026 ARCA Menards Series East championship by a three-point margin over Max Reaves. Despite struggling with car balance early in the race and during practice, McKee capitalized on the final restart from the outside lane to finish two spots ahead of Reaves.

This title adds to McKee's growing resume after he became the youngest champion in Trans Am Series history last year by winning the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series. Throughout his 2026 ARCA Menards Series East campaign, McKee claimed four victories across eight events at Hickory, Rockingham, Toledo, and Iowa Motor Speedways, alongside an additional main ARCA Menards Series win at Madison International Speedway and a TA2 race victory at Watkins Glen International.

The main ARCA Menards Series will crown its 2026 champion next Friday at Kansas Speedway, where Jake Bollman currently holds a 16-point lead over Thomas Annunziata. Meanwhile, the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series returns to action at VIR this weekend.