Tristan McKee wins Martinsville pole, becomes Truck Series youngest pole winner
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 30, 2026
McKee makes history
Sixteen-year-old Tristan McKee delivered the fastest lap in qualifying and turned it into a record at Martinsville Speedway, winning the pole for Friday’s Black’s Tire 200 and becoming the youngest pole winner in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history. McKee put the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet on top with a lap of 19.549 seconds at 96.864 mph. He earned his first Truck Series pole in his fifth start in the series. The run gave him the first starting spot for a 200-lap race that was set to feature a 36-truck field and a $789,700 purse. For McKee, the result marked a major step in a short Truck Series career and put his name in the record book before the field ever took the green flag.
Martinsville gave McKee the stage, and he took it cleanly. The lap held up against a field that included several familiar Truck Series front-runners, and it came in a session where every spot mattered. A pole at Martinsville is more than a number on the sheet, it sets the opening terms for a race that forces drivers to protect track position from the start. McKee did exactly that, backed by a qualifying effort that stood above the rest of the field. The pole also gave Spire Motorsports a strong starting point in a race that was built around stage lengths of 50, 100 and 200 laps, so the opening run carried extra value from the start of the night.
Qualifying order behind McKee
Layne Riggs came closest to knocking McKee off the top spot, qualifying second just 0.018 seconds back. Chandler Smith took third, Ben Rhodes placed fourth and Kaden Honeycutt finished fifth. Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Sammy Smith, Tyler Ankrum and Tanner Gray completed the top 10. That group set up a competitive front end for Friday’s race, with each driver locked into an early position that could matter quickly once the field settled into long green-flag runs. Honeycutt brought a 43-point lead over Riggs into the weekend with two races left in the season, so the qualifying order also carried standings weight for the two drivers near the top of the title fight.
The speed picture extended beyond the top five. Smith led final practice earlier in the day, while Rhodes posted the best 10-consecutive-lap average in the session. Those results matched the strength shown in qualifying and suggested that the front of the field had pace both over one lap and over a longer run. The day also produced trouble for a few drivers. Jake Garcia crashed in practice after reporting a brake issue and did not record a qualifying time. Gavan Boschele did not turn a qualifying lap and was set to start 36th. That left a mix of momentum and recovery scattered through the field, with some teams headed into the race from strong starting spots and others forced to chase from the back.
Martinsville race setup
The Black’s Tire 200 was scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. ET on FS1. The race was also set to air on FOX One and SiriusXM. The event was lined up for 200 laps and divided into stages of 50, 100 and 200 laps, a format that placed a premium on position early and often. Martinsville’s short schedule gave McKee the pole and handed the rest of the field a clear target to work from once the green flag dropped. The 36-truck lineup and the purse of $789,700 added to the stakes, with each spot in qualifying carrying value before the race even began. McKee’s lap was the headline, but the full qualifying sheet showed how tight the front of the field looked and how quickly the order could shift once the race started.
