Tristan McKee powers to victory at Madison for his third ARCA Menards Series win of 2026

www.arcaracing.com August 28, 2026

OREGON, Wisc. — There were moments when the results of Friday night’s Atlas 200 at Madison International Speedway were in doubt — many moments, in fact.

One was when a late spin prompted a caution and a restart with nine laps to go while Tristan McKee held a fragile lead over his Pinnacle Racing Group teammate Carson Brown with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Max Reaves lurking in third.

McKee, however, left no doubt on the final restart of the race. Like the leader had done on every restart of the event, McKee chose the top line and powered his No. 77 Chevrolet to the checkered flag for his third ARCA Menards Series (national) win of the season and the fourth of his career.

The victory marked McKee’s first at Madison in an ARCA car.

RELATED: Complete results from Madison

“It feels good,” McKee said in Victory Lane. “Had some issues in practice, so we were kind of behind at the beginning and qualified second, which wasn’t bad after not getting a mock (qualifying run in practice). The guys made some good adjustments at the breaks and got the car better.”

McKee said he felt comfortable on the final restart of the race thanks to all the prior restarts leading up to that moment.

Brown said he needed “a little bit more.”

Reaves, who led a chunk of laps in the first half of the race after taking the point 12 laps in, said he wasn’t sure what his car needed.

“We’ll definitely come back next year and figure it out and come back with what we need,” Reaves said after finishing third behind McKee and Brown. “Congratulations to Tristan; he ran a good race.”

The move that became the winning pass came on Lap 109, just past the halfway point of the 200-lap event. Reaves and McKee fired off on a restart side-by-side and held their ground for a full lap before Reaves locked up his wheels entering Turn 1. That allowed McKee to gain the position he kept for the remainder of the race.

Jake Bollman and Thomas Annunziata, the Nitro Motorsports teammates who entered Madison first and second, respectively, in ARCA Menards Series points, rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth. Bollman now has a five-point lead over Annunziata in the standings.

Isaac Kitzmiller, Isabella Robusto, Will Robinson, Jason Kitzmiller and Tony Cosentino finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

The ARCA Menards Series returns to action Sunday, Sept. 6 with the Audubon Park 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, the second and final dirt race on the 2026 schedule.