In the races since, McKee — part of Spire Motorsports — has found himself in a series of wrecks, drawing the ire of a handful of veteran drivers. This included Saturday’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at the Martinsville Speedway.
The event is commonly known as the Daytona 500 of stock-car racing and has attracted some of the greatest NASCAR drivers in years past, including Mark Martin in 1987.
During lap 101 of the 2025 edition, McKee claimed he “misjudged” turn 4 and sent driver Sam Yarbough into the outside wall, ending his race. Other drivers, including Chase Brurrow and Ty Majeski, also were involved.
“How old is he?” Yarbrough said a post-race video when he tried to confront McKee. “I’ve got four more years,” he added, perhaps insinuating he would fight his young compatriot if he could. “I never touched him,” Yarbrough said in an interview. “He doored me going down the straightaway, I guess to try and protect his position or something….He misjudged it by about four feet. It wasn’t even close.”
His rhetoric then turned a little nastier. “You got kids like that, and I think it probably starts with the parents,” Yarbrough continued. “They don’t discipline the children. His dad probably should have pulled him out of the car, taken his belt off, and whipped his ass right there.”
In a CAR race two weeks ago in Boston, McKee doored Mini Tyrell on multiple occasions. “The past two CARS [Tour] races we’ve gotten into wrecks, but every other time we’ve been clean, and we’ve been fighting for the lead,” the 15-year-old said. “I think any of us who have gotten into these wrecks have been able to do something different, and this just was a mistake on my part here.”
He apologized to Yarbrough. “Misjudged it a little bit on both of our parts,” he said. “Super sorry to those guys, nothing intentional at all. I was just trying to get down, and I heard’ quick clear’, and I came down and tried to let off a little bit, but at that point it was just too late, and I was in his right rear, so super, super sorry to those guys. I never want to tear up anyone’s car like that. It was just a mistake. So sorry to them.”
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Chad McCumbee, Yabrough’s team owner, wasn’t having it. “I’ve seen him make a fair amount of mistakes like that, then maybe he’s sorry, maybe he’s notm” he said. “Now is a prime time to learn at this stage…it’s a sad situation. “
Fellow driver Bobby McCarty agreed with the Yarbrough team. “I think enough is enough,” he stated. “It’s every weekend with that same car…somebody is going to get hurt. I’ve been that guy before, [like a] bull in a china shop.”