Dale Earnhardt Jr. reveals what he advised 15-yo Tristan McKee after ARCA controversy at Martinsville

Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened up about his one-on-one conversation with Tristan McKee on the latter's controversial shunt at Martinsville Speedway. Earnhardt shared how he'd advised McKee to 'take care of his competitors'.

During the recently concluded ARCA race, McKee triggered a multi-car incident on lap 101. Coming off Turn 4, he misjudged his exit and turned into the rear of Sam Yarbough, resulting in a spin that collected Ty Majeski and Chase Burrow.

The incident drew flak from Yarbough as it wasn't McKee's first wreck. The 15-year-old has been involved in quite a few incidents over the last few races.

On the latest episode of Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt shared a personal conversation he had with Tristan about his missteps.

"I reached out to some folks that work with Tristan and asked him to have a conversation. He came by the house yesterday. So, we spent about 30 minutes just talking about, you know, Sam and his past and his history and trying to understand how McKee needs to take care of his competitors," he said. [1:25:08 onwards]

"He says, "Look, I made a mistake. I was trying to get down. I didn't want to be in the outside lane. Nothing had happened in the corner before' or Sam had not touched him. And I was like, "All right, so if you know Sam hadn't done anything, then you weren't reacting with, you know, some intentional, but why did you stay on the gas? You know, you hook him and you throttle up and just turn him around." I'm like, "You could have saved him,"" he added.

Tristan McKee owned up to his mistake after the race and apologised to Sam Yarbough and his team.

---

"It wasn't even close": Sam Yarbough comments on his incident with Tristan McKee

During a post-race interview, Sam Yarbough had some harsh remarks for Tristan McKee's blunder. He went on the offensive and explained how the contact was undeserved.

"I never touched him. 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,” Yarbough said via Daily Express US.

Tristan McKee made his ARCA debut at Watkins Glen International. Notably, he became the second youngest driver to win on his debut. The North Carolina native began on fourth and seized a late-race opportunity to take the lead. He overcame Tyler Reif and Kris Wright to cross the finish line after a one-lap shootout.

The young driver has also been signed on to Spire Motorsports as a development driver. He currently runs a regular schedule in Late Model and Trans Am racing, while also making select starts in the CARS Tour Series, where he became their youngest race winner at just 12 years old.