Spire Motorsports Martinsville Black's Tire 200 Race Report 2026
By PGORDON
Tristan McKee earned his second top-five finish in his fifth-career NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start after starting on the pole for the Black's Tire 200 presented by Down East Heating & Air Conditioning at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Austin Green started eighth but retired early from the race after a mechanical failure to finish 33rd. The No. 77 team is sixth in The Chase owner standings while the No. 7 team sits ninth with one race remaining on the 2026 schedule.
McKee, driver of the No. 77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet Silverado RST, claimed the pole for Friday night's race to become the youngest pole winner in NASCAR's top-three national series, but quickly settled into the second position where he stayed for the first two stages. The 16-year-old driver took the lead for the first time on Lap 110 and led a total of 29 laps before dropping to third during a restart on Lap 154. McKee battled hard in the closing laps to score a fifth-place finish in his first CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at Martinsville. Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 7 Alpha Craft Chevrolet Silverado, started eighth in the Black’s Tire 200 presented by Down East Heating & Air Conditioning. After finishing 12th in Stage 1 and Stage 2, Smith reported the truck's handling had improved but continued to struggle with balance. With 109 laps remaining, the Johnston, Iowa, native reported a broken truck arm and brought the No. 7 behind the wall for repairs, returning to the track 12 laps down. Smith later reported the truck arm had broken again, forcing him to take his Chevy Silverado to the garage and ending his night with a 33rd-place finish.
The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase concludes next Friday, Nov. 6 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway. The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will be televised live on FS1 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The final race on the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series calendar will also be broadcast live on the NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
“A little bit of a frustrating day. We were just trying to get the truck better throughout the night and I felt like we were making some progress. Unfortunately, we ended up breaking the truck arm and had to go behind the wall to fix it, and then it broke again. It’s obviously frustrating to end the night that way, but the guys worked hard to get me back out there. Thanks to Jeff and everyone at Spire for the opportunity.”
“Overall, I think this was a really good race for the Zeigler team. The laps I got here a few weeks ago in the late model race were a huge benefit and Chad (Walter) gave me a good truck to work with. It's frustrating to not come out with a better finish, but to win the pole and lead laps is good way to finish off the season. I'm really looking forward to next year and getting more time in the truck, and fighting for wins."
About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports fields full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing.
The team, co-owned by longtime NASCAR industry executive Jeff Dickerson and TWG Motorsports CEO Dan Towriss earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado its first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win April 7, 2022, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent victory came October 23, 2026, when Sammy Smith won the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
In 2026, Spire Motorsports campaigns the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Nos. 7 and 77 Chevrolet Silverado RSTs in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The Mooresville, N.C., organization also fields the No. 77 410 sprint car in Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing competition.
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