In a 125-lap battle of attrition at Cordele, Tristan McKee battled some of Super Late Models best and came out on top in a weather delayed Super Fest at Cordele Motor Speedway.
McKee started from the pole and was even with Daniel Webster from the drop of the green before the first caution flew on lap two. On the ensuing restart, Webster cleared McKee for the lead.
In the midst of a three-car fight for the lead with Stephen Nasse and Bubba Pollard, McKee got into the back of Pollard off Turn 2, sending Pollard spinning. Under caution, Pollard pulled up in front of McKee to show his displeasure. McKee was sent to the rear of the field, while Pollard retained his second-place position. Pollard eventually fell by the wayside and he pulled off with 26 laps remaining.
From there, the race for McKee turned into a grind.
McKee methodically picked off positions Meanwhile, up front, Nasse continued until the caution fell for the final time with 22 laps to go.
On the restart Nasse, George Gorham Jr., and a charging McKee were under a blanket for the lead. McKee made quick work of Gorham and completed the comeback by clearing Nasse to reclaim the top spot.
From pole… to the rear… to victory lane.
“I was just trying to save my tire,” McKee said “Obviously, the track is super abrasive and burns a lot of right rear. So I’m just kind of tried to let those top 3 guys burn their stuff up and I’m just kind of being patient and running 3rd or 4 or 5th.
“Overall the Richie Wauters guys brought me a really good car. We’ve been tuning on it over the past few days just trying to get it really good and that’s kind of been the thing over the past few weeks, just trying to get our car dialed in and we have a lot of big races and a lot of races in general over the season so we’re really working on our stuff and trying new things and stuff like that”
And the contact with Pollard that sent him to the rear.
“Bubba was kind of running a big arc line and cutting down,” McKee said “A couple times I was there, and he did it into one, same kind of deal, and kind of spot himself off my nose. So, I don’t know what the plan was there, but we went to the back. He somehow got his spot back after spinning out. I’m not really too sure on that one, but whatever, you know, it ended up in our favor.”
Riding the momentum of his Snowball Derby victory, Stephen Nasse had a strong showing, dominating the bulk of the 125 lap event. Nasse had to play defense on several restarts in order to retain the lead and it took its toll as Nasse faded late.
“Yeah, I mean we had a good car at the beginning,” Nasse said “Maybe got to a racing a little bit too hard, like Bubba there, just trying to play that cat and mouse game.
“But it was all in all good racing up until that last caution come out, and then, for whatever reason, I couldn’t get fired off, I think the tires got glazed over and just the right rear had no grip, it was about going anyways. We were racing hard. I think track position was important, but the 5 overall, at the end, was just a little bit better.”
George Gorham, like McKee, had his own battle from the rear after making contact with Cody Brinson. Gorham passed Nasse late to finish second.
“Race was good. Car got a little tight, long run we went,” Gorham said “The only thing I wish we could’ve qualified a little better. We had good race trim, we just didn’t have good qualified speed.
“You gotta race against these guys every weekend and know how they drive and know how they handle their cars differently from everybody else. But it’s great to come out here and run top 3 with these guys, going from the back twice.”
Cordele Super Fest
February 22 2026
Cordele Motor Speedway
- Tristan McKee
- George Gorham Jr.
- Stephen Nasse
- Michael Goddard
- Jake Finch
- Allen Gordon
- Daniel Webster
- Jesse Dutilly
- Ryan Herbert
- Brandon Lopez
- Cody Brinson
- Bubba Pollard
- Zach Dixon
- Malcolm Spears
- Cody Stickler
- Jett Noland
- Colin Allman
