Keith McGee

Keith McGee (born May 7, 1981) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He most recently competed part-time in the ARCA Menards Series West, driving the No. 37 Ford/Chevrolet for Kart Idaho Racing. He also previously served in the United States Air Force for eight years. He is notable for being the first-ever driver from Alaska to race in any series in NASCAR.

Keith McGee
Nationality American
Born (1981-05-07) May 7, 1981
Eagle River, Alaska
ARCA Menards Series West career
Debut season2018
Current teamKart Idaho Racing
Car number37
EngineFord, Chevrolet
Crew chiefDarrel Pederson, Stafford Smith, Mike Holleran
Former teamsPatriot Motorsports Group
Starts5
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish19th in 2019
Finished last season19th (2019)
Last updated on: January 11, 2019.

Racing career

McGee was interested in racing as a child, but he either could become a professional snowboarder or go to the military, and he chose the latter. After moving from California to Alaska and serving for eight years in the United States Air Force beginning in 2001, he started racing when a go-kart facility opened near his town of Eagle River, Alaska. At the time, he was age 35.[1]

He competed in 115 local go-karting events in 2017, racking up 78 wins. He competed in the Extreme Racing League, a go-kart series in its first year, where he won every race on the way to the championship. In 2018, McGee competed in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, finishing second in points and driving at his home track, Alaska Raceway Park. He also won the championship in the Pro Grand National Series.[2] McGee made his debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at the season-finale at Kern County Raceway Park in the No. 39 for Patriot Motorsports Group, but finished last, not finishing the race due to clutch issues.[3]

For 2019, McGee had been announced to run at the Tucson doubleheader race in one of the Jefferson Pitts Racing cars, but this did not end up happening.[4] His first start of the year came at Douglas County Speedway in Oregon in June of that year. He drove the No. 37 and finished 11th. He later got his first top-10 in his next race at Meridian Speedway in Idaho. It was just his third start in the West Series.[5]

McGee stated in an interview for the Racing-Reference website that he was hoping to run full-time in the ARCA Series and also make his Truck Series debut in 2020.[6]

He drove an ARCA Menards Series car for the first time at the series' Daytona testing in January 2020, driving for Our Motorsports in the No. 02 car (along with Andy Seuss, Sebastian Arias, and Ronnie Osmer). It is unclear if McGee will run any races for the team as well. The team will be attempting the Daytona ARCA race in February.[7]

Personal life

McGee grew up in Nevada County, California, and is the youngest of seven children in his family. He moved from California to Alaska in 2005 when he was serving in the military. However, after his service ended, he did not move back to California and remained in Alaska living there permanently. He got a job as a RADAR specialist for the U.S. Department of Defense.[2]

His grandfather worked on and built racecars for drivers on the west coast of the U.S. McGee and his father, also involved in racing as a driver for Factory Polaris, would also watch NASCAR races on TV and attend local Sprint car races in person. McGee's mother competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and won a gold medal after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis earlier in her life and being told she would not be able to walk again.[6] His mother is also a cancer survivor, which is why McGee often runs with Breast Cancer Awareness ribbons on his West Series cars and has run some races with his car number being the color pink.[1]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

K&N Pro Series West
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NKNPSWC Pts
2018 Patriot Motorsports Group 39 Ford KCR TUS TUS OSS CNS SON DCS IOW EVG GTW LVS MER AAS KCR
18		 55th 26
2019 Kart Idaho Racing 37 Chevy LVS IRW TUS TUS CNS SON DCS
11		 IOW EVG GTW 19th 121
Ford MER
10		 AAS
10		 KCR PHO
24

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

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References
  1. Segal, Davey (October 23, 2019). "Alaskan Racer Keith McGee Living His Dream While Thinking Pink". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  2. "About Me". KeithMcGeeRacing.com. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  3. Beard, Brock (October 30, 2018). "K&N WEST: Alaskan Keith McGee finds no success in first K&N race". LASTCAR.info. Blogger. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  4. Segal, Davey (April 18, 2019). "Keith McGee Teaming Up With American Cancer Society for Tucson". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  5. Burgess, Mary Kate (October 7, 2019). "2 on 2: Keith McGee is first Alaskan to race NASCAR professionally". NBC 2 KTUU. Gray Digital Media. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  6. ?, Vince (October 23, 2019). "Get to know Keith McGee in 6 questions". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 11, 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. Handy, Sarah (January 7, 2020). "Our Motorsports ready for ARCA test at Daytona". Kickin' the Tires. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
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