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Regulars Tristan McKee, Barry Boes Joined by Former TeamSLR Driver Connor Mosack; Mike Skeen, Jared Odrick Add Firepower for M1 Racecars at Memorial Day Classic
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (May 21, 2025) – With the dust thoroughly settled on this year’s Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series West Coast swing on back-to-back weekends in California, the TeamSLR and M1 Racecars contingent turns its attention to the quaint, New England surroundings of Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, for this weekend’s annual Memorial Day Classic.
Carrying the flag for TeamSLR are fulltimers Tristan McKee, the 14-year-old TA2 rookie who sits just one point out of the national series championship lead, and seventh-year TA2 competitor Barry Boes, the defending Pro-Am Challenge-class champion and current class points leader. Joining them this weekend is former TeamSLR fulltimer Connor Mosack, who graduated to NASCAR’s Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series since contending for the TA2 championship with the team in 2021 and 2022.
Another pair of M1 Racecars will be part of the 26-car field for Saturday’s round five of the 12-event TA2 Series schedule for 2025 – one for 2020 series champion and recent Lime Rock winner Mike Skeen, and the other for second-year Pro-Am contender Jared Odrick.
McKee, driver of the No. 28 Spire/Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro who hails from Kannapolis, North Carolina, kicked off the West Coast swing with a runner-up finish April 26 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway that marked his first TA2 podium in just his fifth career start. He followed it up as the third-place national series driver May 3 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, and emerged second to only veteran and three-time series champion Rafa Matos atop the driver standings.
A Chevrolet development driver who signed a multiyear agreement with Spire Motorsports in January, McKee returns to the scene this weekend of his unofficial TA2 debut as a 13-year-old during last July’s SpeedTour All-Star Race. He co-drove a TeamSLR/M1 Racecars Camaro with his Team Chevrolet mentor Scott Speed, who promptly qualified on the pole and held the lead until handing the car over to McKee at the race’s midpoint. A cut tire ruined their bid, however, leaving the teen driver to rally for an eighth-place finish in the star-studded event. After his 14th birthday in August, McKee was cleared to make his official TA2 debut in October at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, where he finished fourth, just .7 of a second from the final spot on the podium.
Last weekend, McKee scored a runner-up finish in the CARS Tour’s Late Model Stock race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. He opened the CARS Tour season with a runner-up finish in the Pro Late Model race March 1 at New River All-American Speedway in Jacksonville, North Carolina, followed by a victory April 12 at Cordele (Ga.) Motor Speedway.
Boes, driver of the No. 28 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro who hails from Ooltewah, Tennessee, made TA2 history last month at Sonoma, becoming the first driver in series history to finish first among both the Pro-Am and Western Championship competitors in the same race. That performance enabled him to arrive at Lime Rock with a solid 16-point cushion atop the Pro-Am standings despite an accident that ended his bid 11 laps from the finish the following weekend at Laguna Seca. Boes, too, was among the All-Star Race field at Lime Rock last July. Co-driving with retired NASCAR veteran Greg Biffle, Boes served as the closer in their TeamSLR/M1 Racecars entry and brought home a fourth-place finish.
The 26-year-old Mosack returns to TeamSLR this weekend to pilot the No. 8 NAPA NightVision/Mission Foods/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro. He co-drove the same TeamSLR Chevy with retired NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader in the SpeedTour All-Star Race at Lime Rock last July. In 2023, Mosack drove three TA2 races for the team while running a mixed schedule of NASCAR Xfinity, Truck and ARCA Menards Series events. The driver from Charlotte, North Carolina, qualified on the pole, led 19 laps and finished third in the 2023 TA2 season opener at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway, then returned to the team at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and VIR. He qualified fifth at Road America but retired after an early race mishap. At VIR, he started from the back of the 34-car grid after missing practice and qualifying due to his NASCAR duties down the road at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, but drove to a sixth-place finish on race day. Mosack scored a pair of victories for TeamSLR in 2021 and 2022, both at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, and finished top-four in the championship both years. He qualified third and finished fourth at Lime Rock for TeamSLR in 2021. This year, he’s competing in the NASCAR Truck Series fulltime in the No. 81 Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.
Skeen, the 38-year-old from Durham, North Carolina, and driver of the No. 2 Guthrie’s Garage/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro, looks to rebound from incidents not of his doing that ended his bids at Sonoma and Laguna Seca. He opened the season with TeamSLR at Sebring behind the wheel of the No. 48 Cube 3 Architecture/Guthrie’s Garage/Franklin Road Apparel/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro and drove it to a runner-up finish after qualifying on the pole in track-record time. He moved to the Guthrie’s Garage Camaro for round two at Road Atlanta, where he’s slated to finish the season. Skeen had a recent three-race TA2 run at Lime Rock that netted a victory from the pole in 2021, another pole position in 2022, and a runner-up finish from the sixth starting position in 2023.
Odrick, the 37-year-old from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who played seven seasons with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars from 2010 through 2016, joined the M1 Racecars brigade when he took delivery of his new chassis after the Sebring season opener and put it right to work in the March 8-9 SCCA Hoosier Super Tour weekend doubleheader at Road Atlanta, scoring GT2-class victories from the pole in both races. He arrives at Lime Rock second in the Pro-Am standings, 16 points behind Boes, after winning the class at Laguna Seca and finishing fifth overall.
Boes and Odrick both competed last weekend in the SCCA Super Tour’s double-race weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington. In their M1 Racecars equipment, they qualified 1-2 among GT2-class competitors in both races with Boes on the pole for each. After rough outings in the Saturday race, they came back to finish 1-2 in the Sunday race with Odrick on the top step of the podium.
A year ago this weekend, Evan Slater, the 18-year-old teen driver from New Hampshire, drove his first of two races last season in a TeamSLR/M1 Racecars Camaro, qualifying second and finishing second at his home track. He returned to TeamSLR for the season finale at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, where he scored a fifth-place finish.
The Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series portion of this weekend’s Memorial Day Classic kicks off Friday with a pair of test sessions at 10:05 and 11:55 a.m. EDT. Official TA2 practice follows with separate sessions for the Pro-Am Challenge and national tour competitors at 2:05 and 4 p.m., respectively. The two-day show concludes Saturday with qualifying 9:05 a.m. and the 68-lap, 85-minute race set for 1:20 p.m. Series broadcast partner Speed Sport 1 will provide live video coverage of the race, augmented by a live stream on the Trans Am channel on YouTube.
Riding along with TeamSLR drivers and their M1 Racecars once again this season is Nashville, Tennessee-based Franklin Road Apparel Company, which has been a longtime team supporter and serves as associate partner on all TeamSLR entries. Also continuing its support of the overall TeamSLR effort is Cube 3 Architecture.
Tristan McKee, Driver, No. 28 Spire Gainbridge/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
You’re headed to Lime Rock for a bona fide, points-paying race after your unofficial TA2 Series debut during last summer’s non-points All-Star Race as a 13-year-old. Does that make the track extra special for you?
“Yeah, I’m excited. It’s a cool, historic track, one of my favorites. It’s a really fun short track with not a lot of passing opportunities, but it’s a lot of fun, for sure. It’s all right-hand turns except for the one left-hander, but it’s a lot of fun. And I’m pretty confident because I’ve got some laps around there between the All-Star Race and some testing we did before that. The laps are so short that you get around there super-quick with lap times in the low 50-second range. But the driving there is more close to what I’m used to with the short oval stuff.”
What makes getting around Lime Rock more similar to what you’re used to as far as getting around a short track in a Late Model?
“You really have to find places to pass. There’s one good passing zone down into turn one and down the straightaway, but other than that, it’s just short shoots into the next corner. I feel like I’m pretty capable of getting a pass done quickly in those short shoots against guys who might not have the small-track kind of background, so I’m pretty confident. It’s a small track and one of my favorites, and I have a lot of laps there, so it should be good.”
After your runner-up finish at Sonoma and third-place result among the national TA2 entries the following weekend at Laguna Seca, you arrive at Lime Rock just one point out of the championship lead. Does that mean a lot for you with still eight races to go in the season?
“It definitely means something, but we’re mainly here to win races, really. We’re obviously thinking about the points, but we just want to win as many races as possible. If we wouldn’t have had that misfortune at Laguna, as well as at Sebring on the last lap, we probably would have been leading. So there are a few things we can definitely clean up, a few things we all need to work on, and we should be right there in it. I feel like Lime Rock should be a good track for us.”
Talk about your experience in the All-Star Race last summer, co-driving with your Team Chevrolet mentor Scott Speed, and also being surrounded by a literal who’s who of racing veterans from numerous disciplines.
“It was definitely cool. I learned a lot from all those guys, especially Scott. I learn a lot from him on a daily basis just seeing him during the week with the Chevy program, as well. He teaches me a lot of stuff and it helped a lot the go race with him in the All-Star Race. And it was also a really cool getting to race against all those other guys. I think I’ve improved a lot since that race last year and feel like I should be able to fight for the top spots there. Scott has prepared me well, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Barry Boes, Driver, No. 27 Accio Data/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
Overall thoughts as you head to Lime Rock Park for Saturday’s fifth round of the Cube 3 Architecture TA2 Series season?
“I’ve definitely got an opportunity to show what I can do if we can have a problem-free race. In two of our last three races, I’ve been involved in incidents that have taken me out. It’s been one of those years, so far, but that should not be the case this weekend. But you never know. In years past, things have happened because I was running a little further back in the pack. Now I’m running closer to the front more consistently, but it also seems things aren’t just happening mid-pack, but in the front, as well. We’ll do everything we can to keep everything clean and should end up with a solid result.”
You’re leading the Pro-Am Challenge standings by a 16-point margin over your fellow M1 Racecars driver Jared Odrick despite your misfortunes in the first four races. Do you feel that bodes well for you as you look at this weekend and the rest of the season?
“The thing I feel best about is that I’m running consistently further up in the overall order, which is a big improvement for me. I really feel like we could finish one of these races in the top-five overall when everything is right with the car and we don’t get taken out. I can see that possibility. But with that, I also need to look to my Pro-Am points situation and get as many first-place class finishes as I possibly can. So we’re constantly balancing winning Pro Am and placing as high as possible overall. Last year, I only got to really go out and give it everything I had in one race, and that was Circuit of the Americas because when we got there, I had the Pro-Am championship locked up. This year, I admit I’ve driven a little more aggressively than I have in the past and might have taken a couple more chances than I might have in the past, and it’s cost me a little bit. But, overall, I’m feeling good going to Lime Rock. We’re coming off a good weekend at Mid-Ohio in the SCCA Super Tour. We’ve got the car handling well and I’ve been able to get it to do things consistently that Scott (Lagasse Jr.) and I have been working on for a long time that I just haven’t been good enough as a driver to consistently do. We’re continuing to inch away at it, and I continue to get better as a driver. So, being a better driver and having fantastic equipment, I’m excited to show up to Lime Rock, which is a short circuit that really has to be driven very precisely to make the very best laps. I’m excited to see what we can do.”
Your last outing at Lime Rock was during last summer’s All-Star Race, which put you in the company of some of the biggest names that ever took to a racetrack. How was that experience for you?
“Oh, that was really cool, absolutely. I mean, those were guys that I looked at and wanted to be like one day. I didn’t get a young start, and I don’t know if I’m ever going to be all the way there. But being able to hang out with them, to talk with them about their experiences, and to see them respect us a little bit, too, was really pretty cool.”
Connor Mosack, Driver, No. 8 NAPA NightVision/Mission Foods/SLR-M1 Racecars Chevrolet Camaro:
It’ll be all in a day’s work this weekend as you head up to Lime Rock for Saturday qualifying and the TA2 race after running with your NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team Friday night at Charlotte. Thoughts?
“I’m excited to go back. The last race I ran for TeamSLR was the All-Star Race at Lime Rock last year and I took over the car at the back and had to drive my way forward after getting up to speed. So we’ll be able to qualify this time, and I think we’ll have a good shot in the race. I’m going to have NAPA NightVision and Mission Foods on board, so it’s good to have their support to enable me to do this, and hopefully it will help us get prepared for the Truck race when we go back to Lime Rock in late June.”
You were able to pass almost half the field in the relatively short time you were in the car during the All-Star Race on a track where it’s difficult to pass. Does that give you confidence heading into Saturday?
“Yeah, I’ll be in the same exact car, ‘Old Dolly,’ so I’m looking forward to it. Lime Rock’s a place that I enjoy going to, although different circumstances prevented us from having a top finish. We did finish fourth there my first year. I think we’ll be good this weekend. Obviously, it’s competitive and there’ll be some guys we’ll have to go beat, but I think we can have a good shot.”
What kinds of things will you be looking to take from this weekend’s race to your preparation for the Truck race in June?
“I think one thing is that the surface is always changing at these places as asphalt ages, so just seeing how it is now and getting a fresher look at the track. Also, if curbs are different, or it’s got some sealer down in different places, or just where the grip level is, it’s always good to have as fresh a look as you can. I know enough of the differences in how the TA2 car drives compared to the truck, but I feel like it would just be helpful to understand what I’ll need out of my truck, and then see how the place races. I think how they race should be pretty similar as far as where you can pass, how you pass, things like that, so there are definitely a lot of benefits in going there this weekend.”
-TeamSLR-