HICKORY, N.C. – Tristan McKee has not been on the ARCA Menards Series platform for long, but he has already made a strong impression.

After taking home a checkered flag in his national series debut at Watkins Glen International last August, McKee found his way to Victory Lane on Saturday in only his second ARCA Menards Series East appearance. Late contact between Max Reaves and Landon S. Huffman enabled McKee to prevail in the inaugural East Series race at Hickory Motor Speedway.

RESULTS: Cook Out 200 at Hickory Motor Speedway

Winning the Cook Out 200 did not come easy for McKee, who trailed Reaves for most of the evening while battling an ill-handling No. 77 Tibbetts Lumber Company Chevrolet. Once he found his cadence, all McKee needed was the right opportunity to find his way around Reaves and add another accomplishment to his growing resume.

“After the past day and a half here, we were struggling with the car quite a bit,” McKee said. “All the guys made a really good adjustment at the halfway break. The car came alive after that stop and I passed up to second. [Reaves and Huffman] got into it there and I knew it was my shot. I ran my best four laps at the end there and came away with the win.”

McKee’s victory continued an impressive streak to start his time in the ARCA Menards Series. Through seven combined starts he has made on the platform, McKee’s only finish outside the top five came at Madison International Speedway, an 11^th.

The Watkins Glen triumph last year was a chance for McKee to show off his road course expertise. Plenty of starts in the Trans Am Championship TA2 class gave McKee the familiarity he needed to seamlessly transition into ARCA Menards Series competition at Watkins Glen, which saw McKee take the win after Brent Crews suffered a late mechanical failure.

Hickory’s abrasive surface proved to be a challenging test for McKee in his first time around the track in an ARCA Menards Series chassis. Just like at Watkins Glen, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was standing in the way of a victory, this time piloted by Reaves.

Seeking to upstage Reaves at Hickory, especially with his sponsor Cook Out presenting the event, McKee had to bide his time while Reaves enjoyed a relatively quiet evening pacing the field. Several late cautions slowed the pace, allowing drivers like McKee and Huffman a shot at usurping Reaves for the lead.

On a restart with 15 laps remaining, a bump from Huffman moved Reaves out of the groove and into McKee. The three drivers exchanged blows with one another over the next two laps, but McKee gained the upper hand while Reaves settled into second and Huffman was knocked to the rear of the lead lap following a spin.

Reaves could not mount another charge on McKee and watched his perfect record in the East Series come to an end at three victories. The circumstances surrounding the end of the Cook Out 200 frustrated Reaves, who made sure to remind the packed crowd at Hickory how strong he was during his post-race interview.

The shower of jeers Reaves received left minimal impact.

“We were the best by far tonight,” Reaves said. “Props to Tristan McKee and all them at PRG, but they were nothing on us. I don’t know what the plan was [with Huffman], but I think he was trying to take me [and McKee] out. If you can’t beat them, you got to wreck them. This reminds me of that one interview with Kyle Busch when he cried at the haters.

“There’s a reason I’m in [the No. 18] and not one of these other ones.”

Reaves will now regroup after his defeat at Hickory as he prepares to embark on an intense East Series title fight with McKee, a driver who has proven to be just as steadfast as him in the early days of their respective ARCA Menards Series careers.

For McKee, Saturday was just as much about unfinished business as it was gaining experience. He still remembers how close he came to winning $50,000 in a Late Model Stock event at Hickory last summer, only to see those aspirations evaporate after a late-race crash.

Even after learning from his mistakes that evening, McKee knew it would take a complete team effort from him and Pinnacle Racing Group to best Reaves on Saturday evening. Having claimed round one over Reaves, McKee is eager to continue building on the momentum with PRG that began with his first ARCA Menards Series starts last year.

“It definitely feels good to get some redemption [at Hickory] after the CARS Tour race here last year,” McKee said. “It feels really good to be here in Victory Lane, so thanks to all the PRG guys. They made some good adjustments, [but] we really worked hard on this car all weekend.”

Defending East Series champion Isaac Kitzmiller kickstarted his title defense with a solid third-place showing at Hickory. He was followed by Derek Kneeland and Nick Tucker to round out the top five.

The rest of the top 10 consisted of Huffman, Dynasty Spurlock, Jackson McLerran, Craig Pellegrini Jr. and Austin Vaughn.

ARCA Menards Series East competitors will not have much time to rest after Hickory, as they will be back in action next Saturday at the historic Rockingham Speedway. The green flag is set to wave at 11:30 a.m. ET, with FloRacing providing live coverage of all the on-track action.