Brenden Queen Moving Up Racing Ladder, Still Looking for Waffle House Deal

Coming up as a late model stock car driver who earned his stripes around Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., Brenden “Butterbean” Queen got his big break on the national stage in 2023 with an opportunity to race in the CARS Tour with Lee Pulliam.

He delivered with six wins in two years and the 2024 Late Model Stock Car championship, and those results led Queen to Pinnacle Racing Group for a full-time ride in the ARCA Menards Series for 2025.

With two wins in his first five starts, Queen has established himself as an early favorite for the 2025 championship. Frontstretch interviewed Queen prior to Friday’s (May 23) ARCA race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (where he finished 14th), where he discussed his racing origins, his connection to the CARS Tour, his current ARCA season and more.

Trenton Worsham, Frontstretch: You’ve got two wins on the season so far: Daytona International Speedway and Kansas Speedway. Did you expect to start the year like this?

Brenden Queen: I knew that Pinnacle Racing Group No. 28 would be fast, so the pressure was on me, like I tell everybody, so I knew the car could. I just had to figure out how to do it myself from behind the wheel, because they bring such good cars every week. I didn’t know how it would turn out, but I’m glad it’s been in the right direction for me.

Worsham: We’ve covered you since your CARS Tour days and winning at Florence Motor Speedway. For people who are getting to know you, the Bean, the Bean nation, the Waffle House man, what’s your backstory?

Queen: [I was] Just a late model stock short track guy and was very content with that; racing at Langley Speedway, driving my own car. And then I got an opportunity to drive for Lee Pulliam in the last two years on the CARS Tour. Just trying to really build our fan base, which thanks to Bean Nation, has been amazing. And bring them along to the Waffle House, is what I like to say.

So we just have fun with it and have had some success with late model racing, and I thought that that’s pretty much all I’d be is a late model guy — which is nothing wrong with that, and I was very content with it. But [I] got these opportunities to move up, so I had to take them while I still could.

Worsham: You came up with Lee Pulliam, and now he’s got Lanie Buice and others in the CARS Tour. Just working with that group and that organization … what was the experience like getting you ready for the bigger series of NASCAR?

Queen: So I actually had a crew chief on my family car, Phil Warren, and he was like a dad to me. He did so much, and he got me ready for that opportunity with Lee. And then Lee took over and got me ready for this opportunity and basically just helped mold me into — Phil had done such a good job getting me where I could win races, and Lee just took me from [winning at] one track to being able to win at multiple tracks and helped me as a person, really.

My time there is super — I don’t know the word I’m looking for — but beneficial. And I look back on those times and just love it, reminisce of it, and I’m so thankful for it. It just made me a better person all the way around and just ready for these opportunities.

You talk about Lee, I mean he’s definitely one that lets me know every week that I can win, and it goes a long way when somebody’s telling you that.

Worsham: You’ve had some partners come along; Folsom Fence Supplies on your uniform right now, and they’ve sponsored guys and girls in the CARS Tour as well. Bringing those partners up to the ARCA Series, that has a national spotlight week-in, week-out, what’s that been like from the business side of things?

Queen: Folsom Fence came on board with me last year during our CARS Tour championship, and they were a big part of that. Super cool to see them take another step with me as I take a step up, and I’m just super blessed to be able to give them this opportunity, to see their car go around a big track.

Nothing wrong with late model racing, we needed them in the late model world, but I’m thankful that they still stick with me and get to come do this. I’m a late model guy at heart, but I want to race as a career, and you got to move up.

It’s sad having to leave that world but I still keep up with it. And anytime I can get a chance to go back, I always want to.

Worsham: What do you do in your downtime between weeks? With the ARCA Series, there could be two, three or four weeks between races. As a racer yourself who’s not ripping around the late model scene right now, what are you doing in your spare time when the ARCA Series is off?

Queen: Working hard with everybody at Chevy — Josh Wise, Scott Speed and those guys — just trying to prepare myself mentally and physically. And then running on my sim, studying film, just trying to be more prepared for each race. Sometimes, we get more weeks off, but it gives me extra time to prepare for the next one.

We’re getting ready to hit a pretty busy stretch of four or five in a row, and I’m just trying to be ahead of it on my learning curve.

Worsham: Just recently for the NASCAR All-Star weekend, the CARS Tour had a big presence on FOX Sports 1. What did that mean coming up through that series, seeing it have that national spotlight like that?

Queen: Super cool. Obviously jealous, I wish it would have happened while I was racing there. And Flo [Racing] does such a good job, so don’t take anything away from Flo, but I just know people that won’t make the payment [for] Flo. Most of them have FS1, so it was really cool to see.

I mean, it just shows that you need to make that subscription to Flo, because that’s what is produced every week. Super big to be on national television though, and at the same time, I was there, so I got to be a little bit of part of it. I wish I was driving, but I enjoyed seeing how big it was.

Worsham: Have there been any talks business-wise, promotion-wise with Waffle House? You shout them out on national TV every time you win, and I’m sure they’ve seen it. Have there been any talks with Waffle House for any kind of sponsorships?

Queen: No, I wish. We’ve tried. Tag them up, tag them up, Bean Nation. Let them know. If not, I guess we’re going to have to go to Chili’s or something, but I’d like to have a Waffle House car. That’d be sweet.