Brenden Queen leads the ARCA Menards Series points because he has the most wins. He continued that trend at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds on Sunday, Aug. 31, winning the Southern Illinois 100.
By virtue of his DuQuoin victory and fourth-place result at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Butterbean Queen finished with the best average finish at the two dirt tracks, thereby earning the $7,500 Hungry Hen’s Dirt Double prize.
Queen picked up the sixth win of both the season and his career.
Pole sitter Lawless Alan finished second, his first top 10 following a three-race stretch with zero top 10s and zero lead-lap finishes.
Dirt ringer Kelly Kovski finished third followed by Isabella Robusto in fourth and Tim Monroe in fifth.
Lavar Scott led until Queen took the lead with about 20 laps to go in the scheduled distance, but Scott was involved in a late-race restart multi-car spin that took away his bid for his first career win. Scott ultimately wound up sixth.
Chase Howard debuted to an impressive seventh-place result, followed by Tony Cosentino in eighth and Michael Maples rounding out the lead-lap finishers in ninth. Maples earned his first-ever top 10 and Max Reaves completed the top 10 in 10th.
The series’ historic race at the 1-mile DuQuoin dirt track saw seven cautions. The seven cautions were the most at DuQuoin since 2022. Reaves brought out the first two yellow flags, and his second one was the one that took him out of contention for his second straight win.
The next major yellow flag flew for Jade Avedisian, who was making her series debut with Venturini Motorsports. She fell a few laps down due to an apparent battery issue, and when she returned to the racetrack, she got her No. 25 Toyota out of the groove and backed it into the wall.
The next caution came out for Brent Crews. Crews led laps during the race, and if he would’ve won, he would’ve claimed the ultimate $20,000 Dirt Double prize. Instead, after he lost the lead, he drove back into the top three before Alex Clubb made contact with him, sending both drivers spinning and Crews’ No. 70 Toyota receiving major damage.
Crews finished 11 laps down in 15th, not indicative of the speed in his Nitro Motorsports No. 70 Toyota. Clubb, meanwhile, soldiered on to an 11th-place result, three laps down.
On the following restart, Scott slid high, and as he brought his No. 6 Chevrolet back into the racing line, he made contact with Monroe, and a multi-car spin ensued.
Queen didn’t falter in overtime, and as a result, his victory extended his points lead in the driver point standings and his Pinnacle Racing Group team retook the lead in the owner standings ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 team.
ARCA Results from DuQuoin
ARCA next heads to Bristol Motor Speedway. The short track will host the national division in a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series East. It will also be the East season finale. The Bush’s Beans 200 will take place on Thursday, Sept. 11, at 5:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 1.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.