KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kansas Speedway was only the second time Brenden Queen had ever started in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race, but that was all he needed before earning a first career top-10 finish.
On Saturday, Sept. 27, ‘Butterbean’ finished ninth at the 1.5-mile circuit.
“Honestly I just learned all night,” Queen told the media post-race. “[I] kept the car in one piece, and there isn’t anything wrong with a top 10 at the first mile-and-a-half [track]. Super thankful to everybody at Kaulig Racing.”
Only 24 hours earlier, Queen had won the ARCA Menards Series race from the pole. It was his eighth victory of 2025 and all but solidified his championship victory in the national series.
Queen, who normally celebrates race wins with visits to a nearby Waffle House, had to think of a new way to celebrate winning a racing title.
“[I’ll] probably double the waffle count we had all year,” Queen said after winning the ARCA race. “I can tell you, we will take time to enjoy it. I want to celebrate with my guys, celebrate with my partners and everybody that’s made this happen.
“But not rest on it because whatever’s next, it just makes you more hungry to do it at another level.”
Rest on it he did not. Less than 12 hours later, the CARS Tour champion kept the positive momentum going when he qualified fourth in the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. It continued after the green flag as well. Queen earned his first career stage points in stage one when he placed sixth.
However, in the following pit stop, the Virginian was boxed in his pit stall by a spinning car ahead of him. As a result, he lost seven positions and had to restart 13th at the beginning of the second stage.
Shuffled near the back end of the top 20, the No. 11 was stuck in traffic, and as the field continued to spread out, had no way of gaining ground.
“[We] had a couple of issues on pit road,” Queen said. “Everything on pit road was really out of our doing. When the guy in front of us spun out coming in the stall, I’m not going to blame it on that.
“It’s just part of racing like we had to overcome it.”
While missing out on stage points in the second segment, crew chief Eddie Pardue rolled the dice near the middle of the final stage. With 50 laps to go, Butterbean stayed out while the rest of the field visited pit road under the green flag. The No. 11 team was hoping for a caution to catch them in the lead. It’s a risky move, as pitting too late could have resulted in the team losing multiple positions and effectively end any chance it had at victory.
Not to mention, there had only been one non-stage caution the entire race to that point, and the chance of another occurring in that time span were slim.
But on lap 157, it did.
“Eddie Purdue called a great race, great strategy,” Queen said. “We had to get our track position back. I probably lost a couple just off experience there, but I learned every restart, and I felt like it got better.”
Queen pitted and restarted eighth with 38 laps to go.
All said and done, he lost only one position and held onto ninth, securing his first career top 10.
“I knew the team could do it,” Queen said. “Pressure’s on me to perform, so they give me a good opportunity here. And ninth is awesome, but I want to win for these guys and keep building on it and get in the top five next.”
Even more impressive is that Queen, who is well known for his short track racing background, earned his first career top 10 on an intermediate 1.5-mile oval — a breed of track he has had very limited starts at in only the ARCA series.
“I thought that [intermediate tracks] would be a big learning curve and it was,” Queen said. “But [I’m] glad that we were able to have a have a really good day.”
It may not have been a victory, but considering the circumstances, a Waffle House visit may still be justified.
“Well, I owe the Pinnacle [Racing Group] boys one from last night,” Queen said. “But we’ll be at Waffle House this week for sure.”
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loud column, co-host of the Frontstretch Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT