JACKSONVILLE, NC – Brenden “Butterbean” Queen is looking to get his season turned around in the zMAX CARS Tour after a subpar result in the season opener – and Saturday’s return to New River All American Speedway may be the perfect venue.
Queen, 26, from Chesapeake, Virginia, has a perfect 2-0 record at the Onslow County track, which was formerly called Coastal Plains Raceway. Last March, he picked up the victory in the $20,000-to-win Battle of the Stars, and then backed it up with a victory in last September’s CARS Tour race after holding off Ronnie Bassett, Jr. through the final turn in a spectacular finish.
“We have to get back on track quick because, to win this championship, you’re going to have to have an average of a third-place finish,” Queen said. “Our one bad race has already happened, and we can’t let it happen again. Southern National was a bad run. We want to get some good wins and good runs in the column and there’s no better place for us to come than New River.”
New River All American Speedway is not just a track Queen has been successful at, it’s also a track he enjoys because of its characteristics.
Because of its abrasive surface, tire degradation is one of the key aspects that challenges every driver at New River. Along with the gritty asphalt, the 4/10-mile track, which is often referred to as a D-shape track, also has a unique shape with a dogleg on the front stretch similar to Charlotte Motor Speedway – and to the now-defunct East Carolina Motor Speedway, where Queen won his first track championship in 2016.
“I like the low grip side of racing and the race becoming a strategy race,” Queen explained. “You have to manage your whole race to make it to the end. I’ve had so many laps on low-grip stuff. I like the shape of New River, it’s like East Carolina mixed with Myrtle Beach. It’s a driver’s track because it has so much character. That’s why I like it, and we want to keep the streak alive. 2-0 is obviously good, 3-0 would be great.”
Queen went into the 2024 zMAX CARS Tour season opener at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama with plenty of confidence after winning the Thanksgiving Classic a few months prior. However, he spent much of the season-opening race outside the top five, but in the top 10, before getting turned around in the closing laps and ultimately being relegated to an 18th-place finish. He considers a draw of a harder compound of the new Hoosier ST2 tire as a primary factor in his performance in Lucama.
“We had a good set of tires in practice, but the set I had in the race, I had felt like I was on ice and I was a half-second slower. Hopefully, this week, we can get some good tires on the draw and not get the code we got the last race. Whoever gets those codes will be running in the back.”
Brenden Queen is one of two drivers racing out of the Lee Pulliam Performance stable. Pulliam himself won 176 races and numerous championships as a driver before transitioning to his current role. This season, Pulliam will be the primary crew chief for Queen, who raced for the same team in 2023.
“This will be my first year with Lee as my crew chief,” Queen remarked. “Coming back to New River with Lee on the box is an even greater asset to have. Doug [Powers] did such a great job last year. Doug knew how I drove, knew me, and could tell in my voice if I was comfortable with the car or not. Lee puts a lot of faith in me as well and lets me do my thing, but he’ll also tell me we need to pass more cars or ride a little longer. It’s awesome having one of the greatest drivers on pit road wrenching my car.”
Later this spring, Queen will make his debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at North Wilkesboro Speedway for David Gilliland’s Tricon Racing. One of his wins in the CARS Tour last year came at North Wilkesboro.
Queen is one of over 20 drivers who will contest the CARS Late Model Stock Tour portion of the National Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram 250 at New River All American Speedway on Saturday night. The Grand National Super Series, INEX Legends and Bandoleros, and NASCAR-sanctioned Bombers will also be in action.
