By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – A stellar NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut for Brenden ‘Butterbean’ Queen left the Late Model racer floored by the support he received post-race.
The short track veteran passed 66 trucks throughout the Wright Brand 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Over 20 of those passes came early after rain washed out qualifying. A large majority of the rest came after a pit road speeding penalty dropped Queen back down the running order.
The 26-year-old made up for his inexperience in NASCAR with his short track racing skill. TRICON Garage crew chief Seth Smith and the No. 1 Best Repair Company Toyota Tundra TRD Pro team made the right adjustments to allow Queen to fly through the field.
“I knew the truck was fast enough,” Queen stated. “It was more just working on me and Seth and everybody on this team made great calls and that truck was flying when I was coming from the back. I mean, it had so much good rotation. I was a little on the free side, but I’m a dirt racer, so I loved it.”
One place where the CARS Tour racer was inexperienced in was live pit stops. Although he was in a good range for the lights on his dashboard, he was penalized for speeding on pit road just before the halfway point of the 250-lap race. Since the penalty came early in the race, he had plenty of time to battle back.
“I was shocked,” Queen admitted. “I made sure I was below my lights just to not get a penalty and they snagged us. But you know what, that’s part of learning and I’m glad I made the mistake early. Glad I was able to battle back because these guys deserved it. And it was just a shame I got that penalty and put us in a hole because it’s what could have happened.”
It took Queen less than 70 laps to re-enter the top-10. He then broke into the top-five before having a multi-lap battle with Truck Series regular Christian Eckes. The duo leaned on each other until the final caution waved with 37 laps to go.
The battle quickly picked up with 32 laps to go. In the chaotic scramble Queen finally worked his way by the Chevy Racing driver. He then worked his way by Layne Riggs briefly for third after the duo battled with Grant Enfinger throughout the final 10 laps. Queen ultimately took the checkered flag in fourth.
After parking on pit road post-race, Queen was greeted with a standing ovation from ‘Bean Nation’ in the grandstands. It wasn’t until a crew member told him that the cheers were for him that the Chesapeake, VA native began to hype the crowd up. Queen also received congratulations from multi-time truck champion Todd Bodine and fellow competitor Rajah Caruth.
“I couldn’t believe (that the cheers were for me),” Queen said. “I thought it was for Corey, my teammate. I’m super happy for Tricon Garage, they got the ‘W,’ but at the end of the day, when I found out it was for me, I couldn’t really believe it. It was just a bittersweet moment and just shows how much support (there is for) the Late Model guys.”
The lengthy rain delay also allowed the TRICON Garage team to make repairs under caution. Luckily for Queen his truck was not parked on the part of pit road that flooded in the deluge after Stage 1.
Next for Queen is the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car race at Tri-County Speedway on Saturday, May 25. He remains the defending CARS Tour winner at North Wilkesboro after rain forced the postponement of both races earlier in the week.