Brenden Michael Queen (born November 21, 1997), nicknamed Butterbean, is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 12 Ram 1500 for Kaulig Racing. He is the 2025 ARCA Menards Series champion and the 2024 CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour champion.
Racing career Queen started racing at the age of six in go-karts at Langley Speedway then quickly moved to dirt go-karts with the Albemarle Kart Club on the same grounds as Dixieland Speedway in Elizabeth City, NC. After numerous championships kart racing, Queen advanced to the legend division at his home track of Langley Speedway. After more championships in the legend division, he moved to the Late Model Stock division. During these years, he was mentored by Phil Warren, a seven-time Langley track champion, who served as his crew chief starting in the mid-2010s. Queen won three consecutive track championships at Langley in 2020, 2021, and 2022. He also won the 2016 late model stock track championship at East Carolina Motor Speedway and the 2022 dirt late model track championship at Dixieland Speedway.
CARS Tour In 2022, Queen joined Lee Pulliam Performance to run full-time in the CARS Tour in 2023, but made a splash in November 2022 by winning the 30th Annual Charlie Powell Memorial 400 at Florence Motor Speedway, one of the major post-season races for Late Models (had been known as the Myrtle Beach 400 before the race was moved to Timmonsville).
Queen won the 2023 CARS Tour race at North Wilkesboro held on the Wednesday before the track's Truck Series race and Cup Series race. Some NASCAR drivers, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., were also in that CARS Tour race.
ARCA Menards Series In 2019, Queen made his ARCA debut in the season-opener at Daytona in the No. 35 car for Vizion Motorsports after previously competing in the series' preseason testing at the track in January for the team. Vizion team owners Jennifer and Teddy Brown were so impressed by Queen's late model performances that they invited him to test and race their car at Daytona. After the race at Daytona, Queen tweeted that he would run full-time for Vizion in the No. 35 car but he and the team did not end up running any more races that year due to the team's financial problems.
On December 4, 2024, it was announced that Queen would return to the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 28 Chevrolet for Pinnacle Racing Group on a full-time basis. In the season opener at Daytona, Queen scored his first career win in the series. He would earn wins at Kansas in May, Michigan, Dover, Iowa, DuQuion, Salem, and Kansas in September to secure the series championship.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series On March 8, 2024, it was announced that Queen would make his Truck Series debut in the race at North Wilkesboro driving the No. 1 truck for Tricon Garage.
On July 15, 2025, it was announced that Queen would compete in the event at IRP with Spire Motorsports in their No. 07 truck.
On October 16, 2025, it was announced that Queen will run full-time for the 2026 season, driving for Kaulig Racing. He started the 2026 season with an seventh-place finish at Daytona.
NASCAR Xfinity Series On September 5, 2025, it was announced that Queen would make his Xfinity Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway, driving the No. 11 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing. He finished twentieth in his maiden race. He later was invited to do the race at Kansas with Kaulig, where he led his first career Xfinity laps and finished ninth. He would later be announced to run the remainder of the season with the team starting at Talladega Superspeedway.
Personal life Queen is from Chesapeake, Virginia and frequently competes at his home track of Langley Speedway. He got his nickname "Butterbean" from boxer Eric Esch who also has that nickname as Queen looked like him when he was born and early in his life. His father, Mike, was also a racing driver. Queen is currently attending Old Dominion University, where he will earn a degree in mechanical engineering. Queen is known for eating at Waffle House after winning races.
Motorsports career results
Racing career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsTop 5Top 10PointsPosition2019CARS Late Model Stock Car TourMike Queen10001555thARCA Menards SeriesVizion Motorsports10008582nd2022CARS Late Model Stock Car TourN/A21114139th2023CARS Late Model Stock Car TourLee Pulliam Performance16412154902nd2024CARS Late Model Stock Car TourLee Pulliam Performance17212124661stNASCAR Craftsman Truck SeriesTricon Garage30116838th2025ARCA Menards Series WestPinnacle Racing Group10114441stARCA Menards Series East42442318thARCA Menards Series208171710341stNASCAR Craftsman Truck SeriesSpire Motorsports20010NC†NASCAR Xfinity SeriesKaulig Racing50018841st2026CARS Late Model Stock Car TourLee Pulliam Performance3033115*32nd*NASCAR Craftsman Truck SeriesKaulig Racing20004403*15th* † As Queen was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Xfinity Series NASCAR Xfinity Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Pts Ref 2025 Kaulig Racing 11 Chevy DAY ATL COA PHO LVS HOM MAR DAR BRI CAR TAL TEX CLT NSH MXC POC ATL CSC SON DOV IND IOW GLN DAY PIR GTW BRI20 KAN9 ROV LVS TAL36 MAR35 PHO19 41st 88
Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2024 Tricon Garage 1 Toyota DAY ATL LVS BRI COA MAR TEX KAN DAR NWS4 CLT GTW NSH19 POC IRP RCH MLW BRI KAN20 TAL HOM MAR PHO 38th 68 2025 Spire Motorsports 07 Chevy DAY ATL LVS HOM MAR BRI CAR TEX KAN NWS CLT NSH MCH POC LRP IRP16 GLN RCH DAR BRI NHA ROV TAL 90th 01 7 MAR10 PHO 2026 Kaulig Racing 12 Ram DAY7 ATL16 STP24 DAR20 CAR27 BRI10 TEX13 GLN9 DOV13 CLT32 NSH19 MCH14 COR7 LRP12 NWS21 IRP20 RCH20 NHA20 BRI21 KAN14 CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -*
Season still in progress Ineligible for series points
ARCA Menards Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Menards Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Ref 2019 Vizion Motorsports 35 Toyota DAY29 FIF SLM TAL NSH TOL CLT POC MCH MAD GTW CHI ELK IOW POC ISF DSF SLM IRP KAN 82nd 85 2025 Pinnacle Racing Group 28 Chevy DAY1 PHO2* TAL25 KAN1* CLT14 MCH1* BLN4 ELK2* LRP4 DOV1** IRP3* IOW1* GLN21 ISF4 MAD3 DSF1 BRI3 SLM1 KAN1 TOL2 1st 1034
ARCA Menards Series East ARCA Menards Series East results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts Ref 2025 Pinnacle Racing Group 28 Chevy FIF CAR NSV FRS DOV1** IRP3* IOW1* BRI3 8th 231
ARCA Menards Series West ARCA Menards Series West results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts Ref 2025 Pinnacle Racing Group 28 Chevy KER PHO2* TUC CNS KER SON TRI PIR AAS MAD LVS PHO 41st 44
CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.) CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pts Ref 2019 Mike Queen 03 Chevy SNM HCY ROU ACE MMS LGY18 DOM CCS HCY ROU SBO 55th 15 2022 N/A 03 Toyota CRW HCY GRE AAS FCS LGY1 DOM HCY ACE MMS NWS26 TCM ACE SBO CRW 39th 41 2023 Lee Pulliam Performance SNM7 FLC2 HCY10 ACE4 NWS1* LGY2 DOM2* CRW6 ACE5* TCM16* WKS4 AAS1 SBO4 TCM1** CRW1** 2nd 490 55S HCY3 2024 03 SNM19 HCY2 AAS11 OCS13 ACE2 TCM1** LGY14 DOM1** CRW23 HCY5 NWS5* ACE4 WCS3 FLC2 SBO5 TCM3 NWS5 1st 466 2026 Lee Pulliam Performance 03 Dodge SNM WCS NSV CRW ACE LGY DOM3 NWS5 HCY AND FLC5 TCM NPS SBO -* -*
References
External links Official profile at Pinnacle Racing Group