{"id":123529,"date":"2025-09-06T05:13:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T05:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/123529\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T05:13:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T05:13:12","slug":"butterbean-looks-to-shake-up-nascars-development-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/123529\/","title":{"rendered":"Butterbean Looks To Shake Up NASCAR\u2019s Development Path"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ARCA<\/p>\n

BROOKLYN, MICHIGAN – JUNE 06: Brenden Queen, driver of the #28 Best Repair Chevrolet waits in the garage area during practice for the ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health 200 at Michigan International Speedway on June 06, 2025 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

Another young driver is taking his shot at the big leagues of NASCAR. But unlike the dozens who\u2019ve tried to climb the sport\u2019s development ladder, this one already arrives with a fanbase and a nickname that sounds more like a State Fair snack than a race car driver.<\/p>\n

Brenden Queen\u2014known far and wide as \u201cButterbean\u201d\u2014will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway next week in Kaulig Racing\u2019s No. 11 Chevrolet. And when he does, Butter Nation, his rowdy legion of supporters, will be in full voice.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old Virginia native isn\u2019t just another hopeful with a helmet and a dream. He brings with him a trophy case already straining under its own weight. Queen is the 2024 CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour champion, and in the 2025 ARCA Menards Series, he\u2019s been more of a wrecking ball than a participant\u2014collecting six wins and three poles, both tops in the series.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re wondering whether he can hang at NASCAR\u2019s higher levels, well, we already have a hint. His official NASCAR debut came last year in the Truck Series<\/a> at North Wilkesboro. Starting 26th, he carved his way through the field and finished fourth. His Tricon Garage teammate Corey Heim may have won that day, but the crowd only had eyes for the stocky kid with the fried-food nickname. When Queen climbed from his truck, the cheers were louder than those for the winner. That\u2019s the kind of thing you can\u2019t fake.<\/p>\n

Now the next chapter is Bristol\u2014NASCAR\u2019s fastest short track, and one of the most challenging. It\u2019s a place where veterans come to collect bruises and rookies come to learn just how steep the mountain really is.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a dream of mine to get a chance to drive in the Xfinity Series,\u201d Queen said. \u201cI can\u2019t thank everyone at Kaulig Racing enough for making that dream become a reality. I\u2019m fortunate to have this opportunity, and I can\u2019t wait to get to Bristol and give the team all I\u2019ve got and have a solid day.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Kaulig, this isn\u2019t just another seat-filler experiment. It\u2019s an audition with real potential. The team has made a habit of spotting raw talent and giving it the machinery to grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re super excited to be a part of Brenden\u2019s next steps in his racing career,\u201d said Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing. \u201cHe has made a splash in the ARCA Menards Series and is an all-around great short track racer, so we\u2019re looking forward to seeing what he can do in the Xfinity Series under the lights at Bristol.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question Queen faces a steep climb. Bristol isn\u2019t the sort of place where rookies sneak in, keep their heads down, and quietly finish mid-pack. The track is chaos on a concrete half-mile, and the wall comes at you like a left hook. But if Queen\u2019s short career is anything to go by, the safe bet is that the cheers of Butter Nation will follow him, no matter where the checkered flag waves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROOKLYN, MICHIGAN – JUNE 06: Brenden Queen, driver of the #28 Best Repair Chevrolet waits in the garage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[7063,49,48,26422,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-123529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-brenden-queen","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-kaulig-racing","12":"tag-nascar","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}