While NASCAR is running its 2025 playoffs, the rumor mill in the silly season is also in full swing. There are suggestions that NASCAR Truck Series sensation Corey Heim will get a part-time ride in Sam Hunt Racing’s Xfinity Program for 2026. If 23XI Racing wins the lawsuit, he’d also run a couple of Cup races with them.
Similarly, another talented youngster, like Heim, is eying his promotion in 2026, and his journey seems to be on the right track, given his return to the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing in Kansas.
Which 2025 ARCA Sensation Is Set for Second Career NASCAR Xfinity Race?
It’s no secret that Brenden “Butterbean” Queen has been all the rage in the 2025 ARCA Menards Series. In fact, he recently got his seventh win of the season at Salem Speedway, further cementing his place in the bid for the championship. Given his talent, it won’t be long before he runs full-time in NASCAR. In fact, he’s already made a couple of starts there.
In 2024, Queen made his NASCAR Truck Series debut, running for Tricon Garage at North Wilkesboro Speedway. This season, he made his Xfinity Series debut at the Bristol Motor Speedway, racing for Kaulig. Queen had a decent run at Bristol, after starting 28th, he finished 20th.
Now, to further hone his skills in the Xfinity Series, Queen is returning in the #11 car of Kaulig for the Kansas race.
Kaulig Racing, in a recent X post, made this announcement: “Brenden Queen will jump back in the No. 11 @Action_Ind Chevy to make his first @NASCAR_Xfinity Series start on a mile-and-a-half track this weekend at Kansas Speedway!”
Even Queen is pumped to take on the 1.5-mile intermediate track. The Virginia native wrote, “Blessed for another opportunity to get back behind the wheel of the @Action_Ind Chevy with @KauligRacing this weekend at @KansasSpeedway.”
The team has not revealed how many more Xfinity races Queen will pilot for them, but this seems to be a step in his future in NASCAR. Kaulig Racing is making its Truck Series debut, is partnering with RAM trucks in 2026, and has committed to putting five trucks in the season. Queen could be driving one of those trucks.
Kaulig would have a presence in all three NASCAR series in 2026. So maybe after a season in Trucks, Queen gets promoted to Xfinity and then the Cup Series as well. While nothing has been announced yet, it only seems logical for Kaulig to have Queen on its roster.
So far, given his talent, Queen has won everything he has set his foot into. He raced in the Late Model Stock Car series in 2024 and ended up winning the championship. He’s racing in the ARCA Series in 2025 and, with two races remaining, is leading by 56 points over Lavar Scott. So there is a strong possibility that he could win the ARCA championship as well.
If this trajectory continues into NASCAR, Queen’s in for a hell of a career.