Brendan Queen, in his 1st year of ARCA action, has won the ARCA title with the Pinnacle Racing Group. Not bad for someone who was studying at university years ago. Now this has opened all sorts of doors for Brendan Queen, but how did this happen? That’s what I found out!
Brendan Queen and Pinnacle’s Start
Brendan Queen comes from a racing family with former racers Mike Queen and Robyn Foster, and his nickname comes from the fact that he looked like the boxer Eric Esch, better known as “Butterbean,” when he was born. He quickly moved his way up the local Virginia ranks.
He was mentored by Phil Warren, a seven-time Langley track champion, who served as his crew chief starting in the mid-2010s. Brendan Queen won three consecutive track championships at Langley in 2020, 2021, and 2022, all while studying engineering at Old Dominion at the same time.
But in 2022, his career hit a crossroads. Because that’s when Brendan Queen won his 1st CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour at his home track in Langley in only his 2nd ever start. So now he knew he had the talent to go full-time, but at the time, he had a secure longshoreman job and so had to choose between a stable traditional job and his racing dream.
Many would’ve said to go with the stable job, but as Butterbean said about himself, he was never a follower and always went down his own path.“He was like, ‘Do you want to race for a living, or do you want to keep working where you’re at seven days a week and can’t get off the rest of your life?’” Brendan Queen said. “
Basically, I had to put all the chips in.” So in 2023, he signed with the Lee Pulliam Performance operation, where he made his name nationwide. As he would become the 2024 CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour Champion, and that, along with his fun and aggressive personality, made him a fan favorite and caught the attention of Pinnacle.
The Start of a Successful Partnership
Pinnacle Racing Group was started by the Webb brothers, with Shane Huffman, and in partnership with Chevrolet’s driver development program and their heads, Lorin Ranier and Josh Wise. The foundation was laid for the team when Huffman helped crew chief Bret Holmes to the 2020 ARCA title, where he met Webb’s stepson, Connor Mosack, who was a part-time driver for the team.
After finding out Webb had some old shops in NC, the idea of a race team was born and eventually became a reality. The team was made because they wanted to create an elite team that would develop top talent for Chevy.
Already, they’ve had Zilisch full-time, and Pinnacle had Fenhaus the previous year, but even with either of those talents in ARCA East, they couldn’t get a title, finishing 2nd in points both in 2023 and 2024. A black flag hanging above the whole team’s head as they hired Brendan Queen to go full-time in ARCA for the 1st time.
Brendan Queen’s Incredible Season
Brendan Queen and Pinnacle made their intentions clear when he won the opening race at Daytona, and Brazilian IndyCar superstar Helio finished 5th. And the good times kept rolling for Brendan Queen and the No. 28 team as he won his 2nd race of the year. After shooting out like a rocket on the final restart, pull away from the rest of the field.
And the good times wouldn’t stop either, winning at tracks like Michigan, beating Corey Heim, who won the most truck races in a season ever. Then, winning at Dover in as dominant a fashion as possible and leading every single lap en route to 1 of the easiest wins in Brendan Queen’s career.
Final Thoughts
Queen beat Toyota prodigy Crews to win at Iowa, but his title would be really clinched at the end of the season. Winning 3 of the final 5 races of the year. He finally earned his 2025 title after finishing 2nd in the Toledo finale!“It starts at the shop,” Queen said. “Those guys work so many hours preparing these cars.
I’m the lucky one. I always get interviewed, but I always say they are the ones who should be getting interviewed because they pour their heart and soul into that car. They bring such a good product from the shop and make my job easier. We never give up, and we never stop fighting. That’s won us a couple of races this year.” Thanks a bunch for reading!
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