Halfway through Langley Speedway’s 2022 season, one Late Model Stock driver has emerged with a clear advantage over the rest of the competition.
That honor belongs to Chesapeake, Virginia native Brenden Queen, known affectionately by his nickname ‘Butterbean’ due to his close resemblance to wrestler Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch when he was a child.
Queen has only lost one race he has entered at Langley this year, with his accomplishments including five weekly victories and a win in a CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour race back on June 4.
With all the momentum on his side, Queen has been eagerly looking forward to Langley’s most prestigious race in the Hampton Heat 200, which boasts a strong, 36-car entry list featuring the likes of Peyton Sellers, Layne Riggs, Bobby McCarty and more.
Despite previously winning the Hampton Heat back in 2020, Queen expects a much different race Saturday evening and said mistakes will have to be at a minimum to keep his near-perfect year at Langley going.
“It’s a big confidence booster to have this type of season,” Queen said. “However, I know [the Hampton Heat] is going to be tough, because it doesn’t matter how good you are. So many things have to go right, and thankfully I know what I need to do, but getting everything to work out my way is another story.”
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Being one of the best drivers at Langley has been a refreshing change of pace for Queen, who vividly remembers struggling to get top fives just a handful of years ago.
Queen has had confidence in his driving ability since he started racing at 6, but he admitted transitioning into Langley’s Late Model Stock division initially presented several challenges as he tried to find his footing against the seasoned veterans in the division.
The person who ended up providing Queen the guidance he needed to contend for victories every night was his crew chief, a former driver in Phil Warren. From the late 1980s up until the early 2000s, Warren was one of the most dominant drivers at Langley with seven track titles, which included a stellar, 19-win season in 1995.
With Warren’s experience at his disposal, Queen gradually started to see the results for which he was looking. Along with his Hampton Heat victory, Queen has won the last two track championships at Langley and is determined to keep that streak going with a strong second half this year.
Queen said he has no idea how his career would have turned out if he did not have Warren consistently providing feedback on how to perfect his driving style.
“Phil Warren is the man,” Queen said. “I struggled at Langley for years, and he just kept working with me. We got our cars better, but Phil has mentored me so much both on and off the track. I’ve figured out how to put whole races together and be there at the end, but everything is really clicking this year.”
When Warren first started working with Queen in the mid-2010s, he was impressed with the passion and resilience the local racer possessed toward becoming one of the best at Langley.
Those qualities proved to be invaluable as both Queen and Warren embarked on an arduous journey to reach that goal, which saw the duo compete briefly at the now-defunct East Carolina Motor Speedway and win a track championship there.
While Warren still considers the operation underfunded compared to other Late Model Stock programs, he is thrilled with the progress made over the past several years along with Queen’s commitment to understanding all the intricate details necessary to excel on track.
“We didn’t have the best cars or a lot of things we needed early on,” Warren said. “I got behind on a lot of the new stuff, and we couldn’t catch up. I told Brenden at one point that if needed something else to be better, I would move on, but Brenden assured me we would figure it out. It took us until 2019 for us to finally get a great race car and motor. Now we’re contenders to win every week.”
RACING REFERENCE: Career stats for Brenden Queen
The chemistry between Queen and Warren has been on display every race weekend, with the first twin Late Model Stock feature on June 11 being the only time they have not celebrated a victory together at Langley in 2022.
A faulty air gauge forced Queen to pit early in that race for flat tires and settle for an eighth-place run. He and Warren managed to find an air gauge that worked ahead of the second 50-lap feature, which Queen won with relative ease.
Queen admitted the thought of potentially missing out on a perfect season at Langley due to the broken air gauge occasionally bothers him, but he is proud of how 2022 has unfolded and is confident he can hold his own against the best Late Model Stock competition in the southeast on a regular basis.
Saturday’s Hampton Heat presents another opportunity for Queen to showcase his talent following a disappointing Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway, which saw Queen finish in 33rd due to a mechanical issue.
Even with a larger entry list compared to the event in 2020, Warren believes Queen can become a two-time winner of the Hampton Heat if he can simultaneously conserve his tires and avoid any trouble stemming from 36 cars racing around the small facility.
“The biggest thing for us is to get through the race without any damage,” Warren said. “The Hampton Heat requires a lot of tire management, and we’re only going to get one set of tires. Everyone will have to manage more, but I feel like it’ll work out in our favor, and it’d be big for Brenden to win that race again.”
A second win in the Hampton Heat is something Queen hopes will allow him to expand his racing career beyond the short tracks of the East Coast.
The only major start for Queen outside of Late Model Stocks came in an ARCA Menards Series race at Daytona International Speedway in 2019, but he remains optimistic over one day earning a ride for another ARCA team, or possibly in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Queen understands it will take tremendous effort to break into the top ranks of NASCAR, but for now, he is content on proving himself with a strong second half at Langley that includes another win in the Hampton Heat.
“It would be a dream come true to [one day race in NASCAR],” Queen said. “I’m working hard to put myself in the right spot and get that perfect opportunity to make everything happen. Hopefully somebody comes along to help me out, but either way, I’m blessed for everything I’ve accomplished so far, and whatever happens in the future, I’ll be happy with it.”
The consistency of Queen at Langley over the past three years has made the “Butterbean” brand synonymous with the legends of the track like Warren, C.E. Falk III, Greg Edwards, Elton Sawyer and so many more.
With a third track title in sight, Queen is eager to keep adding onto his growing legacy and further cement himself as one of the best in Langley’s proud history.
