Posted on July 23, 2022July 23, 2022 by Holly Cain

Chandler Smith earned his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season, taking the trophy in the CRC Brakleen 150 regular-season finale at Pocono Raceway Saturday afternoon while another Smith — Zane — coolly collected his first Regular Season Championship.

It marked the seventh race win for a Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) team in the last eight Pocono races with Smith leading a commanding 49 of the 60 laps in the No. 18 KBM Toyota Tundra. The 20-year-old Georgia native had to hold off a final-lap charge from Ryan Preece, however, and did so by a close 0.262 seconds to hoist his fourth career trophy.

“We’ve been going through a little bit of a struggle here recently, but just when we needed to shine and we started shining,” Chandler Smith said of the victory — his first since a win in March at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Official results | Truck standings

Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith finished a distant 13th in his No. 38 Ford F-150 dealing with throttle issues early in the race. But with the regular-season title in hand, the series-best three-race winner will start the playoffs with the all-important 15 bonus playoff points. He’s hoping to become the first Regular Season Champion to win the season title since 2017.

“Man, today was a major struggle,” Zane Smith said. “Started out from the green flag to pretty much the end of Stage 2 our throttle was sticking and everything we were doing wasn’t fixing it. So, little worried at times because I knew I just had to have a couple points.

“Long day, once we did get it right still fought a really, really tight truck, but there’s no giving up,” Smith added. “Glad we’re on to the playoffs and ready to get this postseason started.”

The other end of the playoff drama, veteran Matt Crafton was able to hold onto the 10th and final playoff transfer position — finishing 15th in the race, but with a 17-point edge on 19-year-old Derek Kraus, who finished ninth. Crafton, a three-time series champion, has qualified for the series playoffs every season since its inception into the series in 2016.

“These guys did everything they were supposed to and worked their rear ends off with TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and worked on the simulator, working on getting our setups better and we were really good on the short runs. We had a way better truck than where we finished,” Crafton said.

“Take your gloves off and do whatever it takes,” he said of the racing for his fourth title now.

Last year’s Regular Season Champion John Hunter Nemechek was third, followed by rookie Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar.

Austin Hill, Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Kraus and Tanner Gray rounded out the top 10.

Former two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Todd Bodine finished 36th in his 800th and final NASCAR national series start. He was collected in an accident on Lap 13.

“I’ve been so blessed to be able to do what I love for 800 times,” said Bodine, who now works as a race broadcaster for FOX Sports. “Pretty blessed life to have.”

As for the early ending, “That’s racing,” Bodine said managing a smile. “I’ve been here before. I’ve been wrecked before. That’s part of the game.”

After adjusting the standings according to playoff positions, the 10 drivers to advance to the upcoming seven-race Camping World Truck Series Playoffs include (in points order): Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, defending series champion Ben Rhodes, Nemechek, Friesen, Eckes, Majeski, Hocevar, Grant Enfinger and Crafton.

The 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs begin next week with Friday’s TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway (9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The series last raced at the formerly named “Indianapolis Raceway Park” back in 2011 with Timothy Peters winning the race. There are no former winners currently competing full-time in the series.

MORE: Truck playoff field is set

NOTE: Inspection in the Truck Series garage is complete with no issues, confirming Chandler Smith as the winner.

Posted on July 23, 2022 by Zach Sturniolo

LONG POND, Pa. — No one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is having a season quite like Zane Smith.

With three wins in his pocket, the third-year Truck racer leads the series in victories and is the only full-time competitor with multiple triumphs.

Smith, driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports entry, holds a 58-point lead over both John Hunter Nemechek and Stewart Friesen and is eyeing his first regular-season championship, which he could clinch from the pole at Pocono Raceway on Saturday (12 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Pocono starting lineup | Truck Series standings

And while Smith is having a career year — his three wins and nine top fives are career-bests and his 13 top 10s are one shy of his career-best total (14, 2021) — it’s the extracurricular work he did in early June that he feels impacted his Truck season the most.

Smith filled in for Chris Buescher in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway on June 5, making his series debut in the No. 17 Ford for RFK Racing and finishing 17th while Buescher was out due to COVID-19 protocols. That opportunity, Smith believes, changed his season.

“I felt like it taught me a lot in the areas where you need to be good at the little things,” Smith said Friday at Pocono. “Because those little things are what equal race wins. And so I feel like since then, I’ve been able to be probably more consistent, and I feel like putting together those four weeks of really good consistency of — I think my worst finish is third. I feel like that’s what has gotten me in this position and the points-wise for the regular season.”

He’s right: Since finishing ninth in the Truck race at Gateway, he’s finished second (Sonoma Raceway), third (Knoxville Raceway), second (Nashville Superspeedway) and second (Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course).

“I feel like I’m just a way better driver of what I learned in that one race,” Smith said. “Just, if you think you’re decent on pit road, no you’re not. If you think you’re good on restarts, not even close. The Cup level is just a little bit different. A lot a bit different with just everything. First through last, everyone is really good.”

A 17th-place finish doesn’t necessarily jump off the sheet for most people. For Smith, he was elated as his goals changed throughout the course of the weekend.

“Starting out in the race, I was just getting everyone telling me, ‘Man, if you finish all laps, that’s huge with how hard these Cup cars are to drive,'” Smith said. “And obviously, it was even my seat or anything in it. So that was my main goal. ”

Eventually, that goal grew to a top 25, then to a top 20. Racing for 15th during the second stage, Smith just hoped he would finish the race. He crossed the line 17th, notching that top-20 finish but almost eager for more.

“I feel like honestly, as excited as I sound for a 17th-place finish, I felt like we could have ended up a lot better,” Smith said. “I felt like our car was pretty good there at the end of the race.”

A key factor for Smith that weekend was sound mentorship from that day’s teammate and co-owner, Brad Keselowski.

“What Brad had told me going into the weekend is, ‘You don’t have anything to prove. You already proved it with me calling you,'” Smith said. “And so I felt like that went a really long way with me because I am probably the type of (guy that’s like), man, this is my opportunity. I want to go try to do something or make something out of it. But him saying that I felt like went a long way.”

This weekend, Smith sits on the brink of a regular-season championship and could come away with a series-best fourth win in the 60-lap contest. Perhaps his cushion wouldn’t be as comfortable without that Cup performance.

“I think it’s definitely just helped all around. That was just a huge opportunity,” Smith said. “I feel like obviously getting that call is showing that they (Cup owners) are paying attention and my stock is up. And I feel like that that just is huge for any driver.”

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Staff Report

The race to lock in a playoff spot continues this weekend at Pocono Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Before the action, try your hand at some props.

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live lineup

Featured matchups of the week

Race-specific data props

Posted on July 22, 2022July 26, 2022 by

NASCAR invited students from Morehouse College’s journalism in sports, culture, and social justice program to Atlanta Motor Speedway to take in and report on a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Read one student’s recap of the experience below.

HAMPTON, Ga. – Drivers! Start! Your! Engines! The flyover just passed over the track, the pit crews are settled and now it’s time for the race to begin.

This was my first NASCAR race and it was a truly mesmerizing experience. Seeing a race on television doesn’t quite compare to the sights and sounds at a racetrack. Being able to see all of the different components that contribute to the final product, the race itself is quite impressive.

To start our Saturday race day, our Morehouse College sports journalism class arrived at Atlanta Motor Speedway where we met with our tour guide for the day, Caryn Grant, a Howard University graduate who works with NASCAR as a senior member of the diversity of inclusion team. Our first stop on our tour was “The Compound,” which is where all media gather for production of the race.

It’s the site of behind-the-scenes production of TV broadcasts, two radio broadcasts, all replays, and all of social media for the race day. The amount of equipment and seamless collaboration from the production team was something I had never seen before.

“In this field, commitment beats education,” said Wayne Nelson, broadcast overseer of the NASCAR production team. “Books can’t teach what we do because you see and then do.”

By Justin Darden

The most exciting part of the day was the stop at the media center. This room was filled with journalists from all over the country who represented an extensive list of different news outlets. To be able to sit in this room during interviews was invigorating. Seeing the journalists write stories, NASCAR drivers being interviewed, and the aura of the media room was quite eye opening.

The next and final stop of our tour was pit road. Here is where the action happens. You see the drivers, the pit crews and teams, and the cars are right in front of you. Nothing compares to the sound of a race car starting up and going around the track.

This trip and experience really helped open my eyes to NASCAR and motorsports. Getting this experience changed my perspective on the sport, and walking the grounds before and during the race showed the diversity surrounding the event.

“We are all working to change the image of the sport,” said Caryn Grant, the senior manager of diversity and inclusion at NASCAR. “The goal ultimately is to increase the amount of exposure to the sport.”

With my perspective being changed, I definitely feel more diverse groups of people should enter the sport both as drivers and behind-the-scenes personnel. I would consider even working with NASCAR in the future, but definitely know now I want to work in sports in some fashion.

Markus Carter contributed to this report.

By Andy Harris

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Deja Dorsey

NASCAR race weekends consist of making memories with family, celebrating, and filling your belly with amazing food. When camping at the track, you have the luxury of making meals that are unique. Most campers want meals that are perfect for kids and can be prepared in under 20 minutes.

Well, NASCAR.com has a few meal ideas that families can enjoy for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even dessert at Pocono Raceway this weekend. All meals are kid-friendly and require fewer than 10 ingredients.

Grab the kids, your favorite pots and pans and let’s get started!

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Pocono 101

Lap 1: Breakfast of champions

Bacon and pancake dippers: Nothing is better than crispy bacon in the morning. This sweet and salty combination is easy for the kids to help prepare, and a great meal to take on the go as you walk to the raceway gate.

Ingredients:
– A box of complete pancake mix – Bacon (pork or turkey)
– A bottle of syrup – Butter

Instructions:
Follow the instructions on the pancake box to prepare batter. Heat pan or skillet on medium/high heat, cook bacon to desired crispiness then remove from heat. Clean pan and reheat pan with butter on low/medium heat. Spoon a nice layer of pancake batter onto the pan in the shape of the bacon. Then place a piece of bacon on top of the batter; add another layer of batter on top. Let pancake batter cook until desired color. Make sure to flip in between.

Lap 2: Caution, hot dogs!

The Bill France: It wouldn’t be right to go to a race and not have the NASCAR founder’s hot dog recipe. Not only is this a fun meal for the kids to build, it’s also a mini history lesson. Take the time to share some of your favorite NASCAR moments with the family and spread some NASCAR history.

Ingredients:
– Hot dogs (beef or turkey) – Diced onion
– Can of chili – Cole slaw
– Hot sauce – Hot dog rolls
– Shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:
Heat the grill or set up a campfire to cook hot dogs to desired color. Open and heat a can of chili, then set aside. Once hot dogs and chili are complete, toast hot dog rolls. To assemble; place dog into bun, place a scoop of chili, coleslaw, diced onion and cheese on top. Then drizzle hot sauce on top. Bite in and enjoy NASCAR’s finest.

Final Lap: Dinner

Walking tacos: There is a ton of walking on race weekend, and you will walk up an appetite. For our spectators on the go, grab your favorite bag of Doritos, taco toppings and a fork.

Ingredients:
– Snack bag of Doritos – Diced onion
– Taco seasoning – Shredded cheddar cheese
– Sour cream – A pound of ground beef or turkey
– Shredded lettuce

Instructions:
Heat a pan on medium heat with a drizzle of oil. Add the meat to the pan, salt and pepper to taste, add taco seasoning then cook meat for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, wash and chop any produce that’s needed or purchase shredded and diced produce. Open an individual bag of chip choice, load in meat, toppings, and grab a fork. You’re all set!

Turkey and cheese sliders: Camping calls for cold lunch meat sandwiches, and these sliders are easy for your kids to prep with little to no supervision. Pair the sliders with your favorite chips and pickles.

Ingredients:
– A pack of Hawaiian Rolls – ½ lb of cheese of choice
– ½ lb of turkey deli meat – ½ lb of American cheese
– Mayonnaise – Mustard

Instructions:
Separate top and bottom of Hawaiian Rolls. Apply desired amount of mayonnaise and mustard to both sides of the bread. Layer deli meat and cheese in alternating order to desired amount. After assembling sandwiches, add any additional toppings and place bread on top. For convenience, store sandwiches in original packaging.

Victory Lane: Dessert, please!

Firecracker popsicle: In still July, so why not celebrate like it’s Fourth of July weekend — and cold treats and fireworks just go together. After making memories in the heat, a popsicle is a great refreshing treat that everyone in the family will enjoy.

S’mores: What is a NASCAR camping trip without a good ole s’more? Easy to make on a stove/hot plate or with an actual campfire. A perfect treat to gather the family and share favorite memories from race weekend.

*When you’re done with the campfire, make sure the fire is completely extinguished to lower the risk of wildfires.*

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Cameron Richardson

Saturday at Pocono Raceway will mark a significant milestone in the racing career of Todd Bodine.

The two-time Camping World Truck Series champion is scheduled to make his 800th and final NASCAR national series start this weekend at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’ Bodine will join a list of only a handful of drivers to accomplish the feat.

“There hasn’t been a lot of guys who’ve done it,” Bodine said. “To be able to accomplish something like that, it’s nice to know that I’ve had longevity and been able to do it in all three series at a competitive level. It’s pretty special.”

A winner of 22 Truck Series races and 15 Xfinity Series races, Bodine’s last full-time season was in 2012, but he ran limited schedules in both series from 2013-2017.

After racing full-time, Bodine joined FOX Sports in 2015 as an analyst for NASCAR RaceDay – becoming a prominent voice on the NCWTS while sitting in the broadcast booth as a color commentator on occasion.

This season, Bodine returned to on-track action for one final tour — a six-race schedule for Halmar Friesen Racing backed by Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis. Bodine reminisced on his time racing and said not being at a race track was difficult.

“I’ve grown up at a race track and have been going to races since I was born,” Bodine said. “I’ve been doing it at a professional level since I graduated high school in 1982. I’ve worked on cars, building cars and modifieds, raced in modifieds but then moved south, continued working on them and was a crew chief for them.”

In four decades of racing at NASCAR’s highest levels, Bodine noticed a significant shift in the Truck Series.

“The biggest change, and it had already started when I quit full-time, is the age of the driver,” Bodine said. “Owners went from wanting the 40-year-old guy who had a lot of experience that could go out and win races to wanting that 20-year-old who’s going to push it to the limit every lap and get in trouble a little bit, but still give them the opportunity to win. These kids today have a whole different thought process.”

He added that the way the trucks drive and feel is pretty much the same as they were when he stopped racing full-time, and it showed at Darlington Raceway in May as Bodine collected his lone top-10 finish so far.

Bodine has finished inside the top 20 in three starts this season with two finishes outside the top 20 that came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway.

When looking at younger drivers he has competed against, there were two that stood out to him.

“I’ve given advice to a few of the younger guys,” Bodine said. “If you look at the successful ones, like Zane Smith and Ben Rhodes, they went through the balls-to-the-wall, crash them up stage and they came out on the other side being seasoned, young men who understand that to be a good racer isn’t going fast every lap.”

Rhodes is the defending Truck Series champion while Zane Smith currently holds a 58-point advantage over John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale.

With Pocono playing host to Bodine’s final start, he discussed the elements that rightfully give the 2.5-mile speedway its ‘Tricky Triangle’ moniker.

“Pocono is a blast as a driver. It’s just a lot of fun because you’ve got three different straightaways and three different corners but that’s also what makes it challenging,” Bodine said. “You cannot get the vehicle to be perfect in all three corners so the driver has to adjust and make it the best it can be in two out of the three and hopefully you can get it right in the other.”

In four starts at Pocono, Bodine has finished 12th or better three times with one DNF that came in 2012.

Viewers can tune in to Bodine’s final start Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“I’ve done every facet you could do and that’s been every weekend of my life so going to a race track is like going home. It’s where our friends are at, where our families are at. It’s our life.”

Posted on July 22, 2022July 22, 2022 by Terrin Waack

It’s not over ‘til it’s over.

The winning pass in 13 of the 20 NASCAR Cup Series races so far this season has come with 10 or fewer laps remaining. There have been three last-lap passes and nine within five laps to go. And more times than not, the driver who led the most laps did not win the race. Only seven times did the laps-led leader come out victorious.

POCONO: Weekend schedule | Paint schemes | Betting odds

Below is a complete breakdown. An asterisk marks a driver with the most laps led.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see this trend continue Sunday at Pocono Raceway (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In each of last year’s two races at the “Tricky Triangle,” the final lead change came in the last two laps. Alex Bowman stole the lead from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson on the last lap to win Saturday’s event. Kyle Busch then passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for the win with two laps to go in Sunday’s main. Neither of them led the most laps in their respective victories, though Busch was just one lap short of the high mark.

Out of the 36-driver field for Sunday, 10 have won on the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania track before. Exactly half have won this season: Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and Joey Logano. That leaves Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Kevin Harvick as winless in 2022 but not at Pocono in their careers.

There have been 14 different winners this year. That means only two of the 16 playoff spots remain up for grabs with six races until the field is set. If one of those latter five break out another Pocono win, or someone else currently winless does, every race until the postseason is going to feel like the regular-season finale.

And last year, that race’s winner (Blaney) was decided with two laps to go, with multiple bids available.

But hold on — the last time a driver got his first win of the season at Pocono was Kyle Busch in July 2017. So, there may not be reason to worry — yet.

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Holly Cain

With eight races still remaining to set the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Group of 12 playoff contenders, there are certainly several drivers already establishing themselves as front-runners and several others outside the cutoff line looking to make a push in this crucial time of the season.

Entering Saturday’s Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 (5 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Kaulig Racing driver Landon Cassill holds a 61-point advantage over the field for the 12th and final playoff position – 61 points ahead of Brandon Brown, 63 points ahead of Sheldon Creed and 69 points up on Anthony Alfredo.

This weekend could be a good opportunity for a new race winner. There have been six different race winners in the six Pocono races to date, and there is only one former winner on the entry list this weekend – NASCAR Cup Series regular Cole Custer, who won the Xfinity race there in 2019.

A handful of drivers entered have won in other series at Pocono, however. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones has a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race win in 2020. And Ty Gibbs (2020), Riley Herbst (2017) and Justin Allgaier (2008) all have past ARCA Menards Series victories on the Pocono 2.5-miler.

Allgaier, winner of last weekend’s thrilling race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, certainly brings momentum with him to Pocono with victories in three of the last eight races. That kind of strong summer showing, plus some misfortune from other season frontrunners, has moved Allgaier now into second place in the series driver standings, just 16 points behind points leader A.J. Allmendinger.

Both Allmendinger and the series’ winningest driver of 2022, Ty Gibbs, suffered problems at New Hampshire. Allmendinger was 20th and Gibbs, who has four victories this season, was 21st. With a 35th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the previous race, it marks the first time in the 19-year-old Gibbs’ young career he has had two-consecutive finishes of 20th or worse.

Gibbs has fallen to third place in the standings and now trails Allmendinger by 28 points in what looks like a three-driver race for the regular-season title and those prized bonus 15 playoff points that go with it.

Of note, in the five years that the regular-season championship points bonus has been awarded, no driver has won it twice. Allmendinger is the defending regular-season champion, and Allgaier won it in 2018.

Former two-time Xfinity Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. joins Custer as the only other full-time Cup Series driver competing in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.

Practice at Pocono is set for 9:35 a.m. ET on Saturday followed immediately by qualifying at 10:05 a.m. ET – both sessions will be televised live on the USA Network.

Posted on July 21, 2022July 22, 2022 by Holly Cain

The CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday (Noon ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the final regular-season race and will crown the Regular Season Champion, formally setting the 10-driver 2022 playoff field for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

A victory on Saturday could make the difference in a title run or best-of-the-rest finish to the season.

POCONO: Weekend schedule | Truck Series entry list

Five full-time championship-eligible drivers have victories to date. Zane Smith is a series-best three-race winner and only needs to earn two points in Pocono’s race to officially claim the 2022 Regular Season Championship. The 23-year-old Californian, who finished runner-up to Ben Rhodes in the 2021 title run, is running strong heading into the seven-race playoffs with three second-place finishes in the last four races.

Joining Smith with victories and safe passage into the 2022 playoffs are John Hunter Nemechek, Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen and defending series champion Ben Rhodes.

Ty Majeski, Carson Hocevar, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton round out the current top-10 in the series driver standings. However, Enfinger and Crafton must formally earn their playoff position this weekend. Crafton holds only a 19-point advantage over 19-year-old Derek Kraus heading into the weekend. Kraus has made up ground in the standings with an average finish of 8.3 in the last three races. He’s finished 10th in both previous series career Pocono starts.

“We all know how important this race is for our whole team,” said Kraus, driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet. “We can’t let the pressure get to us. We need to just go and do our thing.”

Crafton, a three-time series champion, has not won at Pocono in 12 previous starts but does have a pair of top-five finishes. He’s finished top-10 in four of the last five races there but has led only one lap since 2014.

Kyle Busch Motorsports driver John Hunter Nemechek is the defending Pocono race winner, taking the victory over team owner Kyle Busch last summer. Current series drivers Tyler Ankrum and Crafton finished third and fifth in that race. Zane Smith led 18 laps and finished eighth.

Five more drivers competing Saturday have previous wins on Pocono’s 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle” – Enfinger (2016), Smith (2018), Majeski (2019), Eckes (2019) and Corey Heim (2021) all scoring ARCA Menards Series victories there.

The last full-time championship driver to win a race this year is Friesen, who took the trophy at Texas Motor Speedway on May 20.

MORE: Paint schemes for Pocono

Practice at Pocono begins at 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday followed by the Cometic Gaskets Pole Qualifying at 5 p.m. ET. Both sessions will be aired on FS1.

Following Saturday’s race, the points will be reset among the top 10 with the Regular Season Champion receiving a 15-point bonus to carry through the playoffs, beginning with the TSport 200 on Friday, July 29 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Brandon White

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.”

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.”

In six weekly races at Langley Speedway this year, Queen has won five of them. (Photo: Alex Holt)

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 33^rd 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.

Queen, who won the Hampton Heat back in 2020, is confident that he can add another victory in Langley Speedway’s most prestigious race to his resume. (Photo: Alex Holt)

“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.