Chesapeake’s Brenden “Butterbean” Queen made his way back to Victory Lane in the ARCA Menards Series Friday night — this time in the Atlas 150 at Iowa Speedway in Newton — and extended his points lead.
Known for celebrating at Waffle House restaurants after victories, Queen gained his fifth win in the series this year but his first on a track shorter than a mile.
Queen earned the lead but, while trying to get around lapped traffic in the closing laps, constantly needed to fend off Brent Crews. Their cars often have been in close proximity this season; Friday, Crews made slight contact with Queen’s left-rear panel in tight-quarters racing.
“I wasn’t going to let (Crews) keep running into me,” Queen said on arcaracing.com. “He got the best of me last week and at Phoenix. It was ‘refuse to lose’ there, (though) he might have been a little better.”
Queen, who leads second-place Lawless Alan by 35 points, was disappointed with placing third last week at Indianapolis Raceway Park after controlling the first half of the race, which Crews won.
At Iowa, Crews set a track qualifying record but was overtaken on the race’s first lap.
Crews said on arcaracing.com, “The whole Joe Gibbs Racing crew did a great job all day, but I feel like we missed a little bit there (at the end). We got inside of Brenden there and got super-loose. I felt like that was my last chance at it.
“Obviously I had no intention of wrecking him, but I’m glad we both got out of there cleanly.”
How tight was the battle for the win tonight at @iowaspeedway between @03Butterbean and Brent Crews?
⬇️ This tight ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/5aCnhCIVzI
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) August 2, 2025
Queen, an Old Dominion student, praised Pinnacle Racing Group for setting up another fast car and lauded crew chief Steven Dawson.
Dawson “is great,” Queen said on arcaracing.com. “He’s shy; we’re trying to get him on camera, get him talking. Every week I hear him talk more words than the last week, so we’re working on it slowly. Bean Nation is contagious, and you can’t stay quiet for long. He’s a bad-to-the-bone crew chief, and I’m very thankful to be working with him.”
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