Butterbean Queen fends off Brent Crews at Iowa, breaks through on a short track in the ARCA Menards Series
With Brent Crews applying constant pressure in the closing laps, Queen nearly lost the lead while trying to navigate through lapped traffic. But he managed to hold on and add another ARCA Menards Series checkered flag to his resume.
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Queen and Crews have come together several times in 2025, with the former expressing mild frustration over how the young prospect has raced him. The two found each other again Friday, but Queen was determined to shake off a frustrating outing from the previous week and keep Crews behind him.
“I wasn’t going to let Crews keep running into me,” Queen said. “He got the best of me last week and at Phoenix [Raceway]. It was refuse to lose there even though he might have been a little better.”
Queen believed he had his first ARCA short-track victory locked up last week at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park after dominating the first half of the race. An ill-handling car proved to be his undoing in the final laps, as he lost not only the lead to Crews, but also crucial track position. Queen managed a third-place finish, but he departed IRP disappointed.
No such issues hindered Queen at Iowa. Crews obliterated the ARCA Menards Series track record in qualifying, but Queen’s car proved to be more efficient in race conditions; the latter overtook Crews on the opening lap and established a commanding lead.
Lapped traffic slowed Queen’s pace and provided Crews multiple opportunities to assume control of the top spot. With eight laps to go, Queen got held up by the slower car of Quinn Davis at the exit of Turn 4, allowing Crews to dive underneath Queen in the next turn with Mason Mitchell occupying the top groove.
The confined space caused Crews to make slight contact with Queen’s left-rear panel, but it was not enough to shake the short-track veteran. Queen ended up making another trip to Victory Lane, all while Crews was left to ponder what he could have done differently to obtain his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series victory.
“We had a really good race car all day,” Crews said. “We had a lot of raw speed and were really good that first stage. 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 [Queen] 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.”
Queen extended his praise to Pinnacle Racing Group for preparing another strong car, but he also commended crew chief Steven Dawson. The two have gradually developed chemistry over the year, which has Queen feeling confident about Dawson leading him to more victories in the second half of 2025.
“Steven Dawson is great,” Queen said. “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.”
Lawless Alan earned his sixth top three finish in the last seven races on Friday at Iowa, all while Isabella Robusto claimed her third consecutive top five with a fourth-place run. Lavar Scott rounded out the top five after rebounding from an earlier spin.
The rest of the top 10 consisted of ARCA Menards Series East points leader Isaac Kitzmiller, Sam Corry, Eloy Falcon, Mitchell and Jason Kitzmiller.
While the ARCA Menards Series East does not race again until their season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 11, the national ARCA Menards Series will be back in action Friday at Watkins Glen International. The green flag waves at 2 p.m. ET for the General Tire 100 with FS2 providing live coverage of the on-track action.
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