Queen Is The King Of Delaware

DOVER, Del. — A busy weekend for Brenden “Butterbean” Queen got off to a perfect start during Friday’s General Tire 150 at Dover Motor Speedway, the first of four combination events between the national ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East this season.

Queen controlled the race from the opening green flag, pulling away to secure a wire-to-wire victory. The triumph was not only Queen’s fourth victory on the ARCA Menards Series season, but also his first with the East Series.

The day was not without some tribulations for Queen, who briefly had to nurse a broken track bar during the middle portion of the General Tire 150. Once the issue was repaired during the second race break, Queen returned to his dominant form and finished off his stellar performance.

“This team is so bad to the bone,” Queen said. “I thought it was over. I never give up, but I something broke there, but these guys knew what it was and got it fixed. Just a bad to the bone race car tonight.”

With Queen’s closest competition, Brent Crews, getting knocked out of the event shortly before the first race after a crash caused by a flat tire, he could afford to be more conservative as he diagnosed the issue with his car.

Maintaining the top spot required diligence for Queen during the second stage. Camden Murphy, who was making his ARCA Menards Series debut with Nitro Motorsports, rapidly closed in on the lead, but Queen managed to do enough with his wounded car to stay in front at the second race break.

Efficient repairs by PRG, combined with Murphy losing track position on two consecutive restarts, enabled Queen to re-establish his rhythm during the final 40 laps.

By the time the checkered flag waved, Queen nearly had a straightaway advantage over Murphy, who rebounded to finish second.

Along with his victory, Queen also enjoyed a successful points day at Dover Motor Speedway. Lavar Scott and Lawless Alan, his closest pursuers in the standings, endured separate tire issues during the General Tire 150, relegating them to several laps down in the running order and costing both significant ground to Queen in the ARCA Menards Series standings.

Following Murphy in the running order was Isabella Robusto, who matched her career-best finish of third.

ARCA Menards Series East points leader Isaac Kitzmiller finished fourth following a late pass on fifth-place finisher Tyler Reif, who trailed Kitzmiller by six points entering Dover.