Brenden “Butterbean” Queen etched his name as a first-time winner in the ARCA Menards Series division by winning a crash-filled, Ride the ‘Dente 200 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 15.
Queen, the reigning CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour champion from Chesapeake, Virginia, led the final 10 of 80-scheduled laps in an event that was mired with seven caution periods as a majority of the field were swept up in on-track carnages. After he drafted Lavar Scott to a brief lead over William Sawalich through the backstretch with 10 laps remaining, Queen would then make his move on Scott and receive a draft from teammate Helio Castroneves to shoot himself into the lead through the frontstretch. With the lead in his possession, Queen would maintain the top spot for the remainder of the event and fend off a final-lap charge from Sawalich to commence his first full-time ARCA campaign by winning at the World Center of Racing.
The starting lineup for the event was determined by the 2024 ARCA Menards Series’ owner’s standings per the series’ rulebook. This was due to the event’s scheduled practice session for this past Thursday being canceled due to inclement weather.
Based on the rulebook, William Sawalich, driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry entry that finished in first place in the 2024 ARCA owner’s standings, was awarded the pole position. He shared the front row with Lawless Alan, driver of the No. 20 Venturini Motorsports Toyota Camry entry that finished in second place in the 2024 ARCA owner’s standings.
When the 2025 ARCA Menards Series season commenced under green, Sawalich and Alan dueled for the lead in front of two-packed lanes through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Alan received a draft from teammate Isabella Robusto to gain a slight advantage from the outside lane entering Turns 3 and 4. With the field cycling back to the start/finish line, Alan led the first lap as both he and Robusto transitioned in front of Sawalich to the inside lane.
Over the next two laps, Alan led a four-car breakaway from the rest of the field from the lead. With teammate Robusto, Sawalich and Kole Raz following Alan in a single-line formation, Lavar Scott led the rest of the field from fifth place while Jake Finch and Brenden “Butterbean” Queen were trying to gain ground of Scott for position.
Then on the third lap, the event’s first caution flew when Cody Dennison, who was racing behind Scott and Jake Finch on the outside lane and inside the top-10 mark, got loose off of Turn 4 and pounded the outside wall hard. Dennison’s incident triggered a multi-car wreck that involved numerous names, among which included Thad Moffitt, Corey Day, Dale Quarterley, Sean Corr, Caleb Costner, Eric Caudell, Michael Maples, Andy Jankowiak, Willie Mullins, Ed Pompa, Tim Richmond, Katherine Legge, Nolan Wilson, Amber Balcaen and Helio Castroneves. The carnage was enough for the event to be placed in red flag period for more than six minutes.
When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under green flag conditions on the ninth lap, Alan, who restarted from the outside lane, quickly darted to the inside lane to regain a draft from teammate Robusto entering the first two turns. With Alan having drafting help from both Robusto and Sawalich through the first two turns, Raz received a draft from Queen from the backstretch to draw even with Alan and challenge for the lead. Amid the side-by-side battle, Alan surged ahead from the inside lane to lead the Lap 10 mark. He along with Robusto and Sawalich would surge ahead of the pack by the next lap while Scott challenged Raz for fourth place.
On Lap 11, the event’s second caution flew when Amber Balcaen, who was battling for a top-10 spot, slipped up the track in Turn 4 and clipped Garrett Mitchell (a.k.a: Cleetus McFarland). The contact sent both spinning as Kyle Steckly, who got sideways to avoid the carnage, spun to the bottom of the track and pounded the inside wall hard. Amid the carnage, AJ Moyer and Scott Melton weaved their way and escaped without sustaining any significant damage to their respective entries.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 17 featured Alan transitioning from the outside to the inside lane for a second time, where he regained the draft from teammate Robusto through the frontstretch. Both Alan and Robusto would then muscle away from the field through the first two turns and maintain their momentum through the backstretch. Behind, Sawalich lined up in third place while Raz and Scott dueled in front of two-packed lanes for fourth place.
During the following lap, the caution would quickly return as a vicious multi-car wreck ensued in Turn 2. The carnage started when Balcaen, who was racing towards the rear of the field and trying to rally from her previous incident, got sideways through the first two turns and spun as she had smoke coming out of the left side of her entry. During her spin, she was clipped by Mitchell, the latter of whom collided with Takuma Koga against the outside wall, before she was hit by an oncoming Becca Monopoli, who in turn was hit by Craig Bracken.
Amid the carnage, Bracken took a vicious hit into the inside wall on the driver’s left side before his damaged car shot back to the right and collided into the damaged car of Monopoli. In the process, Bracken proceeded to hit the inside SAFER barriers head-on before he came to a rest. Amid the carnage, all competitors, including Bracken and Monopoli, emerged from their wrecked race cars, though Bracken would be transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The start of the ensuing restart on Lap 24 did not last long due to an incident that involved Brayton Laster entering the first turn. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Alan pitted for service while the rest led by Bryce Haugeberg remained on the track.
As the field restarted under green on Lap 30, Haugeberg and Queen dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to three-packed lanes through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Queen began to surge ahead with drafting help from the middle lane and Haugeberg remained on the inside lane while Sawalich was trying to charge from the outside lane. Queen then got shoved out of the lead and the middle lane by Scott Melton as the latter dueled with Sawalich entering Turn 3. With Alan surging his way back towards the front and drafting Melton, the latter led the next lap ahead of Sawalich. Melton and Sawalich would continue to duel for the lead in front of Alan, Robusto and two-stacked lanes during the following lap before Sawalich surged ahead from the outside lane.
On Lap 34, the event’s fifth caution flew when Melton, who earlier lost the lead and was mired as the third car in line on the inside lane, got sideways while being drafted by Alan in Turn 1. As the lead group scattered to avoid Melton, the latter, who was trying to straighten his car through the degree banking turn, clipped Castroneves and sent him up towards the outside wall and back down to the apron hard.
With the field restarting under green for a one-lap dash before the event’s halfway period on Lap 40, Sawalich briefly rocketed ahead of Scott and the field exiting the frontstretch before he navigated his way through the first two turns. Sawalich would then receive drafting help from Raz through the backstretch to remain in the lead as Scott tried to mount a charge entering Turns 3 and 4. As the field fanned out entering the frontstretch, Scott, who was racing from the outside lane, used the momentum and a draft from Robusto to lead the event’s halfway mark on Lap 40 over Sawalich.
Scott would proceed to transition from the outside lane to the inside lane during the following lap as he had Sawalich drafting him. By then, Robusto was the lead competitor from the outside lane as she was in line ahead of Jeff Scofield, Alan and Jake Finch while Scott, who remained on the inside lane, led the next lap.
Then with 36 laps remaining, the caution returned when Robusto, who was racing in the top five and leading the outside lane, received a bump from Scofield that sent her No. 55 Venturini Motorsports Toyota entry into the backstretch’s outside wall. She then veered back across the track and collided into both Scofield and Corey Day while Scofield veered back to the right and was hit by Alan, which left the pole winner with significant damage to his No. 20 Venturini Motorsports Toyota entry and knocked him out of contention.
Down to the final 30 laps, the field restarted under green. At the start, Sawalich transitioned from the outside to the inside lane to lead Scott, Finch and the field through the first two turns. Sawalich continued to lead a long line of competitors racing in the inside lane from the backstretch and back to the frontstretch. With Sawalich leading the next lap, Scott and Finch continued to occupy the top-three spots while Tim Richmond and Queen were in the top five.
With 25 laps remaining, the top-10 competitors racing in the lead group were lined up in single-line formation as Sawalich maintained the lead ahead of Scott, Finch, Richmond and Queen. Behind, Jason Kitzmiller occupied sixth place as he was pursued by Bryce Haugeberg, Castroneves, Andy Jankowiak and Ryan Roulette. Sawalich would continue to lead with 20 laps remaining as the top-10 competitors were separated within one second of one another.
Shortly after, the field started to fan out to two-packed lanes as Raz and Moyer joined the lead pack. With names that included Castroneves, Richmond and Raz migrating to gain a run from the outside lane, Sawalich maintained the lead from the inside lane while Finch, Scott, Queen and Kitzmiller were in the top five. Richmond, who was slipping towards the back of the lead group, would then draw a late caution with 17 laps remaining when he got loose in Turn 4 and spun towards the infield. At the same time, Finch, who was in second place, got sideways off the front nose of Scott as the former spun and backed his No. 25 Venturini Motorsports Toyota entry into the inside wall.
Down to the final 12 laps, the field led by Sawalich and Scott restarted under green. During the start, Sawalich rocketed ahead with the lead as Scott transitioned to the inside lane behind Sawalich entering the first two turns. The latter would maintain the lead in front of Scott and Queen while Castroneves made his way into fourth place in front of Jankowiak and Kitzmiller. Moyer would also carve his way towards the top-six mark and Castroneves would settle behind Queen while Sawalich led Scott with 10 laps remaining.
Then through the backstretch, Scott made a move to the outside lane and received a draft from Chevrolet teammates Queen and Castroneves to rocket past Sawalich with the lead. After Scott led through Turns 3 and 4, Queen would then duel with Scott and lead the following lap as he was drafted by teammate Castroneves. Queen would proceed to muscle his No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet entry ahead of the field as Castroneves and Scott led a side-by-side charge in front of the stacked field through the backstretch.
With five laps remaining, Queen maintained the lead in front of Castroneves, Scott, Jankowiak and Sawalich as Kitzmiller, AJ Moyer, Raz, Haugeberg and Ryan Roulette, all of whom were racing within one second of one another, trailed in the top 10 and amid two stacks of pack racing. Jankowiak then tried to mount a charge from the outside lane, but he could not gain enough draft to get close to Queen and Castroneves. Jankowiak would then get shoved out of the draft amid a three-wide action over the next lap as Kitzmiller and Raz tried to overtake him. Amid the action, Queen and Castroneves maintained the top-two spots ahead of Scott, Sawalich and Moyer.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Queen remained in the lead ahead of Castroneves, Sawalich, Kitzmiller, Scott and Moyer. Through the first two turns, Sawalich received drafting help from Kitzmiller to rocket past Castroneves. With Castroneves losing ground, Sawalich drove right to Queen’s rear bumper as Scott tried to mount a charge with drafting help from Raz. With Sawalich and the rest of the competitors in the lead group unable to gain a last-corner momentum through Turns 3 and 4, Queen maintained the top spot entering the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag for the victory.
With the victory, Queen, who is driving the No. 28 Chevrolet entry for Pinnacle Racing Group on a full-time basis and for the series’ championship, notched his first ARCA career win in his second series start. His lone previous start in the ARCA division occurred at Daytona in 2019, where he finished in 29th place while driving for Vizion Motorsports. As a result, Queen, who competed in three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events with TRICON Garage in 2024, joined Corey Heim and Greg Van Alst as competitors to claim a first career ARCA victory at Daytona over the previous five seasons.
As added bonuses, Queen recorded the 21st ARCA victory at Daytona for the Chevrolet nameplate and the first Daytona victory for Pinnacle Racing Group, a team that achieved six ARCA victories between Connor Zilisch and Connor Mosack in 2024.
“Oh my Lord! Bean nation, baby!” Queen, who celebrated with the American flag on the frontstretch, said on FOX. “We brought the mullet to the ARCA Series, baby. I’m just a late model guy that worked hard to get this shot. I didn’t think [Daytona] would be where the first win came, but we’re going to take it. This [Pinnacle Racing] group right here, they deserve this, baby. I knew I had tough shoes to fill taking over from [Connor] Zilisch, but I hope this makes [the team] happy that they signed me and I hope that this is the first of many. We’re going to the Waffle House and we’re going to party it up with some chocolate milk.”
William Sawalich, the reigning two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion who led a race-high 29 laps from pole position, settled in second place to commence his part-time campaign in the ARCA division this season. Sawalich is scheduled to compete as a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing this season.
“I definitely didn’t anticipate [the event] being that long,” Sawalich said. “That was a pretty long time in the car. I just wish we had a little bit more there. [I’m] Just learning all I could.”
Jason Kitzmiller and Lavar Scott finished third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Castroneves ended up in fifth place in his ARCA debut and just before he was involved in a post-race wreck with sixth-place finisher Kole Raz.
AJ Moyer, Jankowiak, Roulette and Bryce Haugeberg completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The event featured seven cautions for 33 laps. Overall, only 13 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results:
1. Brenden Queen
2. William Sawalich
3. Jason Kitzmiller
4. Lavar Scott
5. Helio Castroneves
6. Kole Raz
7. AJ Moyer
8. Andy Jankowiak
9. Ryan Roulette
10. Bryce Haugeberg
11. Hunter Deshautelle
12. Jason White
13. Ed Pompa
14. Jeff Scofield, three laps down
15. Jake Finch, five laps down
16. Alex Cubb, six laps down
17. Tim Richmond – OUT, Mechanical
18. Lawless Alan, 28 laps down
19. Tim Viens, 29 laps down
20. Bryan Dauzat – OUT, Mechanical
21. Isabella Robusto – OUT, Mechanical
22. Corey Day – OUT, Accident
23. Scott Melton – OUT, Mechanical
24. Brayton Laster – OUT, Accident
25. Takuma Koga – OUT, Accident
26. Becca Monopoli – OUT, Accident
27. Craig Bracken – OUT, Accident
28. Nolan Wilson – OUT, Mechanical
29. Amber Balcaen – OUT, Accident
30. Garrett Mitchell – OUT, Accident
31. Michael Maples – OUT, Accident
32. Kyle Steckly – OUT, Accident
33. Dale Quarterley – OUT, Accident
34. Cody Dennison – OUT, Accident
35. Willie Mullins – OUT, Accident
36. Sean Corr – OUT, Accident
37. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident
38. Caleb Costner – OUT, Accident
39. Katherine Legge – OUT, Accident
40. Eric Caudell – OUT, Accident
With the 2025 ARCA Menards Series season underway, the next event on the schedule is Phoenix Raceway for the General Tire 150. The event is scheduled to occur on March 7 and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
