Brenden Queen Holds Off Brent Crews Late For Win At Iowa; Earns Fifth Win of Rookie Season

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor

Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today, 2025)

Over the last month, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen and Brent Crews have been the class of the ARCA Menards Series, with the duo trading wins during the previous three weeks. Queen took round four over Crews, leading 112 laps to win the Atlas 150 at Iowa Speedway for his fifth victory of the season on Friday night.

“I think it’s just because we’ve raced together for the last two years hard, and we know how hard we can really push each other,” Queen said. “These are the battles you’ll look back on and be like ‘man, that was fun’ whether you won or lost.”

Lap traffic played a pivotal role in the difference between Crews' ending in victory lane over Queen. Early on, lap traffic allowed Crews to take the lead from Butterbean on Lap 19, which he held to the competition caution on Lap 50.

Queen took the lead on the ensuing restart after a solo spin by Lavar Scott brought the caution out seconds after he passed Crews. He held the lead through the rest of the race. Crews, who put pressure on Queen late, spent more time navigating lap traffic, which proved to be the difference maker.

“I thought lap cars were going to cost me again,” said Queen. “[Crews] might have been a little better, and then we caught lap cars at the wrong spot and just put myself in a bad spot. Then I had good restarts later to get the lead back.”

While Butterbean extended his point lead over Lawless Alan and Lavar Scott, another championship battle was going on further back in the field between Isaac Kitzmiller and Tyler Reif. 

Kitzmiller extended his 14-point lead with a sixth-place finish to Reif’s 11th, as he finished five positions ahead of his foe, aiding his pursuit of the ARCA Menards Series East championship. Both drivers head to Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 11 for the Bush’s Beans 200, an ARCA Menards Series combined race, to settle the title.

"I just can't wait to go back there and see what we can do,” Kitzmiller said.

 Atlas 150 Results:

1. Brenden Queen #28 (R) - (LEADER)

2. Brent Crews #18 (R) -0.412s

3. Lawless Alan #20 -8.404s

4. Isabella Robusto #55 (R)  -9.595s

5. Lavar Scott #6 -9.793s

6. Isaac Kitzmiller #79 (R) -21.834s

7. Sam Corry #70 (R)  -24.284s

8. Eloy Falcon #2 (R)  -1 Lap Down

9. Mason Mitchell #25 -1 Lap Down

10. Jason Kitzmiller #97 -1 Lap Down

11.  Tyler Reif #23 -1 Lap Down

12. Zachary Tinkle #11 -1 Lap Down

13. Regina Sirvent #68  -2 Laps Down

14. Tony Cosentino #10  -2 Laps Down

15. Quinn Davis #31 (R) -6 Laps Down

16. Michael Maples #99 -8 Laps Down

17. Kadence Davenport #7 (R) -10 Laps Down

18. Austin Vaughn #67 (R) -12 Laps Down

19. Tim Richmond #27  -15 Laps Down

20. Alex Clubb #03 -16 Laps Down

21. Brayton Laster #06  -18 Laps Down

22. Takuma Koga #12 -20 Laps Down

23. Colby Evans #86 (R)  -87 Laps Down

24. Kris Wright #15 -123 Laps Down

25. Mike Basham #9 -139 Laps Down

26. Trevor Ward #01 (R)  -140 Laps Down

27. Brad Smith #48 -141 Laps Down

The ARCA Menards Series will return at Watkins Glen International for the General Tire 200 at the Glen on Aug. 8, which marks the series’ fourth consecutive race weekend. Fans can catch the action on FS2 and the FOX Sports App.