Queen Reaches Seventh Heaven In Salem ARCA Tilt

Brenden Queen celebrates in victory lane at Salem Speedway. (Tanner Pearson/ARCA Racing photo)

SALEM, Ind. – For most of Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series race at Salem Speedway, Brenden Queen enjoyed a quiet and unassuming night inside the top five.

One caution transformed Queen’s good night into another great one.

After polesitter Max Reaves brought out a late caution flag, Queen bested Lavar Scott on the ensuing restart and pulled away for his seventh victory on the ARCA Menards Series season.

Despite being under the weather, Queen persevered through his own adversity to further consolidate a commanding advantage in the ARCA Menards Series standings. Queen was also thrilled to finally earn a victory at a half-mile short track like Salem after coming so close all season.

“[The win] will make me feel good until tomorrow,” Queen said. “What a day. Battled myself, obviously not feeling the best, but that’s not an excuse. You have to show up to work and get after it. I’m just so proud of these Pinnacle Racing Group guys. We’ve worked so hard on the short track stuff and stayed with it all night.

“You don’t always have to have the best car; you just got to be there when it counts.”

Queen refined his skills at half-mile short tracks around the Southeast like his home track, Langley Speedway. The accomplishments Queen accumulated at Langley alone included three track championships and three victories in the facility’s prestigious Hampton Heat.

All the expertise Queen possessed on half miles had yet to translate into a victory in the ARCA Menards Series. Queen did obtain wins at tracks like Iowa Speedway, Dover Motor Speedway and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, but a triumph at a half-mile eluded him until Saturday’s race at Salem.

It took patience on Queen’s behalf before an opportunity materialized for him to make a charge for the win. Reaves and Scott dominated the opening 175 laps at Salem, with the latter having pulled away to a sizable advantage until Reaves hit the outside wall in turn four.

Scott had the benefit of the top side for the restart, but Queen timed his jump perfectly to edge ahead of Scott at the exit of turn two.

Slight contact with the outside wall further hindered Scott’s momentum, forcing him to settle for a disappointing fourth after coming within reach of his first ARCA Menards Series win.

“[Queen] had a really good restart,” Scott said. “I went down into [turn] two, hit the wall a little bit and after that I just had damage. From that point on, I knew we couldn’t do anything to get back to him, so I tried to maintain. We still came away with a fourth-place finish, but it definitely sucks.

“It’s all God’s timing and right now it’s not my time yet. I’m just going to keep working and eventually it will be my time for sure.”

Saturday saw Scott fall short to the driver he has been battling for the ARCA Menards Series title all year long in Queen, who now has a near insurmountable points lead.

Efficiency has been a prevailing theme for Queen across every type of track on the ARCA Menards Series calendar, which is why the Salem victory brought plenty of catharsis.

The consistency was there all night for Queen, but one perfect restart was all it took for him to add another trophy to his growing collection.

“As a race car driver, you live for those moments,” Queen said. “That’s going to change the race. I knew I had to let [Scott] fire and beat me to the line. He fired and I was able to stay even with him. Once I had leverage into [turn] one, it was my race to lose at that point.”

Andrew Patterson scored a career-best runner-up finish in a one-off appearance with Nitro Motorsports. He was followed in the running order by Leland Honeyman, Scott and Isabella Robusto.

The rest of the top 10 consisted of Mason Mitchell, Will Kimmel, Conner Popplewell, Tony Cosentino and Ryan Vargas.

Next Friday’s Reese’s 150 at Kansas Speedway serves as the penultimate event of the ARCA Menards Series season, with coverage airing at 8 p.m. ET live on FS1 and select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network.

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