Hampton, VA – Winning a single championship at your local Saturday night short track is a miracle in its own right, so many things have to fall in the right place. Winning multiple championships elevates you to an entirely different level. Winning three track champions in the top division of racing in as many years puts you in an elite category that not many others can say they have done. Brenden Queen can now call himself a three-time Langley Speedway Late Model Champion. Something only Elton Sawyer and C.E. Falk can say.
Over the last three years, Queen has built quite an impressive resume for himself. The Chesapeake native has out-dueled some of the greatest in the business on his way to collecting well over twenty wins over the last three seasons. Fourteen of those going towards his asphalt points championships, five on the dirt track of Dixieland Speedway, all while etching his name in the records books as a Hampton Heat, CARS Tour, Myrtle Beach 400, and the Shawn Balluzzo Memorial 100 winner.
“They all mean so much to me,” Queen said in regard to his wins this season on both dirt and asphalt. “Every win was special in a different way. This year we were able to win with four different teams in three different types of cars. It’s a dream season that I’m blessed to have had happen.”
Most of Queen’s 2022 season was focused on his asphalt Late Model Stock program where he collected an impressive nine wins, fourteen top fives, and never once finished outside of the top ten. 2022 also marked the first time Queen and local dirt track star John Staton would team up and go after the Late Model crown at nearby Dixieland Speedway in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The two would earn five wins, the track championship, Rookie of the Year, as well as the most popular driver.
The impressive season attracted the attention of former NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Champion Lee Pulliam to create a deal for the 2023 season. For the first time in his young motorsports career, Queen will leave his family car in the garage and compete for a CARS Tour title in 2023.
“[This] is [a] full-time effort,” Queen said. “The opportunity came where it was financial support outside of my family and made sense to do it with Lee. It’s hard for my guys to get off work to go to All those races and it’s hard for us to go test with the tire shortage. I really hope to make a run for the championship in the CARS Tour and be competitive week in and out. I’d be happy to have a shot and be in contention. [The] Main focus will be the CARS Tour but we will run at Langley with my family car whenever I’m available.”
In addition to Queen’s two Late Model titles and three unique trophies, Brenden finished the season thirtieth in the nation under NASCAR’s Division I standing, fourth in the state of Virginia, and sixth in the Southeast Region.
“Honestly I’m proud of our stats,” said Queen. “Those would be better if I had [more] starts. I wish the points system worked differently but it is what it is. Still a great season that I will always be proud of.”
Queen will be on hand tomorrow night to receive his third division title trophy as all of Langley Speedway comes together to celebrate all the accomplishments of the 2022 season. Cocktail hour will begin at 6:30 PM on the second floor of the Hampton Convention Center with dinner and awards starting at 7:30. Tickets for the 2022 awards banquet have sold out.
