‘Butterbean,’ team look to clinch Langley points crown
Brenden “Butterbean” Queen’s quest to join the list of Langley Speedway Late Model champions has been a little different than others of late.
Since embarking on it at age 16, six years ago, Queen has often been underfinanced compared to some. Nevertheless, there has been the sense on pit road that the talented and confident Queen would someday contend for a title, and that has attracted believers.
His dad, Mike Queen, a former Late Model driver, has, of course, been the biggest. Crew chief Phil Warren, the winningest driver in Langley Late Model history with seven titles, joined the team several years ago.
Andre Grier, a rare Black car owner at the track, supplied the car Queen drove to his first Langley Late Model win a year ago and owns the team’s backup car. Mack McKee increased his contribution this season, providing the Ford that Queen has motored to
victory in the prestigious Hampton Heat 200 and to the top of the Langley Late Model standings.
Barring extreme misfortune in either of the two 50-lappers tonight, Queen, 22, who leads six-time champion Danny Edwards by 14 points atop the standings, will add his name to the list of Langley Late Model champions. Excuse him if his Victory Lane speech is a little long with all of the people he’ll be thanking.
“We’re all like a family,” he said of his race team sponsored by McKee’s Old Skool Video and Brinn Trim. “It’s not a matter of who gets credit.
“We’ve all gotten here together and now, look at us, we’ve got a shot at the title. It’s been very important to have people around me who wanted to see me succeed at something I love.”
That love was nurtured at tracks like Langley and erstwhile Southampton Motor Speedway, where his dad drove Late Models, mostly in the middle of the pack, as Queen played with Matchbox cars on the dirt in the pits. By early elementary school, Queen was able to badger his dad into getting him a go-kart, and the family’s race interests have centered around him increasingly since.
“My mom and dad have sacrificed a lot so I could basically go racing fulltime,” Queen said. “I think my dad’s enjoying watching me do it, so it’s been a pretty
fun journey.
“Racing is al l I ’ ve dreamed about and breathed about.”
Although the team has never been high-dollar, Mike Queen taught his son to appreciate what he had because some others had less. McKee helped increase Queen’s resources upon seeing him race in the first of his five full seasons in Late Model.
“He didn’t even know me, but he saw me racing (at Langley) online, contacted me and started helping out (financially),” Queen said. “It’s grown from there, and we’ve become like family.”
Grier came aboard last year on the advice of a friend, eager to earn a Late Model win as owner and confident perennial topfive driver Queen could get it. Queen’s first Late Model victory, in 2019, made Grier the first Black owner to win in the Late Model Division at Langley.
“I was excited about it and I’m excited about it still — it’s a blessing from God,” said Grier, who says color has never been an issue at Langley. “Stock car racing is different than what I thought it would be when I got into it.
“What other sport can you go to the pit next to you, ask them for a part and have them give it to you? Racing is unique and I love it.”
Warren has had perhaps the biggest influence on Queen’s success, although he’s quick to point out “Butterbean has always been a good driver.” In addition to teaching Queen the ropes mechanically, Warren — famed for his strategic approach in winning 10 Late Model titles — has counseled Queen to rein in his natural aggressiveness in racing for the championship.
“Phil has been such a role model,” Queen said. “He’s molded me into who I am, and I feel smarter, and more mature, with him in my head.”
Queen won a Late Model title with Warren’s help at East Carolina Motor Speedway in 2016, the season Langley Speedway was closed. The quest to win one at Langley against regional legends, brothers Greg and Danny Edwards, as well as hard-charging Connor Hall, has been more challenging.
“We have a good car this year, so every time he gets in it, we’re confident he can win or qualify on the pole,” Warren said. “Langley Speedway is an extremely hard racetrack for a lot of people because it has a personality that’s different compared to banked tracks.
“It takes a lot of discipline, and Butterbean has improved on the discipline side this year. He’s young and aggressive, but he’s been willing to pull back a little bit because of the points situation, and we’ve had almost all top-threes this season.”
By comparison, the Edwards brothers, both sixtime champions, and contenders Hall and Casey Wyatt have each had race mishaps ruinous to their championship hopes. Barring a similar calamity, Queen will add his list to Langley’s roll of Late Model champions tonight and celebrate the feat with his extended family.
“To pull into Victory Lane and see their faces, that’s what it’s all about,” Queen said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”