Champion of Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned CARS Tour begins his NASCAR journey

Brenden Queen, the defending CARS Tour champion, is all set to race for the 2025 ARCA Menards Series. However, Queen is no stranger to success in the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned racing series. The 27-year-old Chesapeake native owns seven series victories since 2022.

In 2022, he bagged another victory in the Southern Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway, a race that Earnhardt Jr. ran this year under the banner of JR Motorsports, a NASCAR Xfinity Series team that he owns alongside his sister Kelley Earnhardt and Rick Hendrick of Hendrick Motorsports.

Following his success on short tracks across the Southeast, Queen bagged a full-time deal with Pinnacle Racing Group, driving the No. 28 Chevrolet. The team has fielded ARCA platform winners like Connor Mosack, Connor Zillsch, and Luke Fenehaus in the past.

Shane Huffman, General Manager of Pinnacle Racing Group, said in a statement (via Joseph Srigley, Racing America),

“We’ve all been able to watch Brenden’s talent shine while he has been with Lee Pulliam the last two seasons in the CARS Tour. His personality and charisma are infectious and are going to fit well with PRG and our culture."

Queen has been victorious in several prestigious events like the Hampton Heat 200, Battle of the Stars, and the 2023 Thanksgiving Classic at the Southern National Motorsports Park.

He has been to the victory lane at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway as well. Queen made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at North Wilkesboro with TRICON Garage and delivered a commendable P4 finish.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. reflects on the “unrealized” value of the CARS Tour Series

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been with the CARS Tour since 2015, but he joined the ownership group, consisting of Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Justin Marks, only in January 2023. But right in his first season as a series owner, Dale Jr. knew it would take a lot to solidify its position in the motorsport industry.

The task was huge: picking up the remnants of the USAR Pro Cup Series and building something better. Soon, the series landed a deal with FloRacing, which took over its flag-to-flag broadcasting rights throughout the season. In a 2023 interview at the Charlotte Convention Center, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said,

“As someone involved in the series ownership group, it’s never enough. We’re ambitious, and the value of the series is still unrealized. We’ve got a lot of potential with good, quality racing and a lot of great storylines. I’m pretty bullish, but there’s not enough days in the year to accomplish all your tasks.”

“I wish I could wake up in the morning and work on the CARS Tour until I went to bed every single day of the year,” he added.

There are several changes to the 2025 CARS Tour schedule, which include the season-opening events under the LMSC and PLM categories to be held at the New River All-American Speedway on March 1. On the other hand, Wake County gets pushed back toward the end of the month. With that, New River will become the sixth different track to host a season-opening race since 2015.