ARCA champion Brenden Queen lands big opportunity with Kaulig Racing for 2025 season 

Brenden Queen is set to showcase his driving credentials with a short-term promotion to the Xfinity Series. Queen, recently crowned the 2025 ARCA Menards Series champ, will drive the Kaulig Racing No. 11 Chevrolet for the final three NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season at Talladega, Martinsville, and Phoenix.

The 27-year-old had a phenomenal ARCA campaign with eight wins and a championship, finishing with 17 top fives and 17 top tens in 20 races and finishing 106 points ahead of Lavar Scott in the final standings. Queen's call-up comes on the heels of a stronger performance earlier this year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, also with Kaulig Racing.

Queen made his series debut at Bristol in the No. 11 Chevrolet and finished 20th, but performed much better in his start at Kansas, beginning fourth in the race and finishing ninth more competitively. He won his ARCA championship at Toledo Speedway with a second-place finish in the season finale, which also secured the driver's and owner's championship for Pinnacle Racing Group.

Kaulig Racing announced on X:

"Newly crowned @ARCA_Racing Champion, Brenden Queen, will run the final three races of the season in the No. 11 Chevrolet!"

Since parting ways with Josh Williams midseason, Kaulig Racing has used a variety of drivers in the No. 11 entry, including Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell, Justin Haley, Daniel Hemric, and 2024 Supercars champion Will Brown.

In addition to his accomplishments in ARCA, Brenden Queen was crowned the champion of the 2024 CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour. The Chesapeake, Virginia, native has also competed on a part-time basis in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 07 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports at Indianapolis with a mid-pack finish in 16th place.

---

Brenden Queen reveals his relationship with Kyle Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels

Brenden Queen revealed on Corey LaJoie's Stacking Pennies podcast that Kyle Larson's crew chief, Cliff Daniels, serves as a trusted mentor who texts him after every race with honest feedback. According to the recently crowned ARCA champion, their relationship dates back to 2018 when Daniels drove one of Queen's late models.

"Cliff Daniels sends me a text every race. Cliff drove one of my late models in 2018. So we go way back and I love it because he tells me what I need to hear like. I get my congratulations text from him, but he's gonna let me know what I did wrong, and that's what I need," he said [0:35 onwards] "You don't always need to be told you're great and I respect him so much for that because he wants me to succeed, but to actually have somebody that's willing to tell you like, 'Hey, you lost this race because of this. It ain't nobody blame but yourself.' Sometimes you need to hear it," he added.

During the ARCA finale at Toledo, Queen faced tough competition from Max Reeves, who won pole position and employed aggressive tactics to secure the race victory.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar