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Brenden 'Butterbean' Queen closing out NASCAR Xfinity Series season with Kaulig Racing

JHby: Jonathan Howard10/13/25Jondean25
Butterbean Queen ARCA NASCAR
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Great news for Brenden “Butterbean” Queen today. He is closing out the season with Kaulig Racing in the No. 11 Chevy in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The 2025 ARCA Menards Series champion isn’t done racing yet this year. And could this be a hint at where Queen might end up in 2026?

Let’s be real, Butterbean Queen flat-out earned these three races with Kaulig in his last two starts, especially at Kansas. To run top-20 at Bristol and then P9 at Kansas in his first-ever Xfinity starts, in the 11 car that has simply not looked that good this year, is impressive.

There is a reason why a lot of folks in NASCAR are high on Queen. He showed it in ARCA, he’s shown it in the CARS Tour, and we’ve already seen it in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series in limited starts.

Talladega, Martinsville, and Phoenix, get ready! The mullet is coming to you, and he’s hungry for trophies and waffles.

Eight wins this year in ARCA, a top-10 in the Xfinity Series, Butterbean Queen is the real deal. He’s older than many prospects in NASCAR. But there are a lot of people in the sport who see him as a future Cup driver and he has shown why that is more than a few times.

That race at Martinsville might be the one where you see Queen seriously contend for a win. He’s raced there in the past, and his short track skills are going to come in handy. Qualifying will be vital to getting solid finishes these next three weeks.

Butterbean Queen is ready to take on full-time schedule

While it remains unclear what Butterbean Queen is going to do in 2026, I have to imagine a Chevy team picks him up. Kaulig Racing will have a weird situation next season. So, it complicates things. Clearly, Kaulig likes what they see from Queen or they wouldn’t be putting him back in the 11 car.

But the question remains, what does the Kaulig Xfinity program look like in 2026? Is it one car? One car and a second, part-time car? They will have their hands full with five Ram Trucks in 2026, launching an entirely new program. Not to mention Cup Series obligations.

Then again, you think about JR Motorsports. Queen comes from the CARS Tour, the series that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a co-owner of. That would be a fan-favorite pairing if it were to happen. But the JRM program might not have as many full-time rides in 2026 as they did this year.

I suspect that Butterbean Queen is going full-time racing in a Chevy next year. But would he look good in a Ram Truck? Probably. I fear that the Truck Series may not be the best place for him. Let’s see how he handles these next three Xfinity Series races, and I may be saying something else in a month’s time.