Brenden Queen couldn’t have done it any better last night at East Carolina after qualifying on the pole for twin races, leading all eighty laps, and winning both races.

To determine the starting order for both races, each driver’s best lap would line them up for race one, while their other lap would start them in a respective position for race two. Even with this different format, Queen’s first lap (15.444) would be the fastest set all day, while his slower lap (15.491) was still faster than every other lap but one, set by Matt Bowling (15.483). Regardless, Queen was on the pole for both races.

“Qualifying was good because starting up front here is so important,” Queen told Race22.com. “With the track taking a lap to set each race’s starting order, you have to really go for it. We even hit the wall but we were still able to get the job done.” National Points leader Matt Bowling, Justin Carroll, Tyler Matthews, and Thomas Burbage rounded out the starting five for race one.

With less than one lap complete, Thomas Burbage spun out of turn four, causing a complete restart. Queen proceeded to lead the field to green once again, and held the lead despite oncoming challengers.

In the second half of race one, Matt Bowling reached Queen’s bumper and nearly lifted his rear wheels off the ground going into turn one. A few laps later, he was able to get to his inside, but Queen was able to battle hard on the top and keep the lead.

“I knew he was going to be tough and figured if he cleared us, the race was over,” Queen commented. “I just ran a little harder on the top and as soon as I cleared him, we were able to maintain a gap.”

Queen would have to flex his muscles for one more restart following a lap 37 spin by Malik Koonce.

In race two, Justin Carroll, Tyler Matthews, Matt Bowling, and Michael Fose would round out the starting five.

After Queen cleared the field, a battle for position behind him would ultimately allow him to distance himself from the field and complete his first sweep with a caution free win in race two.

Justin Carroll qualified third and second, and also finished in these positions during the two races, respectively. Besides Queen, he had the best average finish among the eighteen driver field in the two races.

“When we qualified 3rd and 2nd I knew we had just as good as shot as anyone to win the race but we came up a little bit short,” Carroll told Race22.com. “But it was a good night, and hats of to [Brenden] Queen on the two wins. I was two car lengths back pretty much the entire second race and he never slipped once.”

With the two wins, Queen will assume the points lead at East Carolina with a twelve point (six position) lead over Louis White, who finished second and sixth in Saturday’s twins, respectively.
“Knowing that we have the lead is good but as my crew chief says, ‘If you win, the points will take care of themselves.’

Late Models return to East Carolina on July 30th.

Results:

Race #1
1. #03 Brenden Queen; 40
2. #7 Louis White; 40
3. #91 Justin Carroll; 40
4. #83 Matt Bowling; 40
5. #9 Thomas Burbage; 40
6. #54 Michael Fose; 40
7. #63 Tyler Matthews; 40
8. #12 Dean Shiflett; 40
9. #22 Eric Winslow; 40
10. #01 Jeff Shiflett; 40
11. #88 Thomas Marks; 40
12. #29 Paul Williamson; 40
13. #99 Zach Henshaw; 40
14. #13 Jason Turner; 39
15. #29b Melvin Langley; 39
16. #77 Malik Koonce; 35
17. #03b Cameron Bowen; 2
18. #54b Gerald Benton ; 2

Race #2
1. #03 Brenden Queen; 40
2. #91 Justin Carroll; 40
3. #54 Michael Fose; 40
4. #83 Matt Bowling; 40
5. #63 Tyler Matthews; 40
6. #9 Thomas Burbage; 40
7. #7 Louis White; 40
8. #88 Thomas Marks; 40
9. #01 Jeff Shiflett; 40
10. #22 Eric Winslow; 40
11. #99 Zach Henshaw; 39
12. #12 Dean Shiflett; 39
13. #29 Paul Williamson; 39
14. #13 Jason Turner; 39
15. #29b Melvin Langley; 13
16. #83b Deac McCaskill; 1
17. #77 Malik Koonce; 1
18. #03b Cameron Bowen; 1