HAMPTON, VA :: Brenden Queen has won in everything he’s raced in, except for in Late Model Stock Car racing.  He’s hoping to change that on Saturday night in the Hampton Heat 200 at Langley Speedway.  Queen is a rookie in the Late Model division at Langley Speedway who entered the Late Model ranks after winning the Legends championship at Southside Speedway in 2012.

“I feel like we have a good piece for the Hampton Heat 200,” Queen said.  “All the guys helping me, Phil Warren, Tracy Ashworth, Mike Deininger, Mike Cathey, Justin Posey, Grant Pruitt, David Oshman, Gene Nichols and my dad (Mike Queen), I think we’ve found some stuff out.  We’ve gone through the car after the last race.  We had some rear end problems.  We found out some stuff that was messing us up.  We had a top five car when our stuff was right.  If I can keep the tires on it and stay out of trouble, we’ll have something for them at the end.”

Queen is a rookie to the Late Model Stock Car ranks.  He started off the 2013 season with a pair of fourth place finishes and then his performances slid just a tick due to problems with the car.

“The first race, we honestly expected, our goal was to get top 10s and finish races.  We qualified on the pole for a while and wound up third and I had a good shot at a consistent finish then we went two laps down in a spin with a lapped car and then came back to finish in the top five.  We backed it up the next night with a fourth place finish.  Then the next week, we found some stuff and we struggled the first few twin races.  We found some stuff in the car.  We found what was holding us back because it showed.  The night me and the 55 had a racing deal, I got caught up in something early, we started dead last and came up to fifth.  That wreck happened and it took us out of the points.”

With issues on his car now resolved, Queen comes in to the Hampton Heat with renewed confidence.

“We came in with a new paint job, got a top five and then had a series of rear end problems.  If we can get some speed, we’ll have something for the Hampton Heat.”

Queen admits it won’t be easy.  Langley Speedway boasts some of the competition in the region with four or five cars that can win on any given Saturday night.  Queen says it makes him better and more determined to win.

“Half the field can win there.  Practice and qualifying times, everyone’s right there.  I hope to add my name to that list this year and win this race.  I’ve won everything I’ve raced in.  It’s killing me because I want to win in my rookie year in Late Model.  It’s hard racing with that type of competition.  If I want to work my way up through NASCAR, I have to do it.  If I’m not going to win a race by the middle of summer, I want my first win to be the Hampton Heat.  Winning this race would help this team out and make us stronger.  I just want to show them all we have what it takes to be in a Late Model.

“It really is a strong class of cars.  I’ve heard Timothy Peters will race in the Hampton Heat.  It’s an honor and a privilege to have my name up there. I’ve raced with Nick in the Legends cars.  We almost beat him a few times in the Legends cars last year.  We led laps and that was pretty big.  I have respect for him.  Coming up to Late Models being a rookie, I’ve got to earn respect.  There are guys who don’t like me and there are a few who talk bad stuff every week.  I just try to stay away from it.  Me and Greg pit next to each other.  He gives me tips and he helps me.  Nick’s nice to me.  It’s good to earn that respect because you never know how it comes back to you.  I’m an aggressive driver but I’m aggressive when I need to be.”

Queen says his experience racing Legends cars helped him learn how to race with an ill-handling racecar.

“The Legends cars at Langley really taught me how to handle a loose racecar.  I also raced go-karts on dirt when I was 7-8 and that also taught me how to race with a loose car.  I drove Steve Falk’s Arena Car.  He helped me out.  Then I ran two years of legends

I’ve raced at Old Dominon Speeway, Charlotte’s Summer Shootout, I won a race there, and I’ve raced at Dixieland and the Hampton and Richmond Colliseums.  We’re not a high budget team.  We’re trying to get some sponsors to run other tracks and get experience.  We qualified on the outside pole at Old Dominion twice and that track is really bumpy.  We won five out of eight races at Southside last year.”

Queen, who caught the racing bug from his father, is hoping to build a career in the sport and move up in to the major league ranks of stock car racing.

“I’d like to pursue a career in this sport.  When I was younger, my dad used to race Late Models at Langley and Southampton.  Ever since I was born, I think my first words were ‘race car’.  I always had a racecar in my hands.  It’s all I ever wanted to do.  I play iRacing, race car games and spend time in the shop…  I live and breathe racing and never wanted to do anything else but racing.”

Queen will compete in the Hampton Heat 200 on Saturday.  He is supported by West Service Center, Patriot Realty, Von Zipper, Xtreme Design, Xtreme Mechanical, Bryant Motorsports Parts Barn, Adkins Motorsports, Wall Law Offices, Freeland Electrice, Gene Nichols, Bluewater Motors, Richad and Christina Hughes and Little GI Joes.

RACE22.com will have Live Coverage of the Hampton Heat 200 on Saturday night as well as pre-race coverage all week.