Brenden Queen looks to parlay second half momentum into LMSC Tour title
It took Brenden Queen nearly the entire summer, but he finally overtook Connor Hall in the CARS LMSC Tour standings following a setback sustained from a crash at Caraway Speedway.
Although he now holds the points lead over Hall, Queen knows he cannot grow complacent ahead of North Wilkesboro Speedway. Only a small margin of error exists between him and Hall, which is why Queen plans to adhere to the same mindset that has garnered him and Lee Pulliam Performance so much consistency over the second half of the year.
“We don’t want to overthink it and we want to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Queen said. “If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. I know we’re going to give all the effort we can put in and try to not take ourselves out of contention.”
Queen used the accident at Caraway as a reset point for his 2024 campaign. Since that evening in July, Queen has recorded seven consecutive top five finishes, all of which helped him gradually chip away at Hall’s championship lead.
One bad race at Tri-County Motor Speedway in 2023, in which he ran out of fuel in the closing laps, prevented Queen from mounting a challenge against Carson Kvapil for the LMSC Tour title. The sting from narrowly missing out on a championship has stuck with Queen, but it has also served as motivation during his top five streak.
With Queen having previously won at North Wilkesboro in 2023, he feels confident about delivering one more strong performance on Saturday evening. Flawless execution is something Queen knows will be imperative if he wishes to secure the first CARS Tour championship for himself and Pulliam’s Late Model Stock operation.
“A CARS Tour championship would be the biggest thing I’ve accomplished,” Queen said. “I’ve won track championships and all that, but to win on the tour would be something. I don’t know how many more opportunities I have to be on the tour, so this could be it. I’d definitely like to go out with a bang.”
Connor Hall anticipates tough challenge in re-taking LMSC points lead
After holding the CARS LMSC Tour points lead for most of the 2024 season, Connor Hall now finds himself second to Brenden Queen heading into Saturday’s season-finale.
A multi-car crash at the midway point of last weekend’s race at Tri-County Motor Speedway collected Hall and forced him to limp home with a 13th place performance. The setback came at an inopportune time for Hall, but he is staying optimistic as he looks to re-take control of the points lead and earn his first LMSC Tour title.
“We have a good chance, but I’d be lying if I said beating [Queen] was going to be easy,” Hall said. “There is no shortage of trying right now, but it’s one thing to lose and another thing to lose when you truly give it your all. Hopefully that’s not the case, but we’re going to go down swinging.”
There were a lot of unknowns for Hall at the start of 2024 when he joined Nelson Motorsports, but the cohesion has been apparent from their first race. Aside from his lone LMSC Tour victory at his home track of Langley Speedway, Hall also earned a Virginia Triple Crown victory with Nelson in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway.
With Hall set to move on to JR Motorsports’ Late Model Stock team in 2025, he wants to deliver Nelson’s team another LMSC Tour title before departing the program. Nelson has more LMSC Tour championships than any other owner by amassing three with Bobby McCarty, but the organization has not obtained one since the 2021 season.
The season ending at a high-grip track like North Wilkesboro Speedway will put more emphasis on Hall and Nelson finding more raw speed to match Queen’s pace. Outdueling Queen on Saturday would be a fitting end to a stellar 2024 for Hall that saw him obtain his second consecutive NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship.
“The reason why I want to win it so bad is because I’d love to win the national CARS Tour Titles to Be Decided at North Wilkesboro Speedway – Racing America and CARS Tour CARS Tour Titles to Be Decided at North Wilkesboro Speedway – Racing America in the same year,” Hall said. “I don’t think anybody has done that, so it’d give me one notch on the belt that isn’t similar to other people. There’s two things I want to accomplish in Late Model Stocks before I leave; a CARS Tour championship and a Martinsville clock.”
