ARCA News: Brent Crews bumps his way to last lap win in Phoenix

16-year old Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Brent Crews won Friday’s General Tire 150 ARCA Menards race at Phoenix Raceway by bumping leader Brenden Queen out of the way in Turn 3 on the final lap.

🏁 HOLY FINISH! 😱@BrentCrews11 wins in a one-lap shootout at @phoenixraceway! pic.twitter.com/gMpIdztNK6

— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) March 8, 2025

“I raced Brenden [Queen] the whole year last year,” Crews said. “We raced him for CARS Tour wins, and then coming here to the ARCA Menards Series at a track like Phoenix to race for the win was really special. A great job to [Pinnacle Racing Group]. They had a winning car today, so I’m grateful for the caution at the end.”

Queen, who was three weeks removed from an emotional victory at Daytona International Speedway, expressed frustration over how the General Tire 150 concluded. But he stopped short of assigning full blame to Crews. He felt Crews would have never gotten to his bumper had his execution on the final restart been better.

“The only way they could beat us was to knock us out of the way,” Queen said.

“Honestly, I’m going to look at it as ‘I have to do a better job on that restart’. In my defense, I never should have let him get close enough. I gave him the bottom in [turn] one to try and not get hit because he had such a run off [turn] two because I cleared him.

“I almost wish I wouldn’t have cleared him and stayed door-to-door, then I could have run him up the hill or something.”

“Winning this race is so special for me,” Crews said. “It was my mom’s birthday [on Thursday], so I’m dedicating this win to her. I can’t thank the Joe Gibbs Racing enough. [There was] no practice, so showing up to the track with a car this fast was pretty cool.”

Brent Crews and Joe Gibbs Racing get it done tonight in Phoenix! @kaitlynvincie talks with the @ARCA_Racing winner. pic.twitter.com/8RKJ3Pbhrk

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 8, 2025

Treyten Lapcevich earned a strong third-place finish in what is currently his only planned ARCA Menards Series race of 2025. The rest of the top five consisted of Lawless Alan and Lavar Scott.

Kole Raz, Thad Moffitt, Patrick Staropoli, Robbie Kennealy and Corey Day were the rest of the top-10 finishers.

The next time the ARCA Menards Series takes to the track will not be until Apr. 26 at Talladega Superspeedway, a race that will broadcast on FS1 starting at 12:30 p.m. ET. For the ARCA Menards Series West, the series’ next event is at Tucson Speedway on April 5 with FloRacing providing the on-track coverage.

BRENT CREWS, No. 18 JBL Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Talk about that last lap move to take the lead and get the win?

Brent Crews: “Yeah, it was a lot. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, JBL, Mobil 1 and Toyota GAZOO Racing for getting me here. I had a really fast race car all race long with no practice, nor qualifying (due to inclement weather). I’ve only been here (Phoenix Raceway) one other time, and they (Joe Gibbs Racing) got me up to speed really quickly. We led a lot of laps and fortunately, we got that late-race caution, and I knew that’s exactly what we needed to have a shot at it (the win). We had really good short-run speed all day, so I knew that was our best shot at bringing home the checkered.”

On that last-lap pass, how much contact were you willing to give?

Brent Crews: “Yeah, I had a good idea on what my plan was. I have a lot of racing experience with Brenden (Queen). We’re good friends off the race track. I was willing to do whatever it took to win that race. I obviously wasn’t going to wreck either of us by any means. Felt like I ran him as hard as he would’ve run me. He left the lane open in (turns) three and four and I put my nose in there. Got loose up off (turn four) and we were up to the line. Feel like that was good, hard short track racing and I’m grateful to get the win.”

How did you stay mentally prepared with how long the race went?

Brent Crews: “Yeah, just keeping strong faith and praying about it. I have great people on the radio and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing – telling me what I needed to do to be in position there and kept me in it the whole race, even though that was a long one. Staying engaged and letting me know it wasn’t over. My guys told me, even when he (Queen) had a big lead, the race wasn’t over. When I saw that caution light, I think I celebrated just as big as when I won. I knew that was my last shot and was grateful to get after it.”

Where did you feel like you made progress in your development tonight?

Brent Crews: “You know, those last few laps for sure, I feel like my CARS TOUR experience has helped me the most throughout my career to get me to where I’m at today. That last lap race kind of translated to those last lap at CARS TOUR. So, you know that was my biggest help tonight and so was tire management. Honestly, the CARS TOUR has been a huge factor, and I took a lot of the tools, pretty much every single one of them, from it to the ARCA race tonight. And that’s why you saw me and Brenden (Queen) running so well. There was a mixture of tire saving and knowing when to go hard, when to put your elbows out those last few laps to get after it for the win. The biggest thing I think I learned tonight was the race track. Phoenix is a fun race track. There are people who are great here and people who struggle, so if you want to be a Cup (Series) champion one day, this seems to be the track you have to learn. So, learned a lot tonight and grateful to be parked in victory lane.”

What did you see on the first overtime restart that helped you for the second one?

Brent Crews: “I don’t know. Obviously, we had a really good jump on both restarts (at the end). I felt the outside lane was going to roll with more banking and I could pinch him (Queen) down and time my run. I knew I was going to get the launch, it’s just tough with the dogleg of the distance and obviously, the gaps (made) when you go down there, so tried to put (my car) on his door and he cleared me in (turns) one and two on the second restart, and I’m not sure if that would’ve happened the first restart. Think he knew he needed to drive it harder the second time and that’s what he was able to do there to clear me. So, obviously going into the second restart without the No. 23 (Tyler Reif), he was a threat all night, especially that first (overtime) caution. That was kind of a relief, knowing that it’s going be me vs the No. 28 (Queen) on that last restart.”

General Tire 150 Race Results