The Thanksgiving Classic at the Southern National Motorsports Park will be remembered for ages. Mind-blowing action in the final 30 laps of the short-track race showed the world what racing was all about and it ended with 26-year-old Brenden Queen taking home the win. But when has racing action ever been without controversy? With Queen adopting lesser-than-ideal means to keep his competitors, Josh Berry and Kaden Honeycutt at bay, fans witnessed fireworks after the event.

The frustrated young Honeycutt expressed his disapproval of Queen’s methods by complaining of being ‘used up’. The race winner has now hit back with his own explanations.

Brenden Queen details his side of the controversial final laps in response to Honeycutt’s anger

Kaden Honeycutt’s anger came after the fiery final 30 laps that went down at the park. With Queen leading and Berry quickly gaining on him with fresh tires, the former had to fend off the veteran. Speed wasn’t a choice for him. Coming from the back, Kaden Honeycutt joined the mix in the late stages and attempted to assume the lead. The trio would then engage in a thrilling battle, which saw them trade blows for the top spot. A particular 3-wide move by Honeycutt ended with him making contact with Queen, which had the youngster all riled up.

While Honeycutt’s anger was justifiable considering that he could have very well won the race, there wasn’t any foul play detected on Queen’s side. Talking in his podcast “The Bean Pod”, he took it to the mic to express what he thought of Honeycutt’s anger. Mentioning beforehand that the youngster was like a brother to him, he was frank with his opinions. He said, “But I didn’t agree with him basically saying that I did everything wrong and Josh was smart enough to know what not to do. It all started when Josh moved me. We moved each other and as it got rougher, we both got rougher. It wasn’t like I was the only one doing it.”

Honeycutt’s opinion was that Queen had been too aggressive and ran “straight into him”. The winner, however, had his own views on the matter. He added, “I wasn’t going to wreck anybody, and I wasn’t going to wreck Honeycutt, but I felt like when he made it three wide on me he knew what he was getting into there. What was I supposed to do? Just say, ‘Oh you made it three wide and took the lead and now I’m going to just let you win?’ I don’t know. I just… it kind of rubbed me wrong.”

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Brenden Queen hopes to make peace despite Honeycutt’s promise to return the favor

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Talking in his post-race interview from the Southern National Park on Sunday, Kaden Honeycutt voiced his disappointment with the way Queen raced both him and Josh Berry. He claimed that he was one of the “nicest” guys on the field and yet he was always being “used up” by other drivers whenever he ran for the lead towards the end. He told Racing America, “I’m tired of getting run over. I feel like I’m probably one of the nicest people in the field, and I’m done with getting done dirty.” 

Vowing to not sit by when others crashed him in the future, he said, “I promise you, the first person who runs into me is probably going to go head-on into the fence.” Despite his threat, Brenden Queen said on his podcast that he would talk to the youngster and find common ground. Earlier mentioning that they were good friends, he also looked to the future where they could be getting promoted to the higher order of racing together. He trailed, “I’m sure we’ll talk about it and we’re going to race a lot next year and for sure, if we move up through the ranks, we’ll be racing together.”

Read More: “I Don’t Regret Anything”- Thanksgiving Classic Winner Shockingly Rolls Back on Kaden Honeycutt Apology Amidst Southern Nationals Drama

Josh Berry himself wasn’t going to be embroiled in this mix. He was racing in the late model stock race with his new crew chief Rodney Childers in the pit. This race seemed like a test run for the 2024 season. Hopefully, the friction between his contenders, Brenden Queen and Kaden Honeycutt, won’t extend beyond the tracks.