Brayden Kren Racing

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Congratulations to our 2026
Summer Series Junior Honda Champion
BRAYDEN KREN

RACE RECAP: NASCAR Youth Series at Richmond Raceway

Summary: A heat race win, 2 more National A-mains, 1 more National Podium, and lots of places to improve. We have come a long way, but we are not done.

Junior Honda

Heat: P1 -> P1
A-Main: P4 -> P3

Had a rocket in the heats, we were the car to beat. But neither handler nor driver properly adjusted for the track changes, and just didn't have the speed for the front in the A. Thrilled to land a podium in this field though!

Junior 160

Heat: P5 -> P2
A-Main: P4 -> P6

Again had a rocket in the heats. Again fell flat in the A main. This one was the real disappointment because we felt a lot of optimism going in. But we miscalculated and just could not get the car down the track. Caught some tough breaks losing a chain on some contact under caution, and some calls that didnt go our way. That said, we finished better than we should have, with an incident at the line and a DQ. We probably didn't deserve better than 9th. But again, reflecting on where we were not so long ago, grateful to be in the mix.

We are taking a VERY WELCOME one weekend breather before we head to Dixie Shootout Series at Huntsville.

Raptor Racing Engines
Ultimate QM

RACE RECAP - NASCAR Youth Series at Kalamazoo

Summary: Trekked up to Michigan to catch a national race that was not originally on our calendar. Great time with great race friends. Racing had its ups and downs, as racing does, but Brayden scored another 2nd place finish in an exciting 160 race! He was also leading the race in Honda before getting spun. That national win is so close! Full details below.

Junior Honda

Heat P3 -> Winner
A Main P2 -> P9

Practice was cancelled and B was a little nervous to go green in his first time ever on what many call the most badass QM track in the country. It only took him a couple laps to settle in and adjust. Very impressed with his speed to adapt to a place unlike any other. Car was a rocket in the heat and Brayden won it convincingly, landing straight into the A-main. In the feature the car was a bit off but Brayden had worked his way to the front by mid race, before getting spun from behind by the P2 car. After heading to the back with grass covered tires, driver just couldn’t find his mojo again and we finished P9. Congrats to our best bud Tucker Bertrand Racing on your win driving through the field all the way from the C Main!

Junior 160

Heat P4 -> P2
A Main P5 -> P2

Practice cancellation was tough on handlers too that had never been to this track, lol. Car was not great in the heat but Brayden drove well and made it work to get to P2 from the outside start. Straight to the A-main in this car as well! I think that's our first time putting both cars straight into the A at a national. Baby steps. Car was better in the feature, and Brayden fought hard. The front 4 cars mixing it up for the last 6 laps in a very exciting race. Brayden took the lead with 1 to go but couldn’t quite hold it and finished P2. Congrats Kyle Farrow Racing on your win!

Raptor Racing Engines
Ultimate QM

RACE RECAP: NASCAR Youth Series Battle at the Brickyard (Indianapolis Motor Speedway)

Wow. Proud. Biggest national race of the year. The best kids from all over the country. So many cars. It's a long, brutally hot week packed with racing, and we had honestly considered not going and just taking a breather. But Brayden said he wanted to throw his hat in the ring with the best. So we showed up, and man did Brayden show up. Any of at least the top 20 cars in any class are capable of winning the whole thing. Our goal on arrival was to race our way into one A-main. Well B raced his way into both A-mains, and then turned it up another notch for the features and raced near the front in both cars, finishing P4 in Honda and on the podium with a P2 160!!

We do not have much experience on these types of tracks, and we’ve never excelled on them. We talked a lot about the adjustments Brayden would have to make to his driving style to have success here. It's a big ask of an 8 year old with tens of thousands of laps worth of muscle memory doing things a certain way. But he went out and implemented. Made mistakes. Adjusted again. Rinse, repeat, all race every race. And by the end of the week, he was a different driver.

Congrats to Knox Davidson Racing and Murray Racing Team on your Junior Class wins!

Thanks to everyone who supported us with advice, an encouraging word, or standby presence in the pits. We love y’all.

Ryan Freeman Raptor Racing Engines Ultimate QM Nick Loden Racing C**t James Case James Racing Bertrand Racing Crew Greenfield Racing Cole Williams Racing Little E Racing Jay Marshall Racing

Whoa. Big time catch up post. We raced 5 events in 13 days, so we are a little behind. In the 3 events since our last post, Brayden secured wins in 4 out of 5 races!! Little man is on fire. He is getting better each time we go out, showing confidence, and doing the little things right, which is a lot to say for an 8 year old.

One of those wins was in the Junior 160 Cup Race which is our biggest event of the season in that car, at our home track. Hard racing to the finish with our buddy Lawson Restivo Racing who was smoking fast, but we were able to hold on for the win.

Now we pack up and head to Indy for the biggest national event of the year. Anyone else tired yet??

Thanks to all who support us out there! And thanks Kara C.'s Photography for the awesome snaps!

Raptor Racing Engines
Ultimate QM

RACE RECAP: NCQMA Championship Series #6

Summary: 2 heat race wins. Snagged the feature win in Honda! Also made a crucial mistake in 160 that probably cost us the race. Despite the mistake(s), never gave up. Showed HUGE improvements (finally) on starts, restarts, and overall racecraft. Details below!

Junior 160

Heat: P1 -> P1
Feature: P1 -> P4

Lacked our typical speed overall, but held on for the heat race win. In the feature, was trying to do the same when Brayden got a line violation on a restart 🤬🤬🤬. That moved us back from P1 to P3, and on the ensuing restart we got collected when P1 and P2 got into each other and destroyed the RF. Brayden never stopped though, so no caution was thrown, and when he regained momentum we were almost a lap down with a VERY broken car. But man you wouldn’t have known it, he used the rest of the race to catch the tail of the field and even managed a pass on the last lap. An impressive battle back! Even though it does not excuse the line violation. He promised to not get any more of those this year in an attempt to reduce the number of 4 letter words that come out of Dad’s mouth🤬.

Junior Honda

Heat: P1 -> P1
Feature: P1 -> P1

Won our heat, and started on the pole. Had some real fast cars behind us, stalking us the whole race. Brayden nailed his restarts (of which there were many) and made the zero mistakes required to win this race. In an 11 car A-main, navigated some dense lap traffic with a lot of calm and poise. Very proud of this one.

Car repair day tomorrow, practice/testing Wednesday, and back to compete in the Summer Series on Thursday and Championship Series again on Saturday. Drink a lot of water, folks!

Raptor Racing Engines
Ultimate QM

RACE RECAP: Dixie Shootout Round 4 at New Smyrna

Summary: Not our best work by any means, New Smyrna is a very tough track for both driver and crew. But we made both A-mains and finished well enough to stay in the mix for points. It was a CRAZY day for many, including a lot of our friends, both on and off the track, so we will count our blessings. Details below.

Jr Honda

Heat: P3 -> P3
A-Main: P6 -> P6

This car was SLOW. Ugh. Driver was not happy with Dad and Dad was not happy with Dad. Driver started/restarted poorly, but drove decent enough to take 6th with what was probably a 10th-12th place car.

Jr 160

Heat: P2 -> P2
Feature: P4 -> P4

This car was fast, and Brayden drove well, but the outside starts killed us. Especially in the feature, where we got turned on the first lap trying to get down, and had to work from the back. Spent our fastest laps getting back to 4th, happy with that, but didn’t have anything left to race for the front. We will keep plugging, we just need a 1 or 2 things to go our way in this car and we will find the front at Dixie.

And now, 4 races in the next 11 days at NCQMA (the next 2 Thursdays and the next 2 Saturdays). We are tired just thinking about it, but we want the reps and we need the reps. We will post the live feeds if you want to follow along!

Thanks Jason Reasin Photography for some great shots this weekend!

Welp. That's crap. But we forge ahead. Swapping the cars to New Smyrna to be ready for the following weekend, and heading to FL in the rain anyway. Swapping the race track for Disney this weekend. Am I right, Crew Greenfield Racing, Bertrand Racing, and Knox Davidson Racing??

The bad news is, apparently Disney is terrifyingly expensive. The good news is, it's still cheaper than racing! 😆

🚨We are incredibly sorry to share this update…🚨

Due to the weather forecast for this weekend in Daytona, the Dixie Board has made the very difficult and unfortunate decision to postpone the race. This is not a decision we take lightly, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment this causes for our racers, teams, and families.

Our number one goal is to provide the best event possible, and with the incoming weather, we felt this was the only way to ensure a safe and high-quality experience for everyone involved.

The event will now be moved to our scheduled Dixie Shootout rain date:
📅 September 18–20, 2026
✅ The event schedule will remain the same.

We completely understand that this is far from ideal, and we truly appreciate your patience, understanding, and continued support as we work to make this event the best it can be.

Registration Details:

If you are already registered, no action is needed—your registration will carry over.
Registration will reopen for any additional participants who wish to join.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out:
📧 [email protected]

Again, we sincerely apologize and thank you all for sticking with us.

RACE RECAP: Doubleheader Championship Series #4 & #5

Summary: New JUNIOR HONDA TRACK RECORD for Brayden, with an absolutely BLAZING lap in qualifying! Extremely pumped about that with all the time we put into our setups and line. Fast qualifier for all four of our races, but punished by the invert and could “only” turn it into one win on the day. Overall happy with our results given our starting spots and how difficult the track was and how fast our competitors were. Details below!

Junior 160 Race 1:

Qual: P1
Feature: P5 -> P2

Brayden worked from the back on this one and did really well. The car we gave him was fast, but it was too tight and did not want to turn down the track. Passes were difficult but he fought his way to second, but ultimately didn’t have anything for our best buddy Lawson Restivo Racing who has been improving every week, and was an absolute speed demon in this race, earning his first competitive class Win at NCQMA. Congratulations, Lawson, you earned it!

Junior Honda Race 1:

Qual: P1
Feature: P5 -> P3

Our starts and restarts in this car are….terrible. I think that is the right word, lol. Got moved to the outside before the start, and due to another terrible start, again essentially started in the back of a full field. Track tightened up and we didn’t adjust enough from our qualifying run, so while we had some speed and hustled back to 3rd, between the car being too tight and B struggling on restarts, 3rd was the best we could do and we will take it! Congrats to Mac MBMC Racing on his first competitive class win (and first of 2 on the day!!). As Brayden is working on his sportsmanship when he does not perform as well as he would like, one of our brightest moments of the day was B taking an extra lap after the finish so he could drive by Mac and give him a couple celebratory fist pumps

Junior 160 Race 2

Qual: P1
Feature: P4 -> P1

Again starting outside, again fell to the back on the start, and then went to work. Again car didn’t want to turn, but driver adjusted and managed to muscle it up to the front and take the checkers in this one! It felt good, and gave us some confidence going into the final race of this long, hot day.

Junior Honda Race 2

Qual: P1
Feature: P4 -> P4

The finish doesn’t tell the story here. We FINALLY had our first good car since qualifying. It was a rocket. Unfortunately, early in the race Brayden locked up the brakes to avoid an incident in front of him and spun and got t-boned and destroyed the whole front end of the car. Of the 8 things that were bent or broken, we had time to fix only one in the pits (thanks Henry Albright Racing and Little E Racing among others for all your help, without it we’d still be in the pits). I told him the car was perfect and sent him back and out told him to drive to the front. Well, he drove it to 4th and that is a damn miracle once we saw the extent of the damage after the race and the fact that the steering wheel wouldn’t even turn. I am still a bit mystified about how he did it, but we have never been more proud of a 4th place finish, and Brayden continuing to show perseverance which is something that did not come naturally to him earlier in his racing career.

Back to the highlight of the day real quick, and Brayden’s new track record. Huge thank you to Raptor Racing Engines and Ryan Freeman for building us rocket engines, and also building confidence in our driver. Also to Ultimate QM for building us these incredibly fast and safe X-wing chassis, and for fielding our incessant and annoying questions. Lastly, on that same note, no one fields more incessant or annoying questions from us than Case James Racingand C**t James. A genuine thank you for your patience with us over the last 4 years while we learn, and always making time for us no matter how busy you are.

Thanks ymphotography25 for capturing Mom handing out the checkers to our racer.

Next up, Dixie Shootout Series at the famed Daytona International Speedway