NASCAR Pumps The Brakes On Cleetus McFarland’s Talladega Ambitions

NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black's Tire – Practice

ROCKINGHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - APRIL 03: Cleetus McFarland, driver of the #33 Tommy's Express Car wash Chevrolet, looks on during practice for the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black's Tire at Rockingham Speedway on April 03, 2026 in Rockingham, North Carolina. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

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The upward trajectory in NASCAR of Garrett Mitchell has hit a bit of a roadblock. For those who have not been paying attention, Mitchell is best known as “Cleetus McFarland” to his millions of YouTube subscribers. Cleetus is his redneck alter ego, a character who built a following based on someone with no shirt sleeves, driving obnoxiously loud cars, who seems to scream ‘Mercia (cue the Bald Eagle cry here).

He’s made a living by doing such things as turning a former oval track in Florida into the Freedom Factory USA where he stages races that feature ancient Crown Victoria’s and mullets waving in the humid breeze. This in addition to such events as the Florida Man Games. It’s led to a brand funded by YouTube ad revenue, attracting young fans who cheer on all the antics.

This all seemed to give Garrett Mitchell aka Cleetus, an idea that he wanted to race an actual stock car on a real track. He tried his hand at the lowest level, in the ARCA Menards series, which is owned by NASCAR. Debuting last season, he complied a respectable record in that series, scoring two top 10 finishes one of those a 10th place at Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR’s biggest and fastest track, and a Redneck version of the Vatican in the heart of Alabama: prime habitat for Cleetus McFarland fans. After testing a NASCAR Truck at Rockingham Speedway, he entered the season opening NASCAR Truck series race at Daytona in February. He started 12th but was swept up in a crash on lap 5 and finished 37th.

Early last month, Mitchell and Richard Childress Racing announced a deal to enter him in the next level above the Truck Series, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, in a one-off appearance that would mark his debut during that series’ return to Rockingham Speedway.

The finish this past Saturday wasn’t one to frame and hang above the mantel. There was a positive start to the weekend as in Friday’s ARCA East race at Rockingham, he held his own and wheeled his way to a top five finish of fourth.

But Saturday proved to be a new day, in more ways than one. He started 35th and the highlight, depending on your appetite for chaos, came on Lap 206 when his RCR Chevy got loose, and went for a spin down then up, the track nearly wiping out a sizable portion of the field. He would finish 32nd six laps down.

Mitchell had already talked about returning to Talladega, perhaps later this month, this time in an O’Reilly Auto Parts series car, maybe again fielded by Richard Childress Racing.

Well, it seems NASCAR has said “hold that thought.” You see, NASCAR is built on rules, specifications, level playing fields, and—crucially—making sure a driver is ready before turning them loose in a faster car at its fastest track in a higher series. On Tuesday, officials announced they will not approve Garrett Mitchell, aka Cleetus McFarland, for clearance to race at Talladega in the O’Reilly Series.

“We're all huge Cleetus fans.,” NASCAR senior VP and chief racing development officer John Probst said. “We all watch his videos and are certainly very appreciative of everything he's done in our sport and will continue to do in our sport. He is approved right now for O'Reilly Series short tracks, which means he's good for all of ARCA, all of truck, and then O'Reilly up through the short tracks. We'd like to see more out of Cleetus in the short tracks. So we're not saying no, but there is more that we would like to see out of Cleetus before we would approve him for Talladega.”

For his part, Mitchell responded, naturally, on his YouTube channel admitting that perhaps his O’Reilly debut last weekend at Rockingham may have left a little bit to be desired.

“They did not see enough,” he said. “Granted, it was a pretty hectic race. I tried to pass someone three-wide on the third lap, spun out, spun out a few more times … didn’t crash or crash anybody but still … it was pretty hectic.”

While there is little doubt NASCAR would love to welcome the fanbase Cleetus McFarland brings to the sport, the truth is he has been racing in NASCAR for less than a year, and so far, only made two starts in the top touring series. That doesn’t sit well with some who view him as little more than a social media influencer, one using that platform, and the money that comes with it, to gain a foothold while others with far more experience are still waiting for a break and perhaps a winning Powerball ticket.

For now, at least, if Cleetus McFarland wants to race against NASCAR’s biggest stars at Talladega Superspeedway, he will have to cling to the memory of gathering together NASCAR drivers Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece, and Chris Buescher to run modified nitrous-boosted Ford Crown Victoria police interceptors at Talladega a few weeks ago. That nearly 160 mph parade made for good YouTube content but won’t get him into the O’Rielly Series field at Talladega, at least in the foreseeable future.

“We figured we would try,” he said in the video. “We didn’t get approved. It is what it is. I need more windshield time, regardless of whether it’s in an O’Reily car, ARCA car or Truck. More windshield never isn’t going to hurt. I have a lot to learn guys.”

This article was originally published on Forbes.com