YouTuber and aspiring stock car racer Garrett Mitchell (better known as Cleetus McFarland) has not received approval to compete in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR will still allow McFarland to compete across the schedule in lower series, as well as on certain tracks in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
“I made my O’Reilly debut on Saturday with hopes of getting approval for Talladega, but they did not see enough,” McFarland posted to social media on Tuesday. “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.”
“We’re all huge Cleetus fans,” added NASCAR Executive VP and Chief Racing Development Officer John Probst. “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.”
The first race McFarland completed at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series level came on Saturday at Rockingham Speedway. Driving for Richard Childress Racing, he qualified 35th and finished 32nd. McFarland also competed in the Craftsman Truck Series at Daytona International Speedway for Niece Motorsports, finishing 37th after a solo crash on Lap 5.
Building to the Big Stage
As part of his part-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule with Richard Childress Racing, McFarland was to compete at both Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway. His 2026 schedule with RCR is currently unclear.
“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,” Probst continued. “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.”
Earlier in the day Saturday, McFarland finished fourth in the ARCA Menards Series East race at Rockingham. It marked his first ever top-five finish in a NASCAR-sanctioned event. Previously McFarland has tackled Talladega, Daytona, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Bristol Motor Speedway in the ARCA Menards Series. Before Saturday, his best finish was a ninth-place run at Charlotte.
