During the broadcast for Saturday’s (June 7) NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway, FOX Sports appeared to have leaked some information regarding one of its newest, but biggest stars.
YouTube-star-turned-racecar-driver Garrett Mitchell, more famously known as Cleetus McFarland, had been rumored to be moving up to Trucks next year. The Sports Business Journal reported on June 1 that Mitchell could be part of Stellantis’ Ram brand reintroduction to the series.
More momentum built up when the official X account of Ram Trucks posted a video showing a truck doing a burnout with June 8, 2025, in the caption.
A taste of what’s coming. 06.08.25. #donutday pic.twitter.com/Ee1Ji94gc9
— Ram Trucks (@RamTrucks) June 6, 2025
That post was displayed during FOX’s broadcast of the Truck race Saturday, while broadcaster Jamie Little made subtle hints at what the announcement could be. Then color commentator and former driver Michael Waltrip made an announcement of his own.
“You know what I’d like to announce?” Waltrip said. “Cleetus McFarland is going Truck racing. He’s gonna zig and zag, fly like a bald eagle.”
Regan Smith, who was serving as the other color commentator for the race, was then asked by Little what his thoughts were.
“Well, certainly anything we can do to have more manufacturers in the sport would be great,” Smith replied. “And we’ll have to see what they were getting at with the truck they were showing there.”
— (TC) 𝕏 RaceCats & ChocolateMilk ツ (@KC_TC6) June 7, 2025
No official announcement has come from Ram or Mitchell. As mentioned, however, Ram will have some sort of announcement on Sunday, June 8, though the truck manufacturer has not confirmed it is about a return to NASCAR.
As for Mitchell, while Waltrip did say he would be racing in the Trucks, he didn’t specify that it would be with Ram. It’s also unknown what team he would be with and whether he would be part time or full time.
This season is Mitchell’s first in NASCAR competition, competing in three ARCA Menards Series races so far with two top 10s to show for it. Thanks to his over 4 million YouTube subscribers, he has brought more eyeballs to that series. His driving has impressed the likes of former drivers Greg Biffle and Max Papis.
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020.
Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.