Garrett Mitchell (Cleetus McFarland) was not approved by NASCAR to compete in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, McFarland announced on his Instagram April 7.
NASCAR’s Executive Vice president and Chief Racing Development Officer John Probst confirmed it on the Hauler Talk podcast.
“We’re all huge Cleetus fans,” 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.”
McFarland made his O’Reilly debut last weekend at Rockingham Speedway, finishing 32nd.
He also debuted in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway this year, but crashed out around lap 5 and finished 37th.
In the ARCA Menards Series, McFarland has made five starts, earning a pair of top 10s last year. Additionally, he finished fourth at Rockingham in the ARCA Menards Series East event.
In his Instagram post, McFarland said: “Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to hear from me first that I have been denied by NASCAR to run Talladega in my O’Reilly’s car. Made my O’Reilly’s debut last Saturday with hopes of getting approval for Talladega, but they did not see enough. 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, didn’t crash anybody, but still it was pretty hectic.
“Nonetheless, NASCAR has said ‘we’re gonna need to see you run more ARCA and more Trucks.’ I’m fully approved for Trucks, which I have some of those on my schedule coming up, but in O’Reilly’s I am still limited to short tracks.
“All-in-all, this opportunity landed about two months ago, and we came up with the idea of running in a Superspeedway. It’s not like we’ve been planning this for a year, and I’ve only been racing NASCAR for one year, so it was never my mission to go out and climb in an O’Reilly’s car and get to the top as fast as I can. But we figured we’d try, and we didn’t get approved.
“It is what it is. I need more windshield time, regardless of whether it’s in an O’Reilly’s car, an ARCA car or a Truck, more windshield time is gonna help me. I’ve got a lot to learn. This isn’t as much of a step back or a push down as it seems. Little bit of a kick in the nuts, but I just got to get out there in the other cars, do as much learning as possible, and then hopefully I’ll get to run Daytona, Talladega next year.”
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.
This was the right move for nascar garrett mitchell did not go through a development series like alot of others like jade adevisidian and isabella robusto, they have not even got an opportunity in trucks yet
Whoa.
This makes…all the sense in the world! Something logical happened. I feel like we are now in Bizarro World.
Good on NASCAR for protecting the O’Reilly drivers, and preserving a morsel of credibility. Could not have been an easy decision, given the likely PR fallout with the YouTube faithful.
Still think it would be wise of NASCAR to set specific metrics one must achieve to run specific series/tracks, both to protect drivers, and avoid no-win decisions like this one. I’m sure many of Mitchell’s followers will be upset with this decision, despite it being an obvious one to make. Remove 99% of the gray area, but keep a final approval in your pocket for after metrics are met, in case of odd situations.
Bizarro world, indeed! But I agree, and not only for the safety of the other drivers, but Garrett too. He can get more seat time and if he proves to be capable he can always run the series later. Right now, he needs more time in ARCA, and then he should spend time in the trucks before moving up any further.
As is nearly always the case, we agree. This decision is in Mitchell’s best interest as well. He’s not ready for this level of competition, and could just as easily injure himself as one of his competitors. Maybe he’ll develop the skill someday, though he’s pretty old to be just learning the ropes.
Those who love him often think I hate the guy, but that’s not true. I don’t like some of the stereotyping of Southerners he does, but I also recognize that while unflattering, he’s not off the mark. And his YouTube stuff can be engaging, sort of like a redneck version of Top Gear, which I always loved.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. I don’t begrudge Mitchell any of this. It was/is a dream opportunity for him, and tables turned, I’m certain I would have taken it as well, consequences and optics be damned. Otherwise, it’s the sort of thing one would go to their grave wondering “what might have been”. Whether he earned it or not is irrelevant. He had the opportunity, and few in his shoes would have said “nah, put somebody more deserving in the car”.
The fault in letting it get beyond ARCA lies with NASCAR and RCR. Again, small silver lining in all this is it shows quite definitively O’Reilly drivers are highly skilled, and not just anyone can jump in a car and be competitive. I was beginning to wonder whether this was really true.
He needs more windshield time, he can wash my windshield 6 times a day.
Explain to the world how a freaking “YouTuber” with no experience gets a license to even walk out onto a NASCAR track?
This entire scenario is insane.
NASCAR must have the mental capacity of its hero in the White House to even give this guy a second thought.
FYI: A ‘cool’ Southern name should not be part of the equation!
I’m sure you loved Biden who was definitely brain dead. Letting a flood of illegal scum was such a grand idea
so can he run the arca race at ‘dega? if i remember he’s previously ran arca at that track.
I believe that is the case. It’s just the O’Reilly series (and obviously Cup) he is not cleared to run. I would assume he might even be able to run a truck at ‘Dega since he was previously approved there? Not sure if NASCAR might consider rescinding that based on his previous attempt there + the race at Rockingham.
Jeez, they even have Nascar calling him Cletus instead of his real name. The lack of professionalism in this whole situation is bonkers.