Garret Mitchell, better known as Cleetus McFarland, has brought new attention to NASCAR and the ARCA Menards Series. A deep dive into the numbers shows that Mitchell is bringing new eyes to the sport and his own brand as well.
While YouTuber Garret Mitchell’s time in NASCAR has been brief, the manner in which the sport props the 30-year-old car enthusiast up has obviously drawn its fair share of haters.
NASCAR fans, often timid about allowing outsiders into their circle, have wondered if NASCAR only cares for the attention brought by Mitchell, who has a massive 4.29 million subscribers on his channel, Cleetus McFarland. Yet, when Mitchell ran his first ARCA Menards Series race at Daytona in February, the sport itself welcomed him with open arms.
NASCAR even collaborated with Mitchell to create a live in-car camera that would be on YouTube during the race. Even after he crashed early on, Mitchell was perhaps the first ARCA driver to hop in the FOX booth post-wreck to talk about his experience.
However, with his appearance at Talladega last weekend, the talk of the town was once again the attention he brought alongside him, including multiple collaborations with NASCAR Media, all hoping to gain from his inclusion in their productions.
After Daytona, fans had dubbed his presence “the Cleetus McFarland Effect,” but just how strong has his impact been, and could his ARCA efforts help both himself and NASCAR? Let’s take a look at the numbers behind the “Cleetus McFarland Effect.”
During his short debut in the ARCA Menards Series Ride the ‘dente 200, Mitchell’s in-car camera on the NASCAR YouTube Channel exploded and, at press time, sits at 780,159 views. But his true effect would not be seen till days after the race when news broke that the race scored 1.160 million viewers, the most-watched ARCA Daytona race since 2013.
This bump in viewership was partially thanks to the race’s slot on “Big FOX,” which was given to the series prior to McFarland or even Hélio Castroneves entering the race. However, McFarland’s impact was clear, as clips of his now infamous quote of “Rippin’ around Daytona like a bald eagle” even circulated outside normal NASCAR circles.
According to Social Blade, by the end of February, the NASCAR YouTube channel had jumped from January’s 1.330 million subscribers to 1.380 million. This means that after roughly gaining 10,000 to 30,000 new subscribers a month in 2024, the sport dropped to 50,000 from January to February.
Some could say there is little correlation to the “Cleetus McFarland Effect” present in these numbers. Still, during his second race at Talladega this past weekend, the NASCAR YouTube channel again leaped, gaining roughly 20,000 subscribers that Saturday.
Once again, his live in-car camera on the NASCAR YouTube Channel had over 70,000 viewers at one point. This alone is good news for NASCAR, as getting new eyes on the product is great, but the question remains: is Mitchell seeing any gains from NASCAR’s viewers?
Mitchell’s gains are clear via his YouTube stats as well.
During his ARCA Menards Series debut, Mitchell’s pre-race uploads, “The Start of my NASCAR Career” and “NASCAR Put Me On Probation, Here’s Why,” garnered 1.8 and 2 million views apiece, respectively. While a massive number, this is typical for the Cleetus McFarland YouTube Channel.
Even his latest ARCA video, “Talladega ARCA 200 – Insane Finish With a Broken Engine! (we got LUCKY),” currently has just 1.3 million views. But his non-racing videos, in which he collabs with Dale Earnhardt Jr., have set the bar. His video at Talladega with Earnhardt, titled “Dale Jr. Drives the Dale Truck! (blew his mind), scored 2.1 million views and has only been up for a little over two weeks.
Another video titled Meeting Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Touring his Race Shop, after his appearance on the Dale Jr. Download and uploaded to his secondary channel, Cleetus2 McFarland, is the channel’s ninth most watched video, at 1.1 million views.
The true magnitude of Mitchell’s growth since January is seen in his subscriber count.
According to Social Blade, in January, the month in which ARCA tested at Daytona, he gained 60,000 subscribers; in February, 80,000 subscribers; and in April, Mitchell added another 60,000 subscribers. Mitchell ended January with 4.110 million subscribers and is currently at 4.29 million, which is not bad for a few months.
Obviously, NASCAR and Mitchell have both seen some impressive gains in attention since the start of this indirect symbiotic relationship. This growth has spilled over beyond these two and into the broader NASCAR landscape.
We have already talked about the bump in viewership for NASCAR on FOX and the views his video has gained on social media, but what about the rest of the NASCAR media scene?
Mitchell has appeared on numerous NASCAR podcasts at this point. His interview on Corey LaJoie’s Stacking Pennies is currently the show’s second-most-watched episode on YouTube.
Mitchell’s recent interview with Kevin Harvick on FOX Sports’ Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour from May 1 is already the podcast’s most-watched episode on YouTube, with over 350k views.
Mitchell has even topped the charts on perhaps the most popular NASCAR YouTube Channel, as his post-Daytona interview on the Dale Jr Download is the most viewed full-length episode on the Dirty Mo Media YouTube Channel and the third most watched video overall at 1.8 million views.
Whether fans like it or not, Mitchell’s time in NASCAR is drawing numbers and attention for the driver, the sport, and NASCAR media. As he continues his journey through NASCAR, these numbers may only continue to grow.
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