Cleetus McFarland Did Not Gain Superspeedway Approval After Talladega Run

What’s Happening?

A NASCAR executive says Cleetus McFarland’s second-place finish in the ARCA Menards Series race at Talladega did not earn him approval to race on larger tracks in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

This past weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, the story of the weekend (at least until Carson Hocevar broke through for his first win) was YouTube star Cleetus McFarland’s near win in the ARCA Menards Series race.

That race saw McFarland, whose real name is Garrett Mitchell, narrowly miss out on the win, finishing a close second to series veteran Andy Jankowiak.

To many fans, this run was a justification of Mitchell’s place in the top divisions of racing.

Just a few weeks prior to this race, NASCAR denied Mitchell clearance to race in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Talladega, citing a lack of on-track time as the reason for the decision.

Given his great finish this past weekend, some are now asking if Mitchell may have earned this approval, a theory that NASCAR Managing Director for Racing Communications Mike Forde shot down during the latest episode of Hauler Talk.

What’s Next for Cleetus?

During this episode, Forde cleared the air on what the next steps for Mitchell are going forward. As of press time, Mitchell has already announced his second OAP Series race of the season at the less-than-1.5-mile track Nashville Superspeedway.

Forde says that after Nashville, given the approval of the approval committee, Mitchell would then need to show what he has on intermediate tracks, though there is a world where the 31-year-old is approved for all tracks after Nashville.

“Depending on how he does then, the driver approval committee will meet and discuss if he’s ready for the next step. So the next step then would be an intermediate, so 1.5-2 mile tracks. There is a chance that he could be granted approval for the whole kit and caboodle, Superspeedways in that. But, more to come on that one.” — Mike Forde

Though Mitchell does have experience on 1.5-mile tracks, with two starts in the ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR would like to see him compete in the OAP Series at this level at least once before approving him for Superspeedways.

Of course, that doesn’t mean if he shows drastic improvement at Nashville over his lone start in the NASCAR OAP Series at Rockingham, that NASCAR wouldn’t allow him to race at all tracks.

“It would be a pretty high hurdle to clear, because the next step, as I said, would be intermediates,” Forde said. “So if he does outstanding in Nashville, I imagine that he would be approved for 1.5, but there is a scenario where we feel comfortable enough that he could do everything.”

Upon signing with Richard Childress Racing in March, Mitchell said that his deal is for three races a season. Though there always could be more, this implies that he has at least one race left on his 2026 season.

While it is a high mark to meet, there are two more NASCAR OAP Series races at superspeedways this season, meaning Mitchell could find his way to Daytona or Talladega before the year is over.

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