Cleetus McFarland is Terrified to Race in the NASCAR Cup Series

What’s Happening?

Despite no set plans to race in NASCAR’s top division in the near future, YouTuber Cleetus McFarland said he is terrified at the thought of racing in the NASCAR Cup Series during a recent interview.

🗣️ "Now that I'm in this, I don't want to race cup at all."

Cleetus McFarland described the change of heart he's had after getting a taste of #NASCAR racing.

😱 "It's terrifying to me."

Full Interview→ https://t.co/MKhd9eLpQA pic.twitter.com/4QJLvI6SXk

— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) April 1, 2026

This weekend, YouTube star turned NASCAR driver Garrett Mitchell, who goes by the name Cleetus McFarland, will make his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut, a crucial step in his rapid advancement through NASCAR’s developmental ladder.

While Mitchell is flying through NASCAR’s ranks with just five ARCA Menards Series starts and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start under his belt, the 30-year-old still has no real goals with his part-time racing efforts.

Though he has expressed interest in racing in the Daytona 500 down the line, during a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR radio, Mitchell confessed that his experience at different levels of NASCAR makes the thought of racing in the Cup Series “terrifying.”

“Now that I’m in this, I don’t want to race Cup at all. That’s terrifying to me. The gap between my skill and those guys’ is massive.” — Cleetus McFarland

Nonetheless, the Richard Childress Racing developmental driver did note that he enjoys ARCA.

Will Cleetus Ever Race in the Cup Series?

Since his signing with RCR in early March, Mitchell has often said that he takes these opportunities as they come.

For example, it was his friend Travis Pastrana who first approached him about making his Craftsman Truck Series debut with Niece Motorsports at Daytona in February, and Ty Dillon, the grandson of Richard Childress, who brought him into RCR.

Time and time again, Mitchell has been asked about his interest in racing full-time or racing in the Cup Series.

In fact, during the first episode of his new podcast Bald Eagles, Mitchell spoke about his interest in racing full-time, saying he can’t get “roped” into it given its effect on his content creation, but it would be hard to turn down a full-time offer.

“We were talking the other day about how we cannot get roped into doing this full-time. I don’t know what I would do if Richard Childress called me and said, ‘I need you to run full-time in 2027.’ That’d be a hard phone call to turn down.
That would be hard for me.” — Cleetus McFarland

Mitchell spoke with a similar tone during his appearance on The Dale Jr Download about racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, saying that he has no interest in racing at the Cup Series level right now, but, if the right offer came along, “What am I supposed to do?”

“A lot of people have joined and immediately tried to just climb to Cup. I don’t want to drive a Cup car right now. But, brother, if someone calls me and says, ‘We got a spot in a Cup car in the Daytona 500?’ I mean, what am I supposed to do?” — Cleetus McFarland

Nonetheless, it seems that the offers have yet to roll and, if they should, and Mitchell accepts, it will likely spark a hearty debate amongst the NASCAR community.

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