Cleetus McFarland’s 2025 NASCAR Racing Schedule
What’s Happening? Garrett Mitchell, better known by the screen name Cleetus McFarland, has been one of the key storylines of the…
In his recent sit-down interview with Kevin Harvick, Garrett Mitchell, better known by his YouTube name Cleetus McFarland, once again called out fellow inexperienced drivers who he claims “shove their way into Cup.” While his introduction to NASCAR has been a learning curve, Mitchell is still not ruling out a future Daytona 500 attempt.
Garrett Mitchell’s conversion from a drag-racing/automotive YouTuber into an ARCA Menards Series driver has been one of the best stories of the 2025 NASCAR season.
Now, two races into his career, with at least one more start on the way, many, including Sports analyst and former NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kevin Harvick, are wondering what the end goal of Mitchell’s ARCA efforts is.
In this week’s guest interview on Kevin Harvick‘s Happy Hour Podcast, the now FOX Sports analyst asked Mitchell, “Where does this budding ARCA career head from here?“
In his response, Mitchell discussed his inexperience in NASCAR and addressed something he has talked about on several occasions: Telling Harvick, “You [Harvick] and I have both watched several people shove their way into Cup and look like fools.”
McFarland has previously made similar comments on other podcasts, telling a tale similar to Corey LaJoie on the Apr. 3 edition of Stacking Pennies.
“Like, we see it time and time again where some motorsports person with some pull—whatever they had, previous wins or. . . power and fame or whatever—they get a ride in Cup, and they just get humiliated because you can’t hang with these guys.” — Garrett Mitchell.
Mitchell’s comments recall veteran drivers who made lackluster NASCAR Cup Series debuts in 2025, like open-wheelers Katherine Legge and Hélio Castroneves. While he does not name them by name, these are two of the most recent examples of outsiders floundering at the Cup level.
Mitchell also told LaJoie and his co-host Ryan “Skip” Flores in that episode that he’d rather take development slowly, I’m just gonna run ARCA until I feel ready to go run Xfinity,” Mitchell said. “And then when I feel ready to run Cup, I’m gonna run Cup or [a] Truck.”
While he has often talked about his original goal being to race in the 2027 Daytona 500, Mitchell, who made his ARCA debut at 29, is honest that ARCA has been an eye-opening experience. While he is not ruling out the 2027 Great American Race, that might still be too early.
“Our original goal was the Daytona 500 2027. And I’m not saying that’s off the board, but now that I know just a smidge about NASCAR, I still think that might be too early. Cause them guys are on a whole other level.” — Garrett Mitchell
Mitchell finished tenth in his Talladega debut last Saturday with Rette Jones Racing despite mechanical issues. His next ARCA race will be on Sept. 11 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
What’s Happening? Garrett Mitchell, better known by the screen name Cleetus McFarland, has been one of the key storylines of the…
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
