Cleetus McFarland Undergoes Multi-Hour NASCAR Test

What’s Happening?

YouTube star turned NASCAR driver Cleetus McFarland says he recently undertook several hours of on-track testing ahead of his upcoming NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut.

Earlier this month, Garrett Mitchell, who most know by his persona Cleetus McFarland, an automotive YouTuber with over four million subscribers, announced his signing with Richard Childress Racing.

This developmental deal with RCR will see Mitchell race in at least three NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races over the next two seasons in RCR’s No. 33 car, beginning with his series debut next month.

Though this is a major step for Mitchell, many fans and industry members have taken issue with NASCAR approving the inexperienced NASCAR National Series driver to race at the second-highest level of the sport.

Furthermore, his debut race has also drawn criticism as the 30-year-old will tackle Rockingham Speedway, one of the most challenging tracks on the NASCAR OAP Series schedule.

Nonetheless, Mitchell, who has five career ARCA Menards Series starts and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start under his belt, has remained committed to working towards his goal of racing.

Though Mitchell plans to do his own work to prep for this new level of racing, such as buying a late model, most of his prep time will come with RCR, which is giving Mitchell valuable tools, such as sim time, to get ready for the Rock.

This week, Mitchell took another vital step in preparation for this race, sharing on Instagram that he and the No. 33 team spent 10 hours at The Rock testing ahead of his debut.

In a post to his Facebook, Mitchell shared that during that time, the team went through five sets of tires, and his car came out with no scratches, perhaps a reference to his Truck Series approval test at The Rock, in which he wrecked.

While this is just a few hours on track, it is still more seat time than other recent OAP Series debuts have had in a car before going racing. But the challenge of finishing the race without controversy still lies ahead of Mitchell.

What’s Cleetus’ Goal in NASCAR?

Since making his NASCAR debut last season in the ARCA Menards Series, Mitchell has not set a firm goal for his racing career, though there is a continued theme throughout all his conversations.

Mitchell has stated on a repeated basis that he would like to race in the Daytona 500 one day, a goal he and his late mentor, NASCAR legend Greg Biffle, discussed during the 2025 ARCA season.

In pursuing this goal, Mitchell is focusing on superspeedways and other fast race tracks like Daytona, Michigan, and Talladega.

But, to race in the OAP Series at Talladega, his next scheduled spot, his first race at Rockingham, must be good enough to receive the green light from NASCAR.

As of press time, neither Mitchell nor RCR has announced their third planned start of 2026.

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