UPDATE: Cleetus McFarland Will Race in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series This Year
What’s Happening? YouTube star-turned-NASCAR driver Garrett Mitchell, best known by his online persona Cleetus McFarland, has signed a part-time deal to…
This year, NASCAR is doing something a little bit different. As opposed to staging most of their night races on Saturdays, they are hosting these races on Sunday. Bristol Dirt, the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, Nashville, Atlanta, and Darlington are all night races being held on Sunday.
Does the change from Saturday to Sunday night racing work? Well, let’s take a look and see how they work to this point.
Over the last couple of years, NASCAR has begun to run more races on Sunday nights. Last year, it was just the Bristol Dirt Race and the All-Star Race at Texas. How have these races compared in the TV ratings?
In 2022, Bristol Dirt brought in 4.007 million viewers on FOX, which was ranked 6th out of the 11 Cup Series races on big network during the FOX schedule last year. It was one of only six races during the FOX window that broke 4.0 million viewers. The All-Star Race at Texas pulled in 2.481 million viewers on FS1, which was around 600,000 viewers more than the only Saturday night race during the FS1 schedule at Martinsville.
How about 2023? Well, Bristol Dirt once again ranked sixth out of all FOX network races with 3.45 million viewers. Nashville, the new Sunday night race, pulled in 3.211 million viewers on NBC, which beat out only two other network races, Circuit of the Americas and Sonoma, which are both road courses. North Wilkesboro, on FS1 only beat out Gateway, which was hampered by weather issues.
Based on ratings, night races generally seem to carry mixed results. However, based on ratings, if NASCAR wants to race at night, Sunday seems to be what the ratings dictate. Is the potential dip in ratings worth it based on these other factors.
Night races have one major benefit, particularly during the summertime, and that is cooler temperatures. Instead of a fan sitting in the heat of summer during the middle of the day, a night race can allow the race to be in more comfortable conditions for the fans at the track. That does come with a detractor.
If rain potentially comes in and delays the race, there are two problems. One, NASCAR has less time to work with for rain to delay a race for a race to finish at a reasonable time. Secondly, is a race is on a Sunday, fans cannot stay out too late if they have work the next day.
Speaking of work, if rain postpones a Sunday night race, it moves the race to Monday, and now more fans absolutely cannot come. One of the benefits of Saturday night racing is the extra day on Sunday just in case the race is postponed.
One of the things Sunday night Cup racing does, however, is that it allows more fans to stay for the full weekend. As opposed to a Truck Series race on Thursday night, it can be held on a Friday night. More fans can come to that race and the rest of the races over the weekend. While if the Cup race was on Saturday, that is much tougher to do.
While Sunday night racing benefits TV ratings, does it benefit the fan experience at the track? That is very much up for debate.
However, the major question mark is how the fans feel. That is tough to totally know, but here are some comments on social media about Sunday night racing.
Jason wants more races on Sunday nights.
Tammy Boltz enjoys a race at a time like Nashville.
Devon liked the Sunday night race.
jimbojones did not like it.
Christa O did not like it.
It seems that there are people on both sides of this issue on social media. It’s tough to gauge a general consensus from a few social media comments, but it seems that there are people that like it.
Sunday night racing is a relatively new thing in NASCAR, and it seems that there are benefits to it, but also some detractors. It’s hard to tell if the right thing to do is put night races on Saturday or Sunday, but it does seem pretty obvious that the TV numbers seem to be better on Sunday compared to Saturday.
Overall, night racing has a place in motorsports. Is Sunday the best day for it, well, a case can be made for our against.
Garrett Mitchell, better known by his online persona Cleetus McFarland, says his 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule isn’t set in stone, something the YouTube star explained to Dale Earnhardt Jr on the latest episode of The Dale Jr Download.
One of the biggest surprises in recent NASCAR news is that YouTube star Cleetus McFarland, whose real name is Garrett Mitchell, will make his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut next month at Rockingham Speedway.
Mitchell, who has just won a NASCAR National Series start to his name, will make this start with Richard Childress Racing in their No. 33 car as part of a part-time development contract that will see him make starts in 2026 and 2027.
Per Mitchell, his contract will cover three races per season, though he hinted it could be more in a Facebook post. Nonetheless, fans are eagerly awaiting an official schedule of what other tracks Mitchell and RCR will tackle in 2026.
Unfortunately, fans will have to wait a little longer for this schedule, as the 30-year-old Floridian explained during a recent interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr, his 2026 schedule is still up in the air a month ahead of his first race.
During an interview on the latest episode of the Dale Jr Download, Mitchell told Earnhardt that while he plans to race the superspeedways after Rockingham, with his sights set on Talladega’s April 25 or October 24 race weekend, the decision lies in the hands of NASCAR.
“NASCAR said I cannot run Talladega unless I go to Rockingham first and do well,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell then clarified that while he will have a rookie test for Rockingham, the race at Rockingham will determine his eligibility to race at Talladega.
What’s Happening? YouTube star-turned-NASCAR driver Garrett Mitchell, best known by his online persona Cleetus McFarland, has signed a part-time deal to…
Mitchell, who has two ARCA starts at Daytona and one at Talladega, has already taken a rookie test this season at Rockingham for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Despite a minor crash during this test, Mitchell was cleared to race in the season-opening race at Daytona, crashing himself in a single truck spin five laps into the race, after a valiant qualifying effort.
Even with the barrier of Rockingham in the way, fans are already somewhat concerned about McFarland’s skills, given the result of his short time behind the wheel of a truck.
During this episode of The DJD, Mitchell expressed his intentions to work his way up the ladder and learn, but with the caveat that if an opportunity presents itself to him, he will take it, using the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Cup Series as a metaphorical example.
“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
Despite his doubters, with the support of RCR and their developmental tools, Mitchell seems confident about the opportunity, already getting in some sim time with RCR.
Either way, no matter how much support he has in his corner, Mitchell is diving in headfirst once again with this opportunity.
What’s Happening? Despite his internet fame, Garrett Mitchell, by his screen name Cleetus McFarland, has recently taken to stock car racing…
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.
Lionel has officially opened pre-orders for Garrett Mitchell’s (better known as Cleetus McFarland) first-ever NASCAR diecast.
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.
YouTube star-turned-NASCAR driver Garrett Mitchell, best known by his online persona Cleetus McFarland, has signed a part-time deal to race with Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for the next two seasons.
UPDATE 3:00 PM EST: Per RCR Mitchell will make his debut at Rockingham Speedway on April 4.
What’s Happening? Despite his internet fame, Garrett Mitchell, by his screen name Cleetus McFarland, has recently taken to stock car racing…
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.
