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…
iRacing released the latest NASCAR console game, NASCAR 25, on October 14. However, like many games, NASCAR 25 will likely encounter its fair share of bugs and glitches. In turn, the game will receive numerous patches to address these issues.
In the latest update, NASCAR 25 is now allowing users on all platforms to use shapes in their custom online paint schemes. Furthermore, players are able to use all four slots for online, as opposed to just the last slot.
Restarts: Since the game’s release, players have had issues keeping up with AI cars during in-game restarts. Although this issue has been hit or miss for some, it is a significant enough problem to generate frequent online discourse.
Continued Controller Vibration Issues: This issue has been present since the game’s Early Access release on October 10, with some users reporting that they receive little to no controller vibration while playing the game, while others claim to experience excessive feedback from their controller.
XBOX Series S Issues With Fine Graphics: Since the game’s launch, some users on the XBOX Series S have shared videos, like the one below, showing a severe drop-off in graphics. For example, the player in the video below refers to it as “grainy.” Some of these issues have been addressed in patches; however, some users may still experience degraded performance.
Is the game supposed to look like this?
byu/Official_Big_Sexy inNASCARVideoGame
AI Maintaining Position After Wrecking: This issue may be more of an in-game problem than a bug, as after wrecking, both AI racers and Players will maintain their running position at the point of caution, provided they do not pit.
Part-time Drivers Making the Playoffs: This issue has been documented since the game’s Early Access launch. Much like older NASCAR games, NASCAR 25 features many drivers who race in multiple Series. In career mode, these drivers can win their way into the playoffs despite their part-time status.
Career Mode Playoff Cars in Waiting: Upon making the playoffs in Career Mode, cars being built for future races no longer feature the proper race number for that season, as shown below.
January 22
This NASCAR 25 update saw the addition of Portland International Raceway and significant updates to Sonoma to modernize the track’s look. Alongside other minor updates to the game, iRacing also added new numbers to the game’s paint booth.
December 12
Alongside the release of the December DLC pack, NASCAR 25 released a new patch that fixed an error that took away players’ control of the car at the start of races.
November 20
This crucial patch for the PC version of the game adjusts for a fatal error message some users were experiencing when attempting to start up NASCAR 25.
November 19
This small patch adjusted the digital throttle, which some players had claimed could go over at times.
November 18
In their first patch for the PC version of NASCAR 25, iRacing fixed some key launch day issues that users were having. They also notably added a password protection system to the game’s lobbies.
On October 30, NASCAR 25 released a patch that addressed several gameplay issues across the game’s four modes.
This update fixes a crash but also introduces additional options for players. First, the update added the option to copy and paste paint schemes across career mode cars, a true time saver for players. Then, the update gave fans the long-requested ability to change paint schemes when racing in championship mode. Finally, for those looking to use their sim racing wheel, shifter, and pedals, the game now supports H-pattern shifters.
This update fixed a critical glitch that was corrupting game files.
Though it might not have been the biggest patch for NASCAR 25, the October 23 update did fix a well-known issue with the “Series Champion” achievement/trophy, depending on your conosle.
An update released late on October 21 saw NASCAR 25 devs fix an unspecified save error and make adjustments to the part levels at the Cup Series level in career mode. However, both of these changes were seemingly put on the back burner, as two changes affect gameplay in most game modes, including the addition of in-race Tire Pressure and Wedge adjustments, as well as updates to the game’s driver ratings with new data from Racing Insights.
A patch released on October 18 did some minor work to AI, and fixed a few bugs. These included the crashes in multiplayer, save issues in career, and during in-race caution periods. This patch also tweaked several slider and AI on track activities.
October 16
This patch fixed a major issue that players experienced in Career Mode, where, upon completing a double-header weekend at Indianapolis Raceway Park, the game would crash.
This patch also claimed to have “tuned amount of time cars spend completing at-track pit tasks,” while it is unclear what this exactly means, it could entail pit stop times, as some players had complained of the lengthy time spent on pit road in the Cup Series. AI-controlled cars would often spend far less time on pit road doing the same tasks as the player, nullifying the advantage a player might get from smart pit strategy.
This patch worked on issues related to how AI cars burn fuel and how fast their tires wear, something that can affect green flag pitstops, alongside some presentation
The October 15 patch for both Xbox and PS5 users addressed a long-running bug that would crash the game during Custom Repairs in career mode, as well as other crashes, including those occurring in multiplayer and one in Championship mode.
This patch also fixed bugs related to force feedback and addressed some smaller, potentially overlooked issues, such as adjusting the rules surrounding the game’s reset button.
This button would place the player’s cars back on track as a ghost, regardless of their speed, when hit. Now, users must be going below 5 MPH to use this feature. While it was challenging to use this feature to manipulate lap times, some PS5 users noted that it was easy to accidentally reset their car during a race.
The October 14 patch, exclusive for Xbox users, was the largest the game had seen.
Alongside small fixes such as another bug crashing the game while in the paint booth, a fix of the ‘Unlimited Restart Glitch’, the developers also tweaked in-game draft effects.
A key focus of this patch seemed to be online mode, with fixes for entry list issues, the removal of flag rules from event lobbies, a tweak to quit points, and an issue with the ghosting of online players’ cars on road courses.
An October 13 update for PS5 players saw a major overhaul for users playing on a sim racing wheel. Among the additions of new Force Feedback Sliders, iRacing also added a toggle to enable a Centering Spring effect.
iRacing released an Xbox-only patch on October 12, which included various “fixes and enhancements.” These fixes included issues with achievements, online mode crashing, and a significant career mode bug.
The first patch for NASCAR 25 was released shortly after Early Access opened up, and among other fixes, it included some major ones that had been circulating online prior to the patch.
These bugs included the “unlimited restarts,” which would not end the race on the white flag lap, as per NASCAR rules, but rather lined the field up for another restart. This patch also fixed issues with crashes, such as the paint booth glitch that caused some players’ consoles to restart.
Most importantly, this patch resolved issues that players using steering wheels encountered with force feedback on launch night.
Specifically, users of several top brands of Sim Racing wheels reported experiencing little to no force feedback while playing, while others claimed their wheels were not working at all.
This article will be continuously updated with new bugs identified by the NASCAR community, as well as patches and hot fixes from iRacing.
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.
