Cleetus McFarland Doesn’t Want to Race in The Cup Series… Yet
What’s Happening? YouTube star Garrett Mitchell, best known to the online world by his persona Cleetus McFarland, recently told Dale Earnhardt…
NASCAR legend Kyle Petty joined the discussion surrounding the promotion of YouTube star Garrett Mitchell, better known as Cleetus McFarland, to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, with the third-generation driver questioning Richard Childress Racing’s decision to bring the 30-year-old on board.
Last week, Richard Childress Racing made the stunning announcement that YouTube personality Cleetus McFarland, whose real name is Garrett Mitchell, would join their ranks on a part-time, developmental contract starting this season with a projected three races in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
While Mitchell is one of the biggest names in NASCAR, his experience so far raised questions about RCR’s intentions and whether or not he was deserving of this spot in NASCAR’s second-highest division.
So far in his racing career, and alongside his time racing Crown Vics and drag racing, the 30-year-old has five career ARCA Menards Series starts and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start on his resume.
Ahead of that lone Truck Series start in the 2026 season opener, Mitchell had a minor crash in his approval test at Rockingham Speedway. Though he still gained NASCAR’s approval to race, after a solid qualifying run, Mitchell’s day ended early when he spun himself out coming off turn four at Daytona, just five laps into the race.
Even if Mitchell has a resume longer than other recent debuting drivers in NASCAR’s three National Series, fans questioned whether or not his online following, one that has brought recently unheard of attention to NASCAR, factored into his approval to race at Daytona.
This question is again resurfacing amid his signing with RCR this past week.
As the debate about Mitchell’s readiness raged on into the weekend, many major names in the sport have chimed in on the matter, including NASCAR legend Kyle Petty, who gave an impassioned take on the matter during the latest episode of NASCAR’s YouTube post-race show, NASCAR Inside the Race.
What’s Happening? YouTube star Garrett Mitchell, best known to the online world by his persona Cleetus McFarland, recently told Dale Earnhardt…
During a post-Phoenix discussion about Mitchell’s promotion, Petty, who had his own experience shooting all the way to the top of NASCAR in the late 70s and early 80s, challenged RCR’s decision to call up the Florida native.
In particular, Petty pointed to Mitchell’s large online following as a factor in the decision, saying:
“All you have to do to be a NASCAR O’Reilly or Truck [driver], to get to that level, is to have your parents buy you a video game when you’re young, so you can learn how to drive on a sim, or have ten million YouTube followers. You don’t have to have any talent. You don’t have to know anything about it. You just have to drive a Crown Vic and have some great races and some great crowds show up for you.” — Kyle Petty
Of course, Petty, who has served in almost every position imaginable in NASCAR, understands the business side of why NASCAR and RCR would like to see Mitchell racing at the highest levels possible.
The 65-year-old even addressed his own quick ascent through the NASCAR ranks, saying, “This is the pot calling the kettle black, let me go ahead and say that. Because when I started, and I was 18, I had no experience.”
Nonetheless, the former third-generation driver said that quick promotions and a flight to the top should not be how it is in NASCAR’s current era, given the routes that drivers can take to work their way up the ladder.
“I just don’t think that in this day and time when we have so many forms of race and so many ways to get here that just because you’re a celebrity or an internet sensation that you should be able to walk through the gates and get in one of these cars. By God, these other guys that are out there have earned their way there. They have put in the hours, they have put in the time, they have done the stuff they needed to do.” — Kyle Petty
Later on in the discussion, Petty suggested divisions like the exhibition NASCAR Classic division as a place for drivers like Mitchell to get their feet wet.
“This is a professional sport, okay,” Petty said. “Let me be real clear here. NASCAR is the top. It’s the top of motorsports. It is the elite.”
This is, of course, despite the fact that Mitchell has already shown skill in the ARCA Menards Series against both amateur and legitimate talent.
Petty even continued to drive home Mitchell’s online celebrity as a major factor in his promotion, comparing him to drivers like Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, whom Petty views as “heroes and superstars,” that “did not make their name by having a million and a half or two million followers on YouTube.”
In what were perhaps his harshest words of all, Petty said that an “internet sensation” had no place racing against the best of the best, even if that is at the sport’s second-highest level.
“Don’t come here if all you are is an internet sensation because you’ve got no place on a racetrack with those guys at the Cup level, and you’ve got really no place with a lot of those guys at the O’Reilly level.” — Kyle Petty
What’s Happening? Garrett Mitchell, better known as Cleetus McFarland, will make his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut next month at…
While Petty’s criticism may be harsh, he does understand the business side of RCR signing Mitchell to this deal, calling it a “good business decision,” as, no matter how he does, the deal will bring more attention to RCR.
The “business side” of this deal is something RCR has not shied away from, as last week, Ty Dillon, grandson of team owner Richard Childress, told Jeff Gluck of The Athletic that he sees this as a chance to bring Mitchell’s fans and RCR’s fans together.
Regardless of RCR’s intentions, there is a clear split in the NASCAR community over Mitchell’s promotion.
In one camp, you have the fans who love the attitude and attention he brings to the sport. Furthermore, he now has the support of RCR, which has extensive developmental tools, and Mitchell is continuing to work on his craft outside of RCR, recently telling Dale Earnhardt Jr of his intentions to race a late model.
On the other hand, there are those who would have liked to see him work at ARCA or the Truck Series a little more before making such a bold jump.
Of course, often overlooked in this debate is that NASCAR has not guaranteed Mitchell an OAP Series race after his April 4 debut at Rockingham Speedway, as his performance that afternoon will dictate his eligibility for his next planned race at Talladega Superspeedway.
What’s Happening? Garrett Mitchell, better known by his online persona Cleetus McFarland, says his 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule…
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