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…
Some paint schemes are used multiple times and become iconic, while others are one-off schemes that are never used again. What are some NASCAR paint schemes that will never be seen again? These are not bad schemes, just schemes that will not be used again.
In 2016 at Auto Club Speedway, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran promotional schemes from DC Comics promoting the brand new Batman V Superman movie. How did he schemes run? Well, let’s just say the critics probably enjoyed the schemes more than the movie itself.
Johnson took home his second win of the season by beating fellow California native Kevin Harvick on an overtime restart. Earnhardt Jr. came home a decent 11th. So, maybe the schemes received mixed reviews just like the movie.
With advertising of tobacco products now illegal, any tobacco related paint schemes are never going to be run again. The most iconic tobacco related paint scheme was run by Harry Gant between 1981 and 1994. Gant won 18 races in the scheme during his 14 seasons running it.
In 1991, Gant had his most iconic moment in the scheme. He won four races in a row in the September of 1991, cementing the nickname “Mr. September”. The final win coming in a damaged race car at Martinsville.
2016 was not Johnson’s first movie-themed scheme victory. He also ran a movie scheme in 2012 at his best track, Dover Motor Speedway. Johnson led 289 laps en route to the win by 2.5 seconds over Kevin Harvick.
This scheme is best remembered, however, for Johnson’s victory lane. Where in conjunction with the movie, Johnson wore a rainbow afro in the victory lane photographs. Typically a clean-cut guy, it was kind of cool to see Johnson in this type of goofy light.
In 2012, Jeff Gordon ran a special paint scheme in the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami. This was to commemorate his 20 years with DuPont as his sponsor. It was the final time DuPont was on a race car before it became Axalta in 2013.Gordon made sure DuPont went out with a bang.
He and crew chief Alan Gustafson played some great pit strategy to take the lead with 20 laps to go. This was also a week after Gordon’s run-in with Clint Bowyer at Phoenix, and guess who ran second. Clint Bowyer ran second in that race.
Another movie scheme, Kyle Busch ran a paint job promoting Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for the Darlington race in 2008. On a newly paved race track, Busch had a chaotic day as people normally do at Darlington.
In the end, Busch led 169 of 367 laps en route to a win. It was one of eight wins that Busch had during the first 22 races of the 2008 season.
Okay, we may need to put an asterisk next to this one with how many Batman movies DC is attempting. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had one of his best moments in this special Dark Knight scheme in 2012 at Michigan.
Earnhardt Jr. had not won since the same race at Michigan in June of 2008. This year, he would lead 95 laps and comfortably win over Tony Stewart by 5.4 seconds. The second win for Earnhardt Jr. for Hendrick Motorsports.
These are some rare schemes in NASCAR history that will never happen again. These types of schemes have also had plenty of great moments as well, and maybe we will see more of these as the season goes on.
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.
