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…
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has made it no secret that he wants to go Cup racing at some point in the future. Many have made the connection to Spire Motorsports, and both parties even provided some insight as to where next years plans currently sit. Before we analyze what Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Spire had to say about their future, what is the connection, if any, between Spire Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Jr.?
There is no direct connection between the two teams, but there are some auxiliary connections that the two share. Mainly, both teams currently have ties to Hendrick Motorsports.
For a while, JR Motorsports functioned as the Hendrick Motorsports B-Team. Chase Elliott and William Byron both came through the pipeline via JR Motorsports, and they both are running well in the Cup Series nowadays.
Now that Hendrick Motorsports has their Cup Series lineup pretty well set, guys such as Tyler Reddick, Josh Berry, and Noah Gragson have found their way into the Cup Series with different teams. However, Berry, Gragson, and longtime JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier have run in the Cup Series for Hendrick via substitute roles.
Spire Motorsports has a Hendrick Motorsports connection in the Craftsman Truck Series. The last two seasons, Hendrick has provided support via both drivers and sponsorship to Spire Motorsports Truck Series team. Spire also loaned Corey LaJoie to Hendrick for the Gateway race to fill-in for Chase Elliott while he was suspended.
There’s no direct connection, but these two teams do have mutual business relationships. Carson Hocevar is also an auxiliary connection, with him running one race in Cup and a few in Xfinity for Spire, and with him being rumored to go to JRM at the end of the year, that connection is there.
The problem with all of this is that this is obviously anecdotal evidence. There is no real connection between the two teams. So, what have they had to say about their futures?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. talked to Sirius XM NASCAR Radio about the future of JRM in the Cup Series, noting that there has been “zero movement” in that direction. He reiterated his desire to go Cup Series racing, but only if it works out both financially, and with the ability to run the team in the way that he wants.
Earnhardt Jr. did add that he is okay with partnering with another team, but only under certain conditions.
Me and Kelley I think would be more interested in a partnership of some kind to get us to that level, and there’s opportunities there, but they haven’t felt just right. Another key component for me and JR Motorsports is that we want to manage the team. We don’t want to slap our name on a current product or a current organization that have their own shop and all that, we don’t wanna do that. We wanna run the team out of our building and manage the decisions on personnel and all of those things.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt Jr. and his team have very specific guidelines for how he wants to move up to the Cup Series. He wants to control how the team is run. Despite their desire to partner with someone, they want to have legitimate control over the organization, and Earnhardt Jr. obviously does not want to be relegated to just a figurehead.
This seems to put a large damper on any rumors of Spire and JRM teaming up in some form. Would Spire be willing to uproot everything they have built and realistically become a secondary partner to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team? That’s probably the sacrifice they would have to make in order for this partnership to work, and they even provided some insight of their own to the future.
Dalton Hopkins of Frontstretch recently caught up with Jeff Dickerson of Spire Motorsports following the Atlanta race. In it, Dickerson discussed the plans Spire Motorsports for 2024 and beyond.
Dickerson even gave some insight into how they are viewing partnerships and expanding their race team. He said this one simple phrase to that.
We’re not looking to sell, we’re looking to acquire.
Jeff Dickerson
That’s a pretty strong statement that Spire Motorsports wants to do more than just be absorbed by another team and uproot what they have already done like Trackhouse did to Chip Ganassi. They want to expand themselves.
Does that close every door to partnering with another team? Not necessarily, but it does close the door to partnering in the way that JR Motorsports wants to enter into the Cup Series. The mutual interest just is not there for both teams.
There seems to be nothing to these rumors of JRM and Spire Motorsports publicly. The partnership, at least from the outside, just would not make any sense to either side. Both want to build using their brand and their people, so, why would they put themselves in a position to sign each other given their current status as race teams?
BeefinGR says that JRM in Cup is not something that could happen in the future.
hunter73x says that he does not feel JR to Cup is going to happen in the near future.
crypto6g says that Spire to Andretti is more likely.
How can JRM find their way into the Cup Series? If Spire is not an option, then it seems they may need to play the waiting game.
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.
