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…
The 16-driver Playoff field is now set, and the first round will decide which four drivers will be the first to be eliminated. The first round features the venues of Darlington, Kansas, and Bristol. Which drivers are the four who could be eliminated following these first four races?
Michael McDowell has been one of the great stories of the regular season, but, unfortunately for him, this first round does not fit him or his team well. McDowell and Front Row Motorsports both thrive specifically at superspeedways and road courses. They tend to struggle at the intermediate race tracks, specifically the high-horsepower ones.
On intermediates this year, McDowell has only one top-10 finish, which came at Gateway. He finished 26th in the spring race at Kansas and 33rd in the spring race at Darlington. If the Round of 12 schedule was used in the Round of 16, McDowell could sneak through, but, the first round does not have great tracks for McDowell and his team.
Bristol is a track that he has had some success at, however, with a solid 11th-place run there last September. If he can tread water through the first two races, then he can maybe sneak his way in on points at Bristol.
Stenhouse has had the benefit of a stress-free regular season after winning the Daytona 500 back in February. Since then, he has had the best season of his career, but, is it enough to get him into the Round of 12? The intermediate tracks have not been bad for Stenhouse, but he only recorded one top-10 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
Bristol is the third race of the round, and he has been awful there in recent years. Since August of 2018, Stenhouse has finished outside of the top 30 in five out of eight races with only one top-10 finish. One bad finish like that with no win would easily be enough to do him in if he only runs okay at the first two tracks.
The key for Stenhouse will be to put an entire race together on the intermediate tracks. He also can look to his past at Bristol for some confidence as he recorded six top-10s and four top-5s in his first 11 starts at the track. It will be challenging, but it’s far from an impossible task.
Kevin Harvick is in his swan song season, but he has failed to win a race with only one stage win. The issue here is the competition that Harvick is going up against. Is he going to be able to overcome the drivers like Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick?
Given the struggles of Stewart-Haas Racing so far this year, that is a big ask. Harvick has been a solid driver this season, overall. However, the competition is very tough in NASCAR, and he just happens to be the guy who is stuck behind others.
With that in mind, all it takes is just one major slip-up in front of him to make a run. If someone like Ryan Joey Logano has a bad race, then Harvick has the pedigree to show he will pounce. He can do it, but he has to have the right people struggling as well to make sure he can make it.
This may come as a surprise to some, however, take a moment to consider Bubba Wallace. Wallace had top-5 finishes at both Kansas and Darlington this spring, and he won at Kansas last fall. If Wallace runs the way he is capable of at these two tracks, someone currently in the top 12 is going to be left out.
In the last 11 races this season, Blaney has three top-10 finishes, but they were all ninth place. Is that going to be good enough? Also, he has five finishes of 30th or worse in that stretch.
If that stretch continues, Blaney will be in trouble, especially with how tight the Playoff field is. Harvick is far from a sure-fire cut in round one as well, and, while Ross Chastain has struggled recently as well, he always runs well at intermediates. Blaney did get his only win of the year at an intermediate track, but, can he recreate that?
Honorable Mentions: Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, and Ross Chastain
If anything has been learned about the Playoffs over the last few seasons, it’s that anything can happen. The Playoff field is so tight that it takes only one slip-up for almost any driver to fall into significant trouble. Will these four drivers be the ones eliminated post-Bristol?
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.
