Okay, so maybe former NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps was on to something.
The criticism of Richard Childress as a “stupid redneck” was an inappropriate way to talk about one of the sport’s most iconic owners, that’s not up for dispute. But if he started at something more respectful like “financially irresponsible,” he might have gotten more people on board.
On Wednesday, Richard Childress Racing announced Garrett Mitchell, more commonly known as Cleetus McFarland, as the driver of a part-time entry, the No. 33 Chevy, for the Rockingham Speedway race on April 4 and several more races during the 2026 and 2027 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts seasons.
Mitchell’s resume includes six Stadium Super Truck starts, five ARCA Menards Series starts and one last-place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Daytona International Speedway in which he only completed five laps.
Cleetus McFarland Joins RCR O’Reilly Program
That’s all. No decades-long career in another discipline of racing like Katherine Legge or Helio Castroneves had before NASCAR let them step into their top divisions. He’s got something that trumps any time he could spend in a car.
YouTube subscribers.
He has 4.65 million to be (somewhat) exact, and they show out when he’s on the race track. A livestream of his in-car camera during an ARCA race can bring in more viewers – more than most races from the series get on television. It’s a steal for that series to have him in the field every week in terms of exposure.
It was also a steal for Joey Gase Motorsports to get Natalie Decker, who has dozens of NASCAR starts and a healthy social media following to boot, to drive the No. 35 at Daytona … right into an already wrecked Sam Mayer … well after the caution flag had come out.
The fallout to the crash by Decker at Daytona – and Mitchell’s solo spin just five laps into his Trucks start – led to a discussion that went beyond the drivers involved and an outright debate on how NASCAR allows drivers to compete at certain levels.
The best proposed solution came from two former drivers themselves, Landon Cassill and Parker Kligerman on ‘The Money Lap’ podcast. An adoption of, essentially, the licensing system for iRacing where both where you finish and how you race determines whether or not you move up the ranks of NASCAR. If you take Cassill’s word, it’s not as far-fetched as it seems.
“I don’t entirely understand why NASCAR hasn’t implemented something like this, I know people at NASCAR that want to implement something like this,” Cassill said. “Drivers should want it.”
So if NASCAR’s discussed it and it would benefit drivers, what’s stopping NASCAR from making it a reality?
“I think that teams are a silent blocker, final boss blocker, of this,” Cassill said. “It would make the teams accountable for the drivers they have to hire and it would limit their pool.”
A nightmare scenario. A team having to shoulder responsibility for putting a driver out of their depths into a 3400-pound stock car that can go 200 mph. How would they survive?
Jokes aside, it might be a genuine concern for a small team like Joey Gase Motorsports to have to turn away a hefty sponsor offer that could change the trajectory of their operation if NASCAR deemed the driver providing it is not equipped to run the series.
Is Childress, fielder of two full-time Cup Series teams, two full-time NOAPS teams, an engine shop that works with many Chevy teams throughout the sport, a co-owner of a Professional Bull Riders team and owner of a vineyard, in that same spot?
Is it impossible to say ‘no’ to a driver with a sponsor? Is RCR a foreign entity to motorsports YouTube viewers that Mitchell will be introducing his audience to? Is O’Reilly, the only series on free-to-air TV every single week, just not getting the exposure they need?
Regardless of how you feel about any party, does any of this decision make sense?
This column, up until the time of the announcement Wednesday, was about the trials and tribulations of Corey Day, the NOAPS rookie for Hendrick Motorsports who is already turning heads – and not in a good way – three races into his first full-time season. While it may not be a great mystery or make any of those he’s had run-ins with feel better, the explanation for his struggles are fairly simple.
The accomplished 20-year-old dirt phenom scouted by Kyle Larson clearly has talent, but his need for experience to hone his race craft on asphalt is apparent. While it makes sense to get him as much experience as possible in a series that races 33 times this year, he’s certainly not at the level most of his competition is in terms of race craft. In retrospect, it probably suited him best to stick to a part-time schedule in O’Reilly while going full-time in ARCA or Trucks.
2-Headed Monster: Is Corey Day Too Aggressive on the Racetrack?
If the argument can be made for Day, it can certainly be made for Mitchell. And this is not a knock on him as an individual. From all accounts, Mitchell is a fantastic human being. He’s been wildly entertaining anytime he appears in the sport.
Like his friend Greg Biffle received in both life and his tragic passing this past December, Mitchell’s efforts to provide relief after Hurricane deserves respect and recognition. Not just for what he provided to those in need, but showed the how racing can lead to humanitarianism and the betterment of others besides providing entertainment on the weekends.
And maybe the best quality of Mitchell is he feels like a representative of one of us. His unbridled joy at running even just a few laps at Daytona is charming and relatable. Of course if he gets a call from Childress to drive a car he’s going to say yes. We all would too.
But with credibility a concern for years in regards to how races are won and how a champion is crowned in NASCAR, who drives the cars should alert folks in a similar way. There’s plenty of examples throughout the sport of drivers fighting above their weight because of connections or sponsorship money, but it must be asked.
Where is the line where teams and NASCAR are willing to say no? If the line isn’t Mitchell … you think I could get a ride?
i don’t know….this long time race fan (since 1960’s) finds mitchell to be a shot in the arm. why all the focus on the truck race at daytona?? that was the first race he ran in a truck…..completely different monster than a car. his arca races have been good for a rookie. grant it he’s not 18 yrs old playing with daddy or grandpa’s money. he’s bringing life back to something that definitely needs some jumpstarting. he’ll go do the sponsor stuff and people will crowd in just cause it’s him. give the guy a break. he might surprise us and be a lot better than the current driver in the #3 cup car.
Agree. Plus the “Biff “being his mentor last year and everything that has happened since, seeing “Cleetus” kind of warms my heart.
seeing what those two did when helene hit western nc mountains. they rallied the troops and were there helping those people while our government was still trying to decide what to do.
I’ve never understood why the restrictor plate tracks are where all the noobs and one race wonders go to run (outside of the “road course ringers”). I think Garrett would have been better off starting at, say, Martinsville, Phoenix or Iowa, etc…
I was thinking that too. It seems the most dangerous tracks are where these guys are allowed to race. Doesn’t make sense.
If his presents doesn’t move the TV Viewership needle it will still be rationalized as a good idea. Where does “growing the sport” trump the sport itself? This is like George Plimpton in Paper Lion, except that was a practice. Nascar is desperate to grow the coveted younger demographic and everything to date has failed. So all the owners are willing to take the risk of having their cars wadded up because a popular personality to the younger demographic is in a race. OK. What’s next? None of the women since Janet Guthrie have been worth a damn…Maybe put a supermodel in or better yet, Oprah. Where does this end?
So now we’re all Gaga over a freaking YouTube “ star”??
How low have we sunk…really???
Sure he’s a nice guy , etc. but he’s not a qualified race car driver, certainly for a Cup , or O Riley car. Get some real experience, not just a handful of lower series starts, and not even close to winning. Oh but he’s got a zillion goof balls on YouTube…ooohhhhh.
I’m not impressed, nor should I be.
You have to wonder what all the other drivers in the lower series who are working their butts off to move up the ladder think, to have this guy just jump in a ride with no experience simply because he has a following. Makes no sense to me and I hope nobody gets hurt or has a career ending injury (or worse) because of this.
Great article James, and I agree with all of your points.
As for whether you could also get a ride, if you can find 4.5 million YouTube subscribers, you absolutely can. Your driving resume, or lack thereof, has no bearing upon this. They’d probably let you drive blindfolded, if you so chose. Just bring a following.
I don’t begrudge Mitchell any of this. As you noted, nearly anyone would take these opportunities if they presented themselves. I certainly would. He seems to be a shrewd businessperson who has found a way to live an amazing life thanks to his alter ego, which completely masks a bright human being. Ironically, if he chose to show his true intelligence, I doubt he’d have nearly as large a following.
I do take issue with the insistence by everyone involved to refer to him as “Cleetus McFarland” in all on air discussions, as well as on screen graphics. It’s idiotic. And before anyone tries to get this point twisted, there’s a big difference in someone using a nickname vs. a cultivated persona akin to an acting role.
Who knows, maybe someone like Ross Chastain will begin insisting upon being referred to as Stroker Ace in the weeks to come, complete with a fake alternate personality. It’s really no different.
Best drivers in the world…good luck convincing anyone of that with this nonsense taking place.
It almost certainly will result in a short term ratings bump, but long term, it seems a losing venture for NASCAR. If the likely scenario plays out and he is an embarrassment, questions will be asked as to why he was there in the first place.
If the unlikely scenario plays out and he performs quite well, questions will be asked about how someone with very little racing experience managed to hold their own in NASCAR’s second highest national series, and what this says about the other drivers in NASCAR.
ross chastain is referred to as melon man
I get that, but only in passing reference, given his family’s history. It’s not being used as though it’s his real name, nor on graphics indicating the race standings.
They treat Mitchell as though his real name is “Cleetus McFarland”. It’s silly.
Does Frankie Muniz drive under the name “Malcom”? lol I get where you’re coming from.
When has anyone on FrontStretch ever said anything positive about anyone? Oh wait you have said Dale Jr. is the greatest race car driver in history. Then it was Harrison Burton, then Jeb Burton took over. Then that title fell onto Conor Zilisch only to be quickly taken away and regifted to the now true greatest driver of all time Mini Tyrrell. Awesome that all of these drivers are considered to be better than Mario, AJ, Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton…BTW, how can Jr. be the GOAT when he wasn’t even the best in his own family? Oh yeah, and please ask the clowns that have said Marty Robbins has hundreds of NASCAR wins to show some proof. Afterall even Mike Joy was called out and had to admit he has only raced in SCCA parking lot time trials and was NOT the “Terror of NE Modifieds “, in fact has NEVER even sat in one.
I’ve been seeing a lot of heat displayed to Natalie Decker about her crash at Daytona. But I don’t hear a peep about the 7 car not slowing down and plowing into the 22 car this weekend at Phoenix? Did anyone ask why he didn’t slow down? It sure looked like he had plenty of time from where he came from. Yet there’s no backlash towards him. Double standard?