Following a brief stint in the ARCA Menards Series with Rette Jones Racing in 2025, Cleetus McFarland was given the opportunity to make his NASCAR national series debut in the 2026 Craftsman Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway with Niece Motorsports.
While he crashed out of that race early, he was later able to land a multi-race deal to compete with Richard Childress Racing in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, starting with the April race at Rockingham Speedway. He also competed at Nashville Superspeedway in May before making an additional Truck Series start at Michigan International Speedway in June.
But McFarland, whose real name is Garrett Mitchell, will not be the only RCR driver to make his NASCAR national series debut in 2026.
Carson Brown set for NASCAR debut at Iowa
Carson Brown, who signed with Richard Childress' team as a development driver in November 2025, is set to compete in this weekend's O'Reilly Series race at Iowa Speedway, less than one month after turning 18 years old.
Brown has driven in six ARCA Menards Series races this year and finished in the top three in each one. He also runs full-time in the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour and the ASA STARS National Tour. He has earned four wins and two runner-up finishes in six races in the latter.
But despite being an RCR development driver, Brown's national series debut will not come in an RCR car. He is set to drive the No. 32 Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing, which Rajah Caruth most recently drove at Indianapolis Motor Speedway two weekends ago. Brown is set to become the car's sixth different driver in 2026.
Given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of the No. 8-turned-No. 33 Chevrolet at Richard Childress' Cup team following the death of two-time champion Kyle Busch, perhaps this weekend's race could be the start of a path to the Cup Series for the New London, North Carolina native.
The RCR O'Reilly Series team is set to have two vacant seats for the 2027 season, with Jesse Love having been called up to Wood Brothers Racing's Cup team to replace Josh Berry and Austin Hill likely to become the full-time driver of the No. 33 car next year. Hill has driven that car in each race since Busch's passing while continuing to compete full-time in the O'Reilly Series.
The Hy-Vee PERKS 250 is set to be broadcast live on the CW Network from Iowa Speedway starting at 5:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, August 8. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action from the Newton, Iowa short track!
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