Cleetus McFarland's NASCAR venture could already be destined to fail

Garrett Mitchell, more commonly known as Cleetus McFarland, has dabbled in NASCAR for the past couple of years, growing an appreciation for the sport thanks to his late friend, Greg Biffle.

But just because you have an appreciation for the sport and want to get behind the wheel doesn't mean you are ready to go out and race in the Daytona 500, which seems to be his ultimate goal.

Like other drivers in recent memory with a big social media following, he might be destined to fail.

Rushing to the top could end badly

The YouTuber has a massive following, and with that following, he has built a brand for himself, which brings more eyeballs to anything he dabbles in.

But there is a lot working against him. He made a handful of ARCA Menards Series starts in 2025, plus a couple more so far this season, but that isn't nearly enough track time to justify climbing the ranks. Let's not forget his failure of a start in the season-opening NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona.

Mitchell has a lot of fans and can certainly bring in more viewers, but at some point, someone has to step in and get it through to him that he needs to take his time. He was recently able to make his O'Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Rockingham Speedway, a smaller track ideal for letting him get in some reps.

Cleetus had hopes that his series debut would lead to a chance to race at Talladega Superspeedway later this month. But NASCAR put a halt to that dream.

The Athletic's Jeff Gluck reported that Cleetus has not been approved for the upcoming Talladega O'Reilly Series race.

McFarland is still approved for short track races in the series, but he needs to get more reps before he is allowed to take to the bigger tracks, even those like this weekend's 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway.

That seems like the smart approach. In fact, Cleetus might want to go a step further and go back down to the ARCA Menards Series to run as many races as possible first. He has proven that he is starting to figure that car out, specifically with a fourth place finish in the ARCA Menards Series East race at Rockingham.

History isn't on his side

McFarland clearly isn't going anywhere, but history certainly isn't on his side right now. They are a few notable examples you can look to in recent history, where things haven't worked out for drivers whose huge social media followings have played a role in their NASCAR stints.

Natalie Decker has been a massive social media figure for years, but she has also put herself in a vulnerable spot when she's gotten the opportunity to race in the Truck Series and O'Reilly Series.

If you want another great example, look at how much praise Hailee Deegan was getting as she was climbing the ranks.

It appeared that she was on the right path, racing a couple seasons in ARCA and showing growth. The eventually led to her being bumped up to the Truck Series. But that's where things started to fizzle out. Despite running 69 races and recording only five top 10 finishes, she was once again moved up to the O'Reilly Series. She was out of her full-time ride halfway into her rookie season.

Deegan turned her attention elsewhere, trying her hand at open-wheel racing in 2025, but her rookie Indy NXT season didn't go well either. Just as she did in the O'Reilly Series, she failed to finish a single race in the top 10.

She still appears to have the stock car racing bug, as she's currently back in ARCA Menards Series West full-time. She's third in the standings through three races this season.

At the end of the day, Cleetus is trying to rush to the very top of NASCAR, and as we've seen when other past popular drivers have done the same, it doesn't seem to end too well. You can throw Danica Patrick into the conversation as well. She brought eyes and sponsorship, but she was rushed to the Cup level and only posted seven top 10 finishes in five years.

Can Cleetus avoid a similar fate?

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