While he may not be cleared to compete in superspeedway races in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, Garrett Mitchell, more commonly known as Cleetus McFarland, has long been granted permission to do so in the Craftsman Truck Series.
And he's set to take full advantage of that this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway behind the wheel of the No. 4 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet.
McFarland made his NASCAR debut in that truck in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway back in February and wrecked out early. He did not return to the Truck Series until the June race at Michigan International Speedway, which he finished in a career-high 25th place.
Between those two races, he made his O'Reilly Series debut with Richard Childress Racing at Rockingham Speedway in April and finished 32nd, before returning in May and placing 35th at Nashville Superspeedway.
Cleetus McFarland set for first NASCAR start in over four months
Friday's race at the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked oval in Lincoln, Alabama is set to be his final NASCAR national series race of the year, and Niece Motorsports do not currently have plans to run the No. 4 Chevrolet in either one of the season's final two races at Martinsville Speedway or Homestead-Miami Speedway.
While he doesn't have any more O'Reilly Series starts lined up for the 2026 season either, his deal with Richard Childress Racing is a multi-year deal, and it would not be surprising to see him make more than two starts next year in the hopes of being approved to run superspeedway races before the 2027 season concludes.
Mitchell has spent a good amount of his 2026 season competing in ARCA, with four starts in the main ARCA Menards Series and another one in ARCA Menards Series East, all for Rette Jones Racing. His top finish in the former is a runner-up finish at Talladega, while his lone finish in the latter is a fourth place effort at Rockingham.
Friday's Love's RV Stop 225 is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from NASCAR's largest oval!
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