In a vacuum, Cleetus McFarland did exactly what he needed to do in Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway: finish the laps and not destroy his racecar.
The YouTube sensation-turned-race car driver made his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at the one-mile racetrack affectionately known as “The Rock” on Saturday, driving the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing — the organization that Jesse Love brought the title home to last November.
But, as you continue to further add context to the Bradenton, Florida-native’s performance on Saturday, and more specifically, his NASCAR career as a whole, that’s when you begin to lose the plot.
Saturday’s 250-lapper at Rockingham was just the EIGHTH start in a full-bodied stock car for McFarland (his seventh start came just hours earlier in the ARCA Menards Series East event).
So, let’s walk through the process of him getting here:
Before the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series was even on the table, McFarland joined forces with Niece Motorsports to run the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season-opener at Daytona.
To be approved for that race, McFarland needed to run an approval test at Rockingham. In that test, he smacked the wall, causing substantial damage to his truck. But, NASCAR approved him.
On the fifth lap of the season-opener at Daytona, McFarland got loose on the inside lane, spun out, and slammed the inside SAFER Barrier, ending his first NASCAR start before it really even began.
After that, McFarland gets a call from Richard Childress Racing to sign a part-time NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series deal. To run in NASCAR’s second-tier division, McFarland, again, needs to run an approval test at Rockingham. Late in a run, the 30-year-old driver slides and does a half-spin, but NASCAR still approves him.
That brings us to Saturday, where McFarland now gets to make his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Rockingham, with his on-board camera livestreamed on YouTube… which may have had an exclusive broadcasting deal for the highlight reel, the way things went for Cleetus.
McFarland qualified 35th, finished 32nd, and ended up six laps down.
On Lap 3, McFarland made an overaggressive three-wide move into Turn 1 and hit the side of Josh Bilicki’s No. 07, sending him for a half-spin on the apron and costing him time to those he was racing against.
When a caution was displayed at Lap 50 for a spinning Blake Lothian, also making his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut, McFarland, admittedly, didn’t slow down enough and nearly obliterated the side of the No. 55 Chevrolet.
That wasn’t the end of the highlight reel. At Lap 137, McFarland had a run-in with Nathan Byrd, which caused a half-spin. Then, with 50 laps to go, McFarland fully spun exiting Turn 4 to draw a caution flag.
As McFarland was racing on older tires, he had a couple of more incidents, one at Lap 227 with Patrick Staropoli, which Ty Dillon, who was serving as a mentor to the debutant on Saturday, said wasn’t his fault, and another while being lapped at Lap 231.
Yes, he finished the race, but it wasn’t without his fair share of problems.
“That’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” McFarland said after climbing from his No. 33 Tommy’s Express Car Wash Chevrolet. “How many times did I spin out? Four times. But did I ruin anyone’s day besides my own? No, I did not. This is a hell of an opportunity, and I got my ass kicked, but I learned so much, and I made so many mistakes.”
Let’s call a spade a spade here: McFarland finished Saturday’s event, which, for several people, would constitute him exceeding expectations. But, after four half-spins, one full-spin, and a near-miss avoiding an accident that could have been much worse, Cleetus is clearly not prepared to compete at this level.
That’s not a bad thing, though, and doesn’t mean he’s untalented, in the slightest. Cleetus isn’t some random dude off the street that just wants to compete in NASCAR; through the antics on his YouTube channel, he knows speed.
Just hours before running the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at Rockingham, McFarland finished fourth in the ARCA Menards Series East event at the same racetrack, driving for Rette Jones Racing.
Simply, McFarland needs more seat time; whether that comes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series or the ARCA Menards Series. No matter where he gets it, the additional laps will help him to close the experience gap between himself and his competitors.
The drivers that McFarland faced on Saturday have already gone through that period of learning and have been rewarded by getting a drive at NASCAR’s second-highest level.
Richard Childress Racing, with its championship-winning NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program, is an amazing place for McFarland to learn, and Austin Hill and Jesse Love are talented drivers to be able to lean on, but it’s easy to question whether keeping him in the O’Reilly Series — especially with his next race expected to be Talladega — is a good idea.
No matter what anybody believes, though, Cleetus McFarland is a strong asset to the sport of NASCAR and is here to stay, with his millions of subscribers bringing new eyes to the highest level of stock car racing in the United States.
Questionable approvals be damned, McFarland is continuing his quest to the highest level of NASCAR, with aspirations to run in the DAYTONA 500, in honor of his late friend Greg Biffle. And, at the very least, you have to admire his tenacity to tackle a sport as competitive as NASCAR.
