The ARCA Menards Series was at the Daytona International Speedway last week for its annual pre-season test. The two-day event featured as many as 80 drivers, and most of them were regulars. However, one name stood out from the rest. It belonged to the popular YouTuber Garrett Mitchell, aka Cleetus McFarland.
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Mitchell had a successful test session behind the wheel of the No. 30M Rette Jones Racing Ford Mustang and recently confirmed that he will be driving in the ARCA Menards season-opener in February. Rette Jones Racing is one of the best cars that a driver can rent, proving that the YouTuber is taking his debut pretty seriously.
However, this isn’t the first time that he has been involved in competitive racing. He is well known in drag racing circles for his body-less Chevrolet Corvette that he calls ‘Leroy’. He has started several races in the Stadium Super Truck series owned by Robby Gordon and came close to reaching victory lane once in Long Beach, California.
Mitchell participates in ‘Cleetus and Cars’ events across the country and holds a good amount of drag racing experience under his belt. He recently raced in Greg Biffle’s Triple B 100, a dirt race that uses Ford Crown Victorias. He is also known for purchasing the Desoto Speedway in Florida and renaming it to Freedom Factory.
The 29-year-old revealed the news of his NASCAR debut on Facebook, “Well folks, I was trying to keep it a secret but word spreads fast… we’re going NASCAR RACIN!!! February 15th I’ll be racing at Daytona in the #30 Kenetik Energy Gen 5 ARCA Mustang.” The content creator is pretty hyped about the achievement, with good reason.
NEWS: Garrett Mitchell (Cleetus McFarland) announces on Facebook that he’ll compete in the ARCA Menards Series season-opener at Daytona, driving the No. 30 Kenetik Ford Mustang for @RetteJones30.#ARCA pic.twitter.com/UtURcyhZTp
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) January 16, 2025
He is also an amateur helicopter and airplane pilot alongside his other credentials and was hailed a lot for his search and rescue efforts in Western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Mitchell partnered with NASCAR icon Biffle in this and piloted his personal helicopter to provide supplies.
His journey on YouTube began in 2008 around the same time that he joined the car media company 1320Video as a social media manager. Eventually, he quit his job to pursue a full-time career managing his own channel and adopted the moniker ‘Cleetus McFarland’. People rarely use his real name today.
His Chevrolet Corvette ‘Leroy’ had a major fan following on social media for the records that it set and the trophies that it won. It led to him building another race car out of a Chevrolet El Camino and naming it ‘Mullet’. Meanwhile, this next chapter that will take him to NASCAR racing is highly anticipated by a large online crowd.
