SST alum Garrett “Cleetus McFarland” Mitchell to make ARCA debut at Daytona

Garrett Mitchell, better known as Cleetus McFarland, will be the latest person to dabble in both the Stadium Super Trucks and stock car racing. After testing at Daytona International Speedway last weekend, he confirmed in a video posted Wednesday that he has been approved to compete in the ARCA Menards Series’ season opener there.

He will drive the #30 Ford Mustang for Rette Jones Racing. During his first time in the car at testing, he set the 15th fastest time among the 70 drivers who took part across both days. McFarland split time with Kyle Steckly in the #30, the latter ranking second on Friday.

Longtime NASCAR veteran Greg Biffle, who competed in SST between 2018 and 2021, helped organize the test. The two are good friends who flew helicopters in North Carolina to provide Hurricane Helene relief last fall.

“I’ve always had the dream of racing the Daytona 500,” McFarland begins in the video. “I told my buddy Greg Biffle that and he said, ‘Brother, I can make that happen.’

“You can’t just start with the top dogs in the Cup Series, you got to start down in the ARCA Series which is where you get comfortable, you get out, you prove yourself as a driver before you can even take a look at racing in the Daytona 500.”

McFarland is one of the most prominent automotive YouTubers today: his main YouTube channel boasts over four million subscribers, while he also has a second channel with 653 thousand subs. While content creation is his forte, he has dabbled in competitive racing from time to time, especially at his Freedom Factory short track in Florida.

In 2022, he competed in the Bristol Dirt Nationals before stepping up to run much of the Stadium Super Trucks schedule. McFarland nearly won in his SST debut weekend at Long Beach when he was leading the second race, only to get sideways off the last ramp and overcorrect, sending him into the wall.

He returned to SST at Nashville, where he was taken out by two more crashes in both days including one that sent him onto his roof. The 2022 season ended at Bristol Motor Speedway in support of McFarland’s Bristol 1000; other YouTubers also took part in the SST weekend. McFarland scored a third-place finish in Race #2, his most recent start in SST to date.

Zoey Edenholm, who has been racing the trucks since 2020 and competed alongside McFarland in 2022, was the last SST driver to try out ARCA when she took part in 2023 testing at Daytona. Before either of them, Jett Noland raced in SST in 2020 and 2021 before trying out ARCA and the NASCAR Truck Series.

“I’ve always had a dream of doing something like this at Daytona,” said McFarland. “What I wanted it to be in my brain, it’s that and better. It’s so cool. I can’t describe the feeling. It feels insane. You think, ‘Maybe it’s not as crazy in the car,’ it’s as crazy.”

Biffle, who scored his maiden Cup Series win at Daytona in 2003, told him back, “You just wish you can give everyone a ride and show them. You can’t explain it.”

ARCA testing results

DriverNumberDriverTeamManufacturerTimeSpeedDayMargin
170AAmber BalcaenNitro MotorsportsToyota49.102183.292ThursdayLeader
215Chase PinsonneaultVenturini MotorsportsToyota49.226182.83Thursday0.124
33MWillie MullinsMullins RacingFord49.227182.826Thursday0.125
420Lawless AlanVenturini MotorsportsToyota49.229182.819Thursday0.127
525Jake FinchVenturini MotorsportsToyota49.236182.793Thursday0.134
655RIsabella RobustoVenturini MotorsportsToyota49.26182.704Thursday0.158
773JAndy JankowiakKLAS MotorsportsFord49.283182.619Thursday0.181
83PBrad PerezMullins RacingChevrolet49.308182.526Thursday0.206
973AVincent ArthurKLAS MotorsportsFord49.493181.844Thursday0.391
1076Kole RazAM RacingFord49.536181.686Thursday0.434
117Jeff ScofieldScofield RacingChevrolet49.554181.62Thursday0.452
1297JJason KitzmillerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet49.613181.404Thursday0.511
1323LKatherine LeggeSPSChevrolet49.619181.382Thursday0.517
144DDale QuarterleyQuarterley RacingChevrolet49.63181.342Friday0.528
1530MGarrett MitchellRette-Jones RacingFord49.64181.305Thursday0.538
166Lavar ScottRev RacingChevrolet49.65181.269Thursday0.548
1746MThad MoffittNitro MotorsportsToyota49.671181.192Thursday0.569
1830SKyle StecklyRette-Jones RacingFord49.829180.618Friday0.727
1977Corey DaySpire MotorsportsChevrolet49.849180.545Thursday0.747
2018CBrent CrewsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota49.856180.52Thursday0.754
2118SWilliam SawalichJoe Gibbs RacingToyota49.88180.433Thursday0.778
2227Tim RichmondRichmond RacingToyota49.9180.361Thursday0.798
2318RGiovanni RuggieroJoe Gibbs RacingToyota49.952180.173Thursday0.85
2473WAJ WallerKLAS MotorsportsFord50.05179.82Thursday0.948
252LEloy SebastianRev RacingChevrolet50.117179.58Friday1.015
2628QBrenden QueenPinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet50.144179.483Thursday1.042
2782Hélio CastronevesPinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet50.149179.465Thursday1.047
2852Bob MartinMartin MotorsportsToyota50.378178.649Friday1.276
2975RDavid RodriguezBrother-In-Law MotorsportsChevrolet50.444178.416Thursday1.342
302BLanie BuiceRev RacingChevrolet50.498178.225Friday1.396
3188A.J. MoyerMoyer RacingChevrolet50.64177.725Friday1.538
3268MScott MeltonKimmel RacingFord50.758177.312Friday1.656
3369KWill KimmelKimmel RacingFord50.808177.137Thursday1.706
3469WNolan WilsonKimmel RacingFord50.814177.117Thursday1.712
353SRegina SirventMullins RacingChevrolet50.861176.953Thursday1.759
3693CCaleb CostnerCW MotorsportsChevrolet51.06176.263Thursday1.958
3762Steve Lewis Jr.Steve Lewis MotorsportsChevrolet51.085176.177Thursday1.983
388Sean CorrEmpire RacingChevrolet51.148175.96Thursday2.046
3912HTrevor HuddlestonFast Track RacingFord51.265175.558Thursday2.163
4046FTy FredricksonNitro MotorsportsToyota51.289175.476Thursday2.187
4155LTreyten LapecevichVenturini MotorsportsToyota51.341175.298Thursday2.239
429SDustin SmithFast Track RacingFord51.369175.203Thursday2.267
434AAlex QuarterleyQuarterley RacingChevrolet51.373175.189Thursday2.271
449DCody DennisonFast Track RacingFord51.433174.985Thursday2.331
4568HBryton HornerKimmel RacingFord51.47174.859Friday2.368
4612MBurt MyersFast Track RacingFord51.499174.761Friday2.397
4770GGavan BoscheleNitro MotorsportsToyota51.533174.645Thursday2.431
4810PEd PompaFast Track RacingFord51.565174.537Friday2.463
4912WJason WhiteFast Track RacingFord51.567174.53Friday2.465
5075DBryan DauzatBrother-In-Law MotorsportsChevrolet51.658174.233Thursday2.556
5123EGrant EnfingerSPSChevrolet51.696174.095Thursday2.594
5297IIssac KitzmillerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet51.789173.782Thursday2.687
5312CColton CollinsFast Track RacingFord51.978173.15Thursday2.876
5410BCraig BrackenFast Track RacingFord52.078172.818Friday2.976
5511PPresley SorahFast Track RacingFord52.082172.804Thursday2.98
5667Ryan RouletteMaples MotorsportsChevrolet52.138172.619Thursday3.036
5711ZZachary TinkleFast Track RacingFord52.251172.246Thursday3.149
5811AAustin BeersFast Track RacingFord52.3172.084Friday3.198
5999Michael MaplesMaples MotorsportsChevrolet52.417171.7Thursday3.315
6085Becca MonopoliCity Garage MotorsportsToyota52.455171.576Friday3.353
6111CChase BurdaFast Track RacingFord52.603171.093Thursday3.501
6212TDavey AkersFast Track RacingToyota52.615171.054Thursday3.513
6310HDalton HanesFast Track RacingFord52.97169.907Thursday3.868
6400ACorey AikenKennedy Aiken Racing TeamToyota53.544168.086Friday4.442
6500HTJ HarrisKennedy Aiken Racing TeamToyota53.911166.942Thursday4.809
6693MTristan MaheuCW MotorsportsChevrolet54.854164.072Thursday5.752
6700WNick WhiteKennedy Aiken RacingToyota54.961163.752Friday5.859
6800VAustin VaughnKennedy Aiken Racing TeamToyota55.396162.467Thursday6.294
6903MDoug MillerClubb RacingFord59.156152.14Thursday10.054
7003CAlex ClubbClubb RacingFord59.922150.195Thursday10.82

Featured image credit: Rette Jones Racing

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