Ahead of his highly anticipated NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Rockingham, popular YouTuber Cleetus McFarland (Garrett Mitchell) took part in the ARCA Menards East Series race at The Rock, finishing fourth in his career-best result.
“After climbing from the car, a very excited Cleetus said: “Honestly, I just went out there and turned left for Greg Biffle. I had more confidence today than I’ve ever had in a stock car. Even though I got the world against me, I got all these people here rooting for me. I was feeling good … the Rette Jones Racing No. 30 was turning so good. I mean, I had the leaders in my sights the whole time. I was a little off-pace, but I can’t believe it. I’m fired up and feel good!”
Speaking more on Biffle, the NASCAR legend who mentored Cleetus before losing his life in a tragic place crash last December, Cleetus added: “I think he’d be happy I didn’t do anything stupid. Biff didn’t teach me dumb stuff, so I didn’t do any dumb stuff today. I tried to use everything he’s ever taught me.”
He qualified seventh in the No. 30 Rette Jones Racing Chevrolet for the ARCA East race. In five previous starts at the top level of ARCA, he has two top tens but no finish better than ninth.
He was joined by friend and fellow content creator George Siciliano (better known as Squirrel McNut online), who recently made his ARCA East debut at Hickory. He was a teammate to Cleetus, driving the No. 0 for Rette Jones Racing.
At the start of the Rockingham race, Cleetus quickly passed Isaac Kitzmiller around the outside for sixth, and held that position for much of the first run. When Max Reaves fell multiple laps down due to a cut tire, it bumped Cleetus up inside the top five. Soon after, Gavan Boschele slammed the wall with a flat tire, moving Cleetus up to fourth in the running order. Siciliano was also having a decent day, running ninth, but fell a couple of laps down.
Cleetus remained on the lead lap, and went back-and-forth with Kitzmiller over fourth-place on multiple restart, with Cleetus prevailing just before the halfway break.
In the second half of the race, Cleetus fell back behind Kitzmiller, but he didn’t remain fifth, passing Connor Hall for fourth.
With 45 laps to go, Siciliano went for a half-spin and while he suffered no damage and lost no positions, it did bring out a caution.
Cleetus held fourth until the next caution, which flew with 15 laps to go. The race was halted for cleanup with 12 laps remaining in the race.
The race resumed with just nine laps to go, and nothing changed up front. Cleetus finished fourth, scoring his first top five in any NASCAR-sanctioned event, while Siciliano placed four spots better than his last outing, finishing ninth.
Tristan McKee won the race ahead of Carson Brown Kitzmiller, going back-to-back to open the 2026 ARCA East season.
P32 in NASCAR O’Reilly debut
Later in the day, he started 35th in the NASCAR O’Reilly race, driving the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. As expected, it was a lot more difficult as Cleetus adapted to faster cars and the second-tier of the three national divisions. He had a handful of half-spins and one full spin during the race, but the car remained mostly clean throughout the day.
He cracked the top 30 at one point, but ultimately finished 32nd, six laps down, nursing a tire issue in the final laps.
“That might be the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he said on the radio after reaching the finish line.
Motorsport.com was part of a media scrum that heard more from Cleetus after the ARCA and O’Reilly races, which you can watch below:
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