After urging from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and several others, Cleetus McFarland (real name Garrett Mitchell) has finally purchased his own Pro Late Model. He unveiled the No. 33 Rette Jones Racing Pro Late Model in a recent YouTube video, and hopes to perfect his racecraft with it as he continues his climb up the NASCAR ladder.
Cleetus did a full day of testing with his new Pro Late Model at Tri-County Speedway recently, and it seemed to go well even with a minor spin partway through the session. He plans to race in an upcoming late model event at Berlin Raceway in Michigan this year. He also wants to take part in the late model races he hosts at the Freedom Factory — a 3/8-mile oval he owns in Florida.
“Everyone told me that these Pro Late Models are so fun to drive,” Cleetus said in the video. “I’ll get a lot of experience for a lot cheaper than what I have been doing, just going and racing ARCA all the time — which I still plan to do. But this is going to give me some racecraft that I desperately needed. Racing around a lot of cars, close quarters, that’s the type of stuff where you just can’t get good at it unless you do it a lot. And so, I’m hoping this Pro Late Model is going to give me the opportunity to get a lot more racecraft.”
Cleetus McFarland, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
After making some laps, Cleetus’ initial reaction was one of shock and awe, praising the car while also noting how ‘intense’ it is to drive a Pro Late Model.
“This thing is way better than all of the other cars I’ve been driving,” said Cleetus following his first run of the day. “Dude, it’s got so much grip, and it doesn’t have so much horsepower that you instantly get in trouble all the time. And the one time it slid, it actually drove okay. It wasn’t terrifying because I wasn’t going 180(mph). My neck is literally burning — you’re almost turning the whole time, so it’s a little more intense than I’m used to. This thing is sick. The brakes are crazy good.”
The next planned NASCAR race on the schedule for Cleetus will be the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Talladega Superspeedway on October 23.
The highlight of Cleetus’ NASCAR career so far came at Talladega in the spring, nearly winning the ARCA race and ultimately finishing second to Andy Jankowiak. He made both his NASCAR Truck and O’Reilly debut this year, but those races just proved just how much he still has to learn. He has been open about the learning curve, and now has a two-year deal with Richard Childress Racing, with the historic organization helping him to hone his abilities.
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