Matt Johnson
YouTuber and racer Cleetus McFarland has brought an even bigger following to NASCAR this season, competing in races for both the Truck Series and the O’Reilly Series. As he continues to show improvement, the next question is when he will race in the Cup Series.
On the latest episode of Door Bumper Clear, McFarland said that while he’d love to race in the Daytona 500 and hopes to one day compete in Cup races it’s not something he’ll be doing anytime soon.
“I have no intentions of running Cup or the Daytona 500 anytime soon. Because I would just get absolutely wrecked, literally. It’s just a way bigger skill gap than I imagined and I realized that immediately.”
Cleetus McFarland on his desire to run in the Daytona 500 and NASCAR Cup Series
McFarland originally had ambitions of competing in the Daytona 500 within the next few years, but that came before he competed in the Truck Series and the O’Reilly Series. As he told DBC, it has been those experiences that have shown him how much he still has to learn and the skill gap he needs to narrow before he is anywhere near ready to race against Cup Series drivers.
The 31-year-old said he had no regrets over jumping on the opportunity offered by Richard Childress Racing to run part-time in the O’Reilly Series. It is not something he actively sought out, but he seized on the chance when RCR came to him.
As the early results have shown—a 33.5 average finishing position—McFarland is not anywhere close to being competitive in the series. Right now, the opportunities he gets in RCR’s car are all about gaining experience and doing so without wrecking the field or causing issues for full-time drivers.
While McFarland is not eyeing a Cup Series race anytime soon, he did share that he and Squirrel McNutt are interested in running full-time in the ARCA Menards Series. Given his success in ARCA this season—19 laps led and an 11.0 average finishing position—it seems to be the perfect spot for him. With more experience, though, he should eventually become competitive in the O’Reilly Series.
