Story By Matthew Thomerson/TheFourthTurn.com

ROCKINGHAM, NC – Cleetus McFarland made his mark at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday in a culmination of what was one of the most anticipated NASCAR starts in some time.

McFarland, whose real name is Garrett Mitchell, ran double duty, driving the No. 30 Ford Mustang for Rette Jones Racing in the ARCA Menards Series East and the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

The first of the two starts came in ARCA, where McFarland showed great pace throughout. He ran top-five most of the afternoon and finished fourth. 

“Oh man, I had a great car,” McFarland told TheFourthTurn.com. “Just went out there, and gave it everything that I’ve been learning the last few weeks with the Richard Childress Racing guys and applied it to my car. My ARCA car is a lot easier to drive than my O’Reilly car. So all those things I was able to really use them versus in the O’Reilly’s car I’m kind of terrified and kept up with the leaders the whole time. I could see them, which wasn’t always the case. Sometimes I have no idea where the leaders are, but I was able to watch them the whole time and did my best to get to them, but I couldn’t, but obviously still my best finish by far so I’m pumped up.” 

McFarland didn’t make many starts at the ARCA level before this weekend. He has seven starts with a pair of top-10s at superspeedways and now a top-five, the first of his brief ARCA career. The good result didn’t quite translate to the second race, however.

McFarland was already behind the eight ball before the race even began, as he started 35th after a bad qualifying effort on Friday. It didn’t get better as early on he nearly spun in Turns 1 and 2 while trying to make a move. 

He’d fall to last, and the day seemed not to materialize as anticipated. A near miss from a spinning Blake Lothian paired with a couple more spins on his own, seemed to be the nail in the coffin. Add a speeding penalty to the day as well. He ultimately finished 32nd. McFarland seemed exhausted but somewhat satisfied with his O’Reilly series debut.

“Well, that was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life,” McFarland said post-race. “Qualified 33rd, what I get? Anyone know where I finished? 32nd? One position! How many times I spin out? Four times…but did I ruin anyone’s race, besides my own?

No, in fact, he did not.

“You know this is a hell of an opportunity and I got my ass kicked,” McFarland added. “But I learned so much, and I made so many mistakes, I know at one point I drove down on a guy who was inside of me, recovered from that. Spun out, early, did you see that in Turn 3? I went three-wide, I abandoned the whole plan of chilling, and I went three-wide, spun out, got past that.” 

So does McFarland want to come back to NASCAR after today’s result? He answered that in only the way he knew how.

“All-in-all I made a ton of mistakes, learned a lot,” McFarland said. “I hoped to stay more out of the news than I did, but I had a lot to learn. You know all this internet talk has got me thinking maybe I shouldn’t come back…sike, see you guys in two weeks at Talladega.”

Pending NASCAR’s official approval, the wisdom is he will be back inside the No. 33 at the Alabama high banks, ready to chase another checkered flag. 

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com