The way Cleetus McFarland moved through the NASCAR ranks looked nothing less than a fever dream, and in fact, a Daytona 500 run seemed close for him. But there was his close friend, Greg Biffle, who brought him back to the reality of the situation. Interestingly enough, McFarland, who was aiming to race in the pinnacle of stock racing, saw a massive change in his aspirations.

Garrett Mitchell, better known as Cleetus McFarland, has been around NASCAR for a long time. Although his content on YouTube is focused more towards general automation, he does spend enough time glazing stock racing, and his NASCAR obsession is hard to avoid. In fact, he also made his O’Reilly Auto Parts and Truck Series debut this year, although that was a matter of separate criticism.

But as he revealed in a conversation on the Door, Bumper, Clear podcast, he was aiming for something much more competitive: “When I set out with this with Greg Biffle, I called him up, and I said, ‘Biff, I want to run the Daytona 500.’ And he’s like, you know, laying it out for me, and I’m like, ‘Well, damn, can’t I run that? You know, what about next year? Could I run it if I ran ARCA this year?’ And he’s like, ‘No. You know, that’s crazy, and maybe the year after.”

His aspirations were understandably aiming for the top spot in stock racing: to make his Cup Series debut out of nowhere, with almost no prior experience of professional racing, and become a household name. However, when he finally stepped down to race in the ARCA Series, McFarland realized that it was a tough mountain to climb.

“I started running ARCA, and I realized, you know, I have no intentions of running Cup or the Daytona 500 anytime soon, because I would just get absolutely wrecked, literally. You know, like, it’s just a way bigger skill gap than I imagined, and I realized that immediately,” he added.

Running the Daytona 500 in the NASCAR Cup Series is the Holy Grail for many in motorsports, but the risk it brings, the levels of competitiveness it requires, cannot be matched by everyone. This admission by Cleetus comes as a surprise as he bagged a P2 finish at Talladega in the ARCA series, but again, racing in the Cup is a different ball game.

Even Helio Castroneves, the famed IndyCar driver and a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, was caught in a massive wreck on lap 70 while making his Cup Series debut at the Daytona 500 last year.

So it seems quite apparent why someone like Cleetus McFarland, who has almost no experience in professional stock racing, would find it extremely difficult and dangerous to compete in the Daytona 500.

In fact, he did race on the track this year, making his Truck Series debut. But that ended quite early, as he lost his truck on the sixth lap and triggered the race’s first caution heading into the wall. Perhaps that was a moment of realization for McFarland that he needed much more experience to run the Cup Series, even with the guidance of his friend, Greg Biffle.

Cleetus McFarland is still aiming for the Daytona 500 despite early criticism

Just last year, McFarland debuted in the ARCA Series and ran four races throughout the season. And just months after that, he found the backing from Richard Childress Racing to run the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this season, and a green light from NASCAR, allowing him to run the series, including the Truck Series, with support from Niece Motorsports.

However, this was called in for some massive controversy. Many argued that he simply did not have sufficient racing experience to make the NOAPS debut, and perhaps that made sense. His runs in both series have been far from impressive. The Truck debut, as mentioned, ended after just six laps in the race. Meanwhile, his recent run with RCR in the NOAPS at Nashville was met with multiple spins and a penalty.

Safe to say, McFarland lacks the crucial experience to race in NASCAR, let alone the Cup Series. Yet, he finds his run to be a positive experience, and still aims to run the Daytona 500.

“It’s more seat time, more opportunities for me to make mistakes and get better. So, now, looking at the ultimate goal, you know, it’s to make it to the Daytona 500, but I’m having so much fun that I think it’s going to end up being more than that. I think one day I’ll race the Daytona 500. I’m in no rush,” he said.

The Cup dream is a distant one as right now he’d like to focus more on developing his race craft. A full-time run in ARCA and O’Reilly Series could be on the cards. And that experience in turn will help me to get ready to race on Sundays.