Richard Childress isn’t just defending his decision to put Cleetus McFarland in a race car; he’s firing back at the NASCAR veterans criticizing the move. When RCR announced its O’Reilly Series deal with Cleetus McFarland, it attracted a lot of criticism from fans and insiders alike. Some big names from NASCAR, including Kyle Busch, were part of the insiders who called out McFarland’s move. However, Childress believes not only that there are positives to McFarland’s arrival in NASCAR, but the criticism is also coming from a specific place.
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Richard Childress defends Cleetus McFarland against Kyle Busch criticism
During an interview ahead of Bristol this weekend, Richard Childress addressed Cleetus McFarland racing in NASCAR under his team and the criticism that came with it. Childress mentioned how McFarland has close to five million followers, and getting even 10% of those to NASCAR would be a big win for the sport.
“I know he brought people to Rockingham, brought people watching the race. He’s a rookie, and I’m proud of what he did last week. He finished fourth in the ARCA race. He’s raced, but he doesn’t have the experience. I think some of the drivers are beating him up a little excessive, because he’s getting a lot of attention, probably,” Childress described.
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He further claimed that all the criticism McFarland is getting is positive, since one worries when they don’t talk about you. He appreciated McFarland’s ARCA race result, a 4th-place finish, and a 32nd-place finish in the O’Reilly race.
“He loves the sport. He’s a car guy, and the fans follow him for that. Sure he’s going to make a mistake or two. I can’t tell you how many mistakes previous drivers that I’ve had made when they first started. So, it’s racing. I’ve seen them all come and go. So, it’s been interesting to watch Cleetus and seeing what he can do for NASCAR really is what pumps me up,” Childress added.
Via @chris8video, Richard Childress talks about Cleetus at Rockingham and gives a comment on RCR’s rough start in Cup. https://t.co/8LGWRJXwFM
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) April 9, 2026
It’s worth mentioning that after the McFarland-RCR deal was announced, Kyle Busch criticized it at Phoenix. He called out the lack of races McFarland has run in NASCAR as he elaborated, “Denny Hamlin ran 10,000, right, before he got here. I don’t know if Cleetus has run 10 or not, but there’s definitely a need to having ample experience.”
Busch mentioned that his 10-year-old son, Brexton, has ‘probably run more races’ than McFarland has, which he claimed doesn’t sit well with many insiders.
Apart from Busch, Brad Keselowski and Freddie Kraft had also criticized NASCAR for giving approval to McFarland for the O’Reilly Series despite only having one Truck Series appearance to his name.
NASCAR denies Cleetus McFarland from racing in a major fixture
Following his appearance in the Rockingham O’Reilly Series race, NASCAR denied Cleetus McFarland from racing at Talladega Superspeedway. During an appearance in a Facebook video, he confirmed that NASCAR ‘did not see enough’ from him at Rockingham to grant him clearance for Talladega.
John Probst of NASCAR clarified that McFarland has only been approved to race at short tracks in the O’Reilly, ARCA, and Truck races. But the governing body wants to ‘see more’ from him before he’s allowed at bigger tracks where the stakes are higher.
NASCAR denying McFarland of racing at Talladega comes with reason, especially after his Daytona appearance, where he crashed out within the opening lap of the race.
With that said, it’ll be interesting to see what further races Cleetus McFarland races in NASCAR.
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Edited by
Suyashdeep Sason