Neng Nana
By Motorsport.com Staff
Updated and Expanded Report
Main Facts
Popular automotive content creator and motorsport personality Cleetus McFarland—legally known as Garrett Mitchell—is officially taking the next major step in his professional racing career. Sources confirmed to Motorsport.com that Mitchell is set to compete full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, stepping into a high-profile development role with Richard Childress Racing (RCR).
The organization validated the heavily anticipated news on Wednesday, confirming a full 20-season campaign for McFarland in the No. 33 Chevrolet. Veteran crew chief Robert Strmiska has been tapped to lead the pit box for McFarland’s assault on the championship.
McFarland will not be the only digital-media standout making waves in the stock car world. George Siciliano, widely recognized by his online moniker "Squirrel McNut," is slated to run a full-time schedule in the ARCA Menards Series by 2027. While McFarland takes the helm of an RCR-backed entry this coming year, Siciliano is slated to pilot machinery fielded by Rette Jones Racing, the team that has historically nurtured both drivers’ early stock car experiments.
The ARCA Menards Series, widely regarded as the fourth tier of professional stock car racing and a vital stepping stone directly beneath NASCAR’s top three national divisions, features a grueling 20-race calendar. The slate covers an immense variety of disciplines, spanning high-speed superspeedways, short tracks, intermediate ovals, road courses, and dirt tracks.
For McFarland, the transition represents a calculated pivot from grassroots internet fame to a structured, highly competitive professional racing pipeline, keeping his ultimate ambition—a start in the prestigious Daytona 500—firmly in his crosshairs.
Chronology of Events
The path from burning rubber on makeshift YouTube tracks to locking down a full-time seat with one of NASCAR’s most storied organizations has been swift, demanding, and marked by rapid learning curves.
Early Experimentation and Part-Time Foundations
Before setting his sights on national touring series, Garrett Mitchell built an empire around raw horsepower, building drag cars, and pushing automotive limits on his YouTube channel. However, his transition into professional turning-left stock car racing began to take shape earnestly between 2025 and 2026.
Partnering primarily with Rette Jones Racing, McFarland logged eight ARCA starts over those two seasons. Despite his relative inexperience compared to lifelong oval competitors, he flashed genuine speed. He secured a pole position at Michigan International Speedway and delivered a stellar runner-up finish at Talladega Superspeedway, a race where he led 19 laps. He also added a solid fourth-place finish in an ARCA East division race at Rockingham Speedway to his resume.
Concurrently, George Siciliano began building his own stock car portfolio. Siciliano made three ARCA appearances during the 2026 campaign, highlighted by a top-ten finish at Michigan and a ninth-place result in the ARCA East race at Rockingham.
Stepping Up to the National Stage
Recognizing his growing capability and immense crossover appeal, Richard Childress Racing signed McFarland to a two-year developmental and part-time deal earlier this year. This alignment provided him with vital seat time in higher-tier equipment.
McFarland made two starts in NASCAR’s O’Reilly division with RCR at Rockingham and Nashville. Additionally, he expanded his notebook by making three NASCAR Truck Series starts with Niece Motorsports. While the national level proved predictably unforgiving for a driver with a nontraditional background—highlighted by a frustrating, early-race crash at Talladega that left the driver visibly "pissed"—the experiences served as an invaluable crucible.
Recognizing that additional seasoning was necessary before tackling full-time national NASCAR duties, McFarland, RCR, and his management team mapped out a comprehensive, full-season ARCA campaign for the upcoming year to sharpen his racecraft.
Supporting Data and Series Landscape
To understand the magnitude of McFarland’s upcoming campaign, one must examine the unique ecosystem of the ARCA Menards Series and the statistical reality of running a full national stock car schedule.
The 20-Year Calendar and Diverse Tracks
The 2026 ARCA season culminated in a dramatic championship battle, with Thomas Annunziata capturing the title on a tiebreaker following a contentious on-track clash with teammate Bollman. Next year’s championship fight promises to be equally unpredictable across a 20-race schedule that kicks off at the historic Daytona International Speedway on February 20 and wraps up at Kansas Speedway on October 1.
The schedule’s diversity is legendary among drivers and mechanics alike. Over the course of a single season, teams must adapt setups for:
- Superspeedways: Daytona and Talladega, where pack-racing and drafting rule the afternoon.
- Intermediate Ovals: Tracks like Kansas, Charlotte, and Michigan, demanding precise aerodynamic balance and tire management.
- Short Tracks: Bullrings where bumper-to-bumper contact is the standard operating procedure.
- Road Courses and Dirt Ovals: Testing drivers’ versatility far beyond traditional oval techniques.
Field Depths and Logistical Hurdles
Financially and logistically, running the full ARCA schedule is an immense undertaking. Historically, fewer than 12 drivers contest every single race on the calendar due to budgetary constraints, sponsorship requirements, and equipment demands. By locking in a full-time ride with RCR, McFarland bypasses many of the sponsorship scrambles that plague independent entries, allowing him and crew chief Robert Strmiska to focus entirely on performance, data collection, and driver development.
Furthermore, McFarland’s commitment to automotive motorsport extends beyond modern stock cars. His deep passion for the sport was underscored earlier this year when he purchased Greg Biffle’s race-winning 2004 NASCAR Cup Series car for $47,000, adding a piece of living history to his personal fleet.
Official Responses
The announcement has generated significant buzz across the motorsports landscape, with team leadership and McFarland himself offering insights into the vision behind the full-time program.
Mike Verlander, President of Richard Childress Racing, emphasized that McFarland’s promotion is entirely merit-based rather than a mere promotional stunt:
"Cleetus has an undeniable passion for racing and a work ethic that has impressed everyone at our organization," Verlander said in an official release on Wednesday. "Cleetus is a perfect fit for RCR. He’s earned this opportunity, and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can accomplish over the course of a full season. Pairing Cleetus with Robert Strmiska gives him the support of a talented leader who is equally passionate about racing."
For McFarland, the confirmation of the No. 33 Chevrolet campaign represents the realization of a long-held ambition:
"This is a dream come true," McFarland remarked. "Ever since I got behind the wheel with RCR, I’ve wanted more. The goal has always been to become the best race car driver I can be, and running the full ARCA Menards Series schedule gives me that opportunity. Richard Childress and everyone at RCR believes in me, and having the support of a legendary team gives me a ton of confidence to focus on learning everything I can about stock car racing. I’m ready to get after it every week."
Implications for the Sport and the Driver
The full-time signing of Cleetus McFarland to Richard Childress Racing carries profound implications for both the ARCA Menards Series and the broader culture of motorsports.
Bridging the Digital Divide
For years, traditional motorsports purists and digital creators operated in entirely separate silos. McFarland’s ascension serves as the ultimate bridge. By bringing millions of engaged, non-traditional fans into the grandstands and onto streaming platforms, his presence directly injects fresh demographic energy into a developmental series that often struggles for mainstream media oxygen.
However, the garage is a meritocracy. The initial skepticism that greeted his part-time NASCAR and ARCA appearances quickly dissipated as fellow competitors realized his dedication was genuine. By committing to a full 20-race slate under the tutelage of RCR and crew chief Robert Strmiska, McFarland is signaling that he is not dabbling as a hobbyist—he is doing the hard, foundational work required of any professional driver climbing the ladder.
The Road to the Daytona 500
McFarland has never hidden his ultimate North Star: taking the green flag at the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. While his early-career stumbles in the NASCAR Truck Series and O’Reilly division highlighted the steep learning curve required to race against the best stock car drivers in the world, the ARCA series provides the ideal proving ground.
By logging thousands of competitive laps on superspeedways, intermediate tracks, and short courses, McFarland will build the visceral "seat-of-the-pants" database necessary to handle heavy traffic, aggressive restarts, and high-stakes aerodynamic racing.
With George Siciliano following closely behind with a full-time ARCA berth of his own by 2027, the coming seasons will serve as an extraordinary test case for whether digital-era content creators can successfully transform themselves into bonafide national-series contenders. As the engines fire up at Daytona this February, all eyes will be locked on the No. 33 Chevrolet to see how far the creator-turned-racer can go.
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