YouTube star-turned-racecar driver Cleetus McFarland will make his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series debut with Richard Childress Racing.
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — YouTube star-turned-racecar driver Cleetus McFarland will make his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series debut with Richard Childress Racing.
McFarland is set to make his debut in RCR's No. 33 Chevrolet next month at Rockingham Speedway. He will have sponsorship from Tommy's Express Car Wash.
“To have the opportunity to make my NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut with a legendary race team like Richard Childress Racing is a dream come true,” he said. “It’s a huge honor, and I am incredibly grateful to learn under the leadership of Richard Childress, Mike Verlander, Danny Lawrence and everyone in Welcome, North Carolina. Having Tommy’s Express on board for my debut makes it even more special. They’re a fast-forward brand that understands speed, performance, and connecting with people, which lines up perfectly with everything we are trying to accomplish.”
McFarland will race the third RCR entry Kasey Kahne made his NASCAR return in last year on Easter weekend.
Kahne started fourth and had a strong start to the race until he was involved in a crash with William Sawalich and Katherine Legge on lap 53. However, he persevered through the damage and finished 14th in overtime.
In contrast to Kahne, who came into his one-off RCR start with 750 NASCAR starts, McFarland is coming into his first RCR start with just one NASCAR start and five ARCA starts.
While McFarland's ARCA debut at Daytona in February of 2025 ended early due to a crash, he scored top-10 finishes at Talladega (10th) and Charlotte (ninth) and made it to the finish of the Bristol race in the fall.
McFarland's fifth ARCA start came at Daytona in February of 2026, when he ventured into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the first time. With Niece Motorsports, he qualified 12th and completed five laps before a crash off of turn four relegated him to a last-place finish.
McFarland is coming into his first NOAPS start with some relative inexperience. Although he is the owner of the Freedom Factory racetrack and is familiar to racing, with a YouTube channel that has amassed more than 4.6 million subscribers, he hasn't cut his teeth on many of the tracks and experiences that make a driver seasoned enough to make a full-fledged effort at racing in NASCAR's top national series. However, his ARCA starts, passion for racing and backing – both from his sponsor and his social media following – have ascended him to this level.
McFarland is set to make his NOAPS debut April 4 at Rockingham Speedway (2:30 p.m., The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).