Last weekend, we saw the first on-track activity for the 2025 NASCAR season with the annual preseason ARCA test at Daytona. This test usually has some interesting names on the list, as it’s used to determine if drivers will be approved to race at Daytona in February.
In 2024, we saw Australian supercar legend (and inaugural NASCAR Chicago Street Course …
Granted I don't fully know the ins and outs of the testing, but 15th out of 70 in just about any racing series is impressive.
The man is nothing if not ambitious .
Seems like he's doing what any of us would be doing in a similar situation in terms of money and time.
Maybe bringing in known character drivers is a chance for nascar to not drown.
good for Garret! I didn't care for the early "cleetus" persona but im glad he evolved into what he is today. Dude is killin it and helping motorsports.
It's a skill just takes time to do. And maybe some talent.
Paul Newman. Frankie Muniz. Both actors who became respectable race car drivers. So it's been done before.
He is negotiating with the sanctioning body (officially ARCA, but really run by NASCAR) over rights to use in car video he collected. He is trying to monetize his time in the seat rather than just opening his wallet as a sponsor. NASCAR is very tight-fisted with data/video/images when they think there might be some money in it so this should be interesting.
It look's like he got a feel for the drafting effects and caught himself not being relaxed in the car. That should help him on Feb 15th.
I jus hope that he's learned from his past experience and properly prepares the electrical system. So many of his videos end with car failure due to a wiring or sensor problem. Given that he flies a helicopter, I suggested in the comments that he needs to wire the car using the same standards as an aircraft, which it essentially is.
Fueled by Caffeine said:It's a skill just takes time to do. And maybe some talent.
Paul Newman. Frankie Muniz. Both actors who became respectable race car drivers. So it's been done before.
Rowan Atkinson deserves mention. Podium finishes at the Rolex and Sebring.
I hope Garret does well.
In reply to kb58 :
He is running a car prepared by an existing team, so the build and preparedness of the equipment is not on his shoulders. He is approaching it from the professional driver point of view.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:Fueled by Caffeine said:It's a skill just takes time to do. And maybe some talent.
Paul Newman. Frankie Muniz. Both actors who became respectable race car drivers. So it's been done before.
Rowan Atkinson deserves mention. Podium finishes at the Rolex and Sebring.
I hope Garret does well.
Patrick Dempsey also did well with racing with a Le Mans podium.
I haven't had any interest in NASCAR in decades. I have to admit, I'm curious to see how this shakes out. Garrett/Cletus YouTube persona is that of a goofball, but it's hard to deny that he seems to be a naturally gifted (and competitive) driver. He also clearly demonstrates with the aviation stuff that he's able to be very serious.
NASCAR's YouTube channel has 1.33M subscribers. The main Cletus McFarland channel has 4.07M subscribers. NASCAR should be smart enough to see this as an opportunity. I'm curious what that looks like at the negotiation table.
EDIT: I think the 2027 Daytona 500 is an exceptionally ambitious goal.
A lot of the big sanctioning bodies recognize his popularity and marketing talents. NHRA has piggybacked off of his Cleetus N Cars events at Indy, and there's been crossover between NASCAR and his Crown Vic races.
Also, Gregg Biffle has been in a lot of Cleetus content lately and he seems like a seriously cool dude.
In reply to Motojunky :
There is no argument about his reach compared to NASCAR's. The challenge is that NASCAR is not typically open to letting others make money on "THEIR" stuff without a kickback.
stafford1500 said:In reply to Motojunky :
There is no argument about his reach compared to NASCAR's. The challenge is that NASCAR is not typically open to letting others make money on "THEIR" stuff without a kickback.
Understood/agreed - that's the interesting part (well, one of the interesting parts). Do they work together? Does it drive Garrett away? Tune in next week!
He qualified 5th at Daytona his first time in an ARCA car. I don't think any of us could do that. Well, maybe one or two of us.
Dislike the personality all you want- he seems like the genuine article, continuously supports motorsports, and can actually back up his words.
NickD said:A lot of the big sanctioning bodies recognize his popularity and marketing talents. NHRA has piggybacked off of his Cleetus N Cars events at Indy, and there's been crossover between NASCAR and his Crown Vic races.
Also, Gregg Biffle has been in a lot of Cleetus content lately and he seems like a seriously cool dude.
Biff and cleetus are friends over helicopter stuff. Biff is the reason cleetus flew up to the Carolinas after Helene and was doing rescue missions.
He's a hot shoe for sure.
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