The next challenge for Cleetus McFarland? Charlotte today.

As Cleetus McFarland continues his stock car racing journey, he faces a new challenge: an intermediate oval. That takes place today with the ARCA Menards Series’ General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Cleetus, who goes by his real name of Garrett Mitchell in ARCA, has shown signs of promise. After crashing out at Daytona, he finished 10th at Talladega last month. However, Charlotte will be a different animal.

Gone are the packs of cars drafting nose to tail, running side by side around a 2-mile-plus tri-ovals. Enter more conventional oval-track racing at Charlotte, where drafting remains a factor, but isn’t the be-all, end-all. Last year, Andres Perez turned a pole-winning qualifying speed of 177.983 mph. How fast did the last-place qualifier, Brad Smith, go? Just 142.729 mph. The difference between the haves and have-nots is far more noticeable at Charlotte, too. More than a third of the race ran under caution last year, which means survival is still a key to success.

The team Cleetus runs for, Rette Jones Racing, last ran Charlotte in 2023 with Frankie Muniz. Then they earned a sixth, indicating Cleetus should have a decent piece underneath him.

ARCA’s sole practice today runs from 1:30-2:15 p.m. Qualifying follows. The race takes place tonight, which you can watch on FS1 at 5:30 p.m.

 

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