If Cleetus McFarland one day makes a success of his NASCAR adventure, he will look to the skies and thank the late, great Greg Biffle.
The 31-year-old YouTuber is currently trying to transition to elite stock car racing, after making his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut for Richard Childress Racing at Rockingham last weekend.
That debut did not come without its lumps, with McFarland coming out of a rough weekend failing to get approval to race at Talladega on April 25.
Despite that, even the great Dale Earnhardt Jr. has praised the social media sensation for even getting this far considering his lack of experience and background in racing.
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McFarland on Greg Biffle - a mentor and friend
McFarland is not downhearted and will now continue his NASCAR education, driven forward by the relationship he once enjoyed with Biffle before the 55-year-old’s death in an awful plane crash in North Carolina last December.
He has now spoken about their relationship in an interview with PEOPLE, admitting that he never dreamed of the impact Biffle would have on his life, or on his budding racing career. He had posted an emotional 41-minute tribute to Greg at the time of the former driver’s untimely passing. A video which has so far been viewed 2.1million times.
He told PEOPLE: “Greg Biffle was an accidental mentor of mine. Like in no way, shape or form when him and I met did we foresee our relationship to be the way it was where he taught me how to be a stock car driver, you know?”
The McFarland-Biffle friendship began through a love of the skies, but it quickly transitioned to racing back on terra firma.
Cleetus explained: “We just became friends because he loved helicopters and so did I. And we both loved Crown Vics and we just really liked spending time together. And then it naturally just kind of found its way into this avenue of racing because that's what he did for so long. I wanted to be like him in a lot of ways and that's just how it naturally progressed.”
Painful remembers of 'Biff' for Cleetus
While Biffle is no longer around to help McFarland chart his NASCAR journey, the reminders are there constantly for Cleetus.
“It’s very sad, you know, and like all these things I do, I think about him a lot, how much more fun it would be with him. And I go to Charlotte where he's from, or Morrisville, and I'm just so sad because he's not there. So it's hard, in that aspect.”
Despite the sadness, McFarland says he will keep Biffle in front of mind as he moves forward in a bid to reach the standard required to attack iconic tracks like Talladega.
“We're just trying to, to keep him relevant, which he always will be in my eyes, but like, we're just trying to spread the ‘Be like Biff’ mentality.
“We say it in every video and we try to just act like Biff. He was a really positive person that always took time to talk to people and spread love, and help people, and just he's a really good guy.”
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