YouTube star Cleetus McFarland has landed a shock NASCAR promotion with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) despite backlash following his debut at Daytona last month.
McFarland, whose real name is Lawrence Garrett Mitchell, has over 4.6 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and made his debut in the Truck Series ahead of the Daytona 500 in February.
However, it was short-lived, ending in a self-inflicted early wreck on lap six, leading to plenty of discussion in the NASCAR community about whether or not he should have been approved to race in the first place.
Despite that, Richard Childress Racing has confirmed that it has agreed a deal with McFarland to compete in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series this season. The 30-year-old will drive in their No. 33 Chevrolet with backing from Tommy's Express Car Wash.
McFarland is scheduled to make his race debut with the team at Rockingham Speedway on April 4.
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Cleetus McFarland signs with RCR
In an official RCR statement, McFarland said: “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.
“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.”
The exact length of the deal and which further races McFarland will compete at is unconfirmed by RCR at this stage.
However, in an interview with Kevin Harvick, McFarland claimed that he has signed a two-year deal with RCR to race at all of the superspeedway events.
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