NASCAR denies Cleetus McFarland Talladega approval

Cleetus McFarland will not be racing in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series at Talladega next weekend after NASCAR refused to approve him for the event.

That is according to McFarland himself on Facebook, who shared a short video with his fans on the social media platform on Tuesday evening.

NASCAR refuses Cleetus McFarland approval

"I wanted you to hear it from me first that I've been denied by NASCAR to run Talladega in my O'Reilly Series car," McFarland said in a video statement.

"Made my O'Reilly's debut last Saturday with hopes of getting approval for Talladega, but they did not see enough."

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McFarland's debut was certainly an interesting one, with the YouTube star finishing 32nd and six laps down at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday, albeit, he did finish the race without wrecking himself or anyone else.

McFarland himself admits it was hectic, though, and there were doubts over his approval for Talladega in the aftermath of the event.

"Granted, it was a pretty hectic race," McFarland continued. "I tried to pass someone three-wide on the third lap, spun out.

"Spun out a few more times, didn't crash or crash anybody, but still, it was pretty hectic.

"Nonetheless, NASCAR has said, 'We're gonna need to see you run more ARCA and more Trucks [Truck Series].

"I'm fully approved for trucks, which I have some of those on my schedule coming up, but in the O'Reilly Series, I am still limited to short tracks."

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While the above is undoubtedly a setback, McFarland is realistic in terms of where he is at present, and knows that he needs more experience under his belt if he is to get NASCAR approval for superspeedway events moving forward.

"I need more windshield time," he admitted. "Regardless of whether it's in an O'Reilly's car an ARCA car, or a truck, more windshield time is gonna help me.

"I got a lot to learn guys. So this isn't as much of a step back or a push down as it seems. [It's] a little bit of a kick in the nuts, but I just gotta get out there in the other cars and do as much learning as possible.

"Then, hopefully, I'll get to run Daytona [and] Talladega next year."