Cleetus McFarland returned to NASCAR racing this weekend at Nashville, but struggled from start to finish with spins and penalties.
The popular YouTuber finished Sunday's O'Reilly Series race six laps down in 35th place, apologising over the radio to his team for the mistakes that were littered throughout his evening.
McFarland was fighting Logan Bearden for the free pass at the end of the first stage when he got loose on the bottom of the track, spinning into a grass and damaging his splitter.
Coming in for the first green flag stop of his NASCAR career, he managed to earn himself a penalty by coming off the jack and dragging it out of the pit box, then spun on pit entry. That earned him another penalty for a commitment line violation.
Those issues with green flag stops may have an impact larger than just spoiling an already tough race, with NASCAR likely to take them into account when deciding to let him run O'Reilly Series races at drafting tracks. They tend to look unkindly on drivers who need three attempts to get on and off pit road without incident.
Who won Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly Series race at Nashville?
Great question! Justin Allgaier took the win after battles with Jesse Love (who dropped back due to a wheel issue) and 18-year-old Brent Crews, the latter having a brilliant scrap with the driver more than 20 years his senior.
The win extends Allgaier's lead in the points standings to 179 points with just eight races left in the regular season, with Love in second place and Corey Day a further 17 points back in third.
Where did Cleetus McFarland finish in Nashville NASCAR O'Reilly Series race?
| Pos | Driver (Car No.) | Team (OEM) | Status | Laps Completed | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Allgaier (7) | JR Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 74 |
| 2 | Brent Crews (19) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) | Running | 188 | 42 |
| 3 | William Sawalich (18) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) | Running | 188 | 45 |
| 4 | Sam Mayer (41) | Haas Factory Team (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 37 |
| 5 | Brandon Jones (20) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) | Running | 188 | 32 |
| 6 | Corey Day (17) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 45 |
| 7 | Carson Kvapil (1) | JR Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 43 |
| 8 | Kyle Larson (88) | JR Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 0 |
| 9 | Taylor Gray (54) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) | Running | 188 | 28 |
| 10 | Sammy Smith (8) | JR Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 29 |
| 11 | Austin Hill (21) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 33 |
| 12 | Parker Retzlaff (99) | Viking Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 28 |
| 13 | Ryan Sieg (39) | RSS Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 28 |
| 14 | Dean Thompson (26) | Sam Hunt Racing (Toyota) | Running | 188 | 23 |
| 15 | Sheldon Creed (00) | Haas Factory Team (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 22 |
| 16 | Jesse Love (2) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 40 |
| 17 | Anthony Alfredo (96) | Viking Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 188 | 20 |
| 18 | Jeremy Clements (51) | Jeremy Clements Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 187 | 19 |
| 19 | Rajah Caruth (32) | Jordan Anderson Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 187 | 18 |
| 20 | Blaine Perkins (31) | Jordan Anderson Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 187 | 17 |
| 21 | Brennan Poole (44) | Alpha Prime Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 187 | 16 |
| 22 | Leland Honeyman Jr (92) | DGM Racing x JIM (Chevrolet) | Running | 187 | 0 |
| 23 | Jeb Burton (27) | Jordan Anderson Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 187 | 14 |
| 24 | Kyle Sieg (28) | RSS Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 187 | 13 |
| 25 | Patrick Staropoli (48) | Big Machine Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 187 | 12 |
| 26 | Logan Bearden (42) | Young's Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 186 | 11 |
| 27 | Harrison Burton (24) | Sam Hunt Racing (Toyota) | Running | 186 | 10 |
| 28 | Mason Maggio (91) | DGM Racing x JIM (Chevrolet) | Running | 186 | 9 |
| 29 | Ryan Ellis (02) | Young's Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 185 | 8 |
| 30 | Austin Green (87) | Peterson Racing Group (Chevrolet) | Running | 185 | 7 |
| 31 | Lavar Scott (45) | Alpha Prime Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 184 | 6 |
| 32 | Josh Bilicki (07) | SS-Green Light Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 184 | 5 |
| 33 | Garrett Smithley (0) | SS-Green Light Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 184 | 4 |
| 34 | Dawson Cram (35) | Joey Gase Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 183 | 3 |
| 35 | Cleetus McFarland (33) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) | Running | 182 | 2 |
| 36 | Joey Gase (55) | Joey Gase Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Running | 179 | 1 |
| 37 | David Starr (153) | Joey Gase Motorsports (Chevrolet) | Out | 151 | 1 |
| 38 | JJ Yeley (38) | RSS Racing (Chevrolet) | Out | 59 | 1 |
