NASCAR president Steve O'Donnell breaks silence on Cleetus McFarland approval saga

NASCAR president breaks silence on Cleetus McFarland approval saga

NASCAR President Steve O'Donnell has opened up on the sport's approval process and what they need to see from Cleetus McFarland going forward.

After making his Truck Series debut at Daytona earlier this year, McFarland landed a deal with Richard Childress Racing in February that saw him run in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series for the first time at Rockingham earlier this month.

Unfortunately, it was a rough day for the YouTube star, who was somewhat in over his head, finishing the race in 32nd position, six laps down on his rivals and losing control of the car on multiple occasions.

Cleetus was hoping to be back in the O'Reilly Series car at RCR once again at Talladega next weekend, but after seeing his performance at Rockingham, NASCAR decided not to approve him for the superspeedway race.

Naturally, that disappointed some fans, but O'Donnell believes it was the right call.

NASCAR wants to see Cleetus McFarland progression to gain approval

Asked how the process works and what NASCAR wants to see from Cleetus to get approval going forward on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, O’Donnell explained: “It’s kinda every race.

“So now, he'll go to the next race [and] we'll see obviously if there's some progression [that] we need to see.”

O’Donnell continued: “I applaud the team. Look our guys, it's a tough call. He's a hugely popular driver, but these are the best drivers in the world, and we've got to make sure that we've got the right guys out there.

“There's always controversy of who's approved, who's not approved, but I think it was the right call.

“Let's see how he does at the next race. Certainly, we'd like to see him keep progressing. But he’s got to do it the right way.”

Cleetus remains eligible to run at all Truck Series events this year, as well as at short tracks in the O'Reilly Series.