At the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, well-known YouTuber Garrett Mitchell, also known as Cleetus McFarland, stated that he will be making his NASCAR ARCA Menards Series debut. February 15 is the date of the ARCA Menards Series season opener. Cleetus McFarland has over 4 million subscribers to his car-focused YouTube channel. Driving the #30M Ford Mustang for Rette Jones Racing, McFarland participated in the ARCA preseason practice test session at Daytona International Speedway last week and had a great test session. With a time of 49.640 seconds, he placed 15th out of almost 80 drivers.
The 29-year-old Omaha, Nebraska native revealed on Facebook on Wednesday, January 15, that he had been authorized to compete for Rette Jones Racing in the 2025 ARCA season opener at Daytona, with Kenetik serving as the main sponsor, after surreptitiously attending the two-day open ARCA practice session. “I have a lot to tell you,” McFarland wrote on Facebook when he made the announcement.
I attended the Daytona Speedway @nascar test in secret last week and was given permission to compete in the next @arca_racing ARCA 200 on February 15th, the day before the Daytona 500. My excellent friends at @bekenetik, an energy drink startup that uses ketones and of which I recently purchased 3%, are sponsoring the @rettejones30 Gen 5 ARCA Mustang that I will be driving. I recently uploaded a video of myself ripping this bad unit around Daytona with my mullet flowing in the wind, and a sweet tour of the Kenetik factory. Go check it out, this is gonna be fun!.
Cleetus McFarland has experience in racing; in 2022, he had a few appearances in the Robby Gordon Stadium Super Trucks Series, finishing third at Bristol Motor Speedway. The 2025 Daytona 500’s open drivers have been confirmed by NASCAR. The 2025 Daytona 500 will take place on February 16 at Daytona International Speedway, marking the official start of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. FOX will stream live coverage of the event. There will be 40 or 41 drivers competing in “The Great American Race.”
Check out the open cars that are participating in the Daytona 500 in 2025.
- #40 – Justin Allgaier – JR Motorsports
- #44 – JJ Yeley – NY Racing Team
- #56 – Martin Truex Jr. – TRICON Garage
- #62 – Anthony Alfredo – Beard Motorsports
- #78 – BJ McLeod – Live Fast Motorsports
- #84 – Jimmie Johnson – Legacy Motor Club
- #91 – Helio Castroneves – Trackhouse Racing
Rick Ware Racing’s #15 and MBM Motorsports’ #66 are two open vehicles that are probably going to compete in the 2025 NASCAR season opener.
