“I secretly went to Daytona”: Famed YouTuber Cleetus McFarland set to make his NASCAR ARCA debut with Rette Jones Racing

The popular YouTuber Garrett Mitchell, aka Cleetus McFarland, confirmed that he is making his NASCAR ARCA Menards Series debut at the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway. The ARCA Menards Series season opener is set to take place on February 15.

Cleetus McFarland has a car-centric YouTube channel with more than 4 million subscribers. McFarland took part in the ARCA preseason practice test session at Daytona International Speedway last week and had a successful test session behind the wheel of the #30M Ford Mustang for Rette Jones Racing. He posted a 15th-best time with a time of 49.640 seconds out of more than 80 drivers.

On Wednesday (January 15), the 29-year-old Omaha, Nebraska, native announced on Facebook that he secretly participated in the two-day open ARCA practice session and was approved to race in the upcoming 2025 ARCA season opener at Daytona for Rette Jones Racing with Kenetik as the primary sponsor.

On Facebook announcing the news, McFarland wrote:

“I have a lot to tell you. Last week I secretly went to the Daytona Speedway @nascar test and got approved to race in the upcoming @arca_racing ARCA 200 on February 15th (day before the Daytona 500). I’ll be driving the @rettejones30 Gen 5 ARCA Mustang sponsored by my good friends at @bekenetik, a Ketone powered energy drink company I recently bought 3% of. I just posted a video of me 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 is not new in racing as he had made select starts in the Robby Gordon Stadium Super Trucks Series in 2022 with a best finish of third at Bristol Motor Speedway.

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NASCAR confirmed open drivers for the 2025 Daytona 500

The 2025 Daytona 500 is just a month away to officially begin the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 16. The event will be live on FOX. A total of 40 or 41 drivers will take the field for “The Great American Race.”

Take a look at the open cars competing in the 2025 Daytona 500

1. #40 – Justin Allgaier – JR Motorsports
2. #44 – JJ Yeley – NY Racing Team
3. #56 – Martin Truex Jr. – TRICON Garage
4. #62 – Anthony Alfredo – Beard Motorsports
5. #78 – BJ McLeod - Live Fast Motorsports
6. #84 – Jimmie Johnson – Legacy Motor Club
7. #91 – Helio Castroneves - Trackhouse Racing

Two open cars are Rick Ware Racing’s #15 and MBM Motorsports’ #66, which are likely to enter for the 2025 NASCAR season opener.