From YouTuber to NASCAR driver: Cleetus McFarland expands his racing resume at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Garrett Mitchell is better known as “Cleetus McFarland” to his millions of followers gained over the years as a racing influencer. He's pretty much always been called a YouTuber, until he was out to dinner last week when a fan stopped by and referred to him as a NASCAR driver.

It was the first time anyone has given McFarland that title.

“I’ve been called a YouTuber forever,” McFarland told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I was like, ‘Awwwe. That’s sooo much better.’”

It might be more accurate, too.

McFarland will make his Truck Series debut at Daytona International Speedway on Friday night and then will race in the ARCA Series the following day. He has more racing in his future, too, hinting that details are dropping soon.

He made four ARCA starts in 2025, beginning with the season opener at Daytona. He crashed 17 laps into that one — and made headlines for saying he felt like “the best racer there ever was" for some of his driving moves — but found more success by finishing 10th at Talladega, ninth at Charlotte and 17th at Bristol.

It should pay dividends on the high banks at Daytona.

“I feel a little more comfortable,” he said. “Last year, I couldn’t even get to the garage. I’m like, ‘Where the hell is my car even at?’ Now, I know where to go. I know some familiar faces. I know the track, so I feel a lot better.”

McFarland will be one of 36 drivers in a star-studded Truck Series event at Daytona. The field includes three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, X Games and RallyCross standout Travis Pastrana as well as five Cup Series regulars.

Stewart, whose nickname is “Smoke,” is helping launch Ram’s return to the Truck Series.

“I love Smoke,” McFarland said. “To go hang out with him and hopefully get to hit his bumper at some point, I’m wound up.”

McFarland and Pastrana are teammates at Niece Motorsports, with Black Rifle Coffee and Brunt Workwear serving as sponsors. McFarland earned NASCAR superspeedway clearance following a test session at Rockingham Speedway on Tuesday and arrived at Daytona with more confidence than he had a year ago.

“My expectations are much higher this year,” he said. “I understand when and where risk matters. Last year, I ended up falling out (of the draft) because someone was spinning out in front of me and I kept trying to push it and get around them to not lose the field. Now I would just be like, ‘There’s a caution coming anyway. Just stop. This is so stupid.’ So, I’m learning.”

Pastrana has learned about McFarland, too. They raced against each other in several made-for-YouTube events like the Freedom 500.

“Cleetus always downplays his driving skills, but he’s a wheel man,” Pastrana said. “He can wheel anything.”

McFarland and Pastrana will race with Greg Biffle tributes on their trucks. Biffle was among seven killed when his plane crashed in Statesville, North Carolina, in December. Biffle, 55, was named one of NASCAR’s top 75 drivers, was a Hall of Fame nominee for the stock car series and drove for 18 years at the top of the sport.

He drew headlines last year for his humanitarian efforts as a helicopter pilot supplying aid in North Carolina following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in 2024.

“Be Like Biff” adorns their truck beds, with Biffle’s No. 16 topped by a halo. McFarland even cut Pastrana’s shirtsleeves off during a media availability Thursday in a tribute to Biffle.

“I wouldn’t be here without Biff,” said McFarland, who delivered a eulogy at Biffle's funeral. “We’re representing. I never really talked to him about trucks, unfortunately. This would have been so cool. He would have been so stoked that we’re doing this.

“He was actually going to race with us. He was going to race ARCA with me here this weekend. I imagine he would have found a truck. It would have been sick. But we’re representing Biff out here. If I do anything dumb, it wasn’t something Biff taught me. But I’m going to use everything else he taught me to hopefully do well.”

And maybe move closer to being better known as a NASCAR driver.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

NASCAR Truck driver Garrett Mitchell, better known as "Cleetus McFarland, left, speaks to crew in the garage area during a practice at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

NASCAR Truck driver Garrett Mitchell, better known as "Cleetus McFarland, leaves the garage area for the track during a practice at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

NASCAR Truck driver Garrett Mitchell, better known as "Cleetus McFarland, prepares for a practice at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia General Assembly ended its annual session early Friday without a plan for new equipment to overhaul the state's voting system by a July deadline, plunging into doubt the future of elections in the political battleground.

The lawmakers' failure to offer a solution after months of debate raises uncertainty about how Georgians will vote in November and leaves confusion that could end in the courts or a special legislative session.

“They’ve abdicated their responsibility,” Democratic state Rep. Saira Draper said of inaction by Republicans who control the legislature.

Currently, voters make their choices on Dominion Voting machines, which then print ballots with a QR code that scanners read to tally votes. Those machines have been repeatedly targeted by President Donald Trump following his 2020 election loss, and Trump’s Georgia supporters responded by enacting a law in 2024 that bans using barcodes to count votes.

But state law still requires counties to use the machines. No money has been allocated to reprogram them, and lawmakers failed to agree on a replacement.

“We’ll have an unresolvable statutory conflict come July 1,” said House Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Victor Anderson, a Cornelia Republican who backed a proposal to keep using the machines in 2026 that Senate Republicans declined to consider.

Republican House Speaker Jon Burns said he would meet with Gov. Brian Kemp and “take his temperature” on the possibility of a special session.

Kemp spokesperson Carter Chapman said he Republican governor will examine the situation.

“We’ll analyze all bills, as well as the consequence of those that did not pass,” Chapman said Friday.

House Republicans and Democrats backed Anderson's plan, which would have required that Georgia choose a voting process that didn't use QR codes by 2028. Election officials preferred that solution.

“The Senate has shown that they’re not responsible actors,” Draper said. She added that Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Trump-endorsed Republican running for governor, seemed more interested in keeping Trump's backing than “doing right by Georgia voters.”

A spokesperson for Jones didn't immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday.

Joseph Kirk, Bartow County election supervisor and president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials, said he’ll look to the secretary of state for guidance and assumes a judge will rule to instruct election officials how to proceed.

“This is uncharted territory,” he said.

Robert Sinners, a spokesperson for Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is also running for governor, said officials are “ready to follow the law and follow the Constitution.”

Burns told reporters that his chamber was seeking to minimize changes this year.

“You can’t change horses in the middle of the stream,” Burns said.

Anderson said without action, the state could be required to use hand-marked and hand-counted paper ballots in November.

Election officials say switching to a new system within just a few months, as advocated by some Republicans, would be nearly impossible.

“They made no way for this to happen except putting a deadline on it," Cherokee County elections director Anne Dover said of the switch away from barcodes. Dover said one problem under some plans is that a very large number of ballots would have to be printed.

Lawmakers seemed more concerned about scoring political points than making practical plans, Paulding County Election Supervisor Deidre Holden said.

“If anyone is resilient and can get the job done, it’s all of us election officials, but the legislators need to work with us, and they need to understand what we do before they go making laws that are basically unachievable for us,” Holden said.

Supporters of hand-marked paper ballots say voters are more likely to trust in an accurate count if they can see what gets read by the scanner.

Right-wing election activists lobbied lawmakers for an immediate switch to hand-marked paper ballots, but the House turned away from a Senate proposal to do so.

Anderson said he wasn’t sure if a special session could escape those political crosswinds, but said Georgia lawmakers must fix the problem.

“This is a legislative problem,” Anderson said. “It’s a legislative solution that has to happen.”

FILE - Voting machines are seen at the Bartow County Election office, Jan. 25, 2024, in Cartersville, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)