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Cleetus McFarland: Competing in Daytona 500 is the 'ultimate goal'

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones06/02/26brianjones_93

Cleetus McFarland could see himself competing in the Daytona 500 as he continues his NASCAR career. While appearing on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, McFarland was asked if he wanted to compete in NASCAR’s biggest race.

“When I set out with this with Greg Biffle, I called him up, and I said, ‘Biff, I want to run the Daytona 500. Could I run it if I ran ARCA this year?’ He’s like, ‘No,'” Cleetus McFarland said. “I started running ARCA, and I realized I have no intentions of running Cup or the Daytona 500 anytime soon. A way bigger skill gap than I imagined, and I realized that immediately.

“Obviously, I took a lot of hell from you guys and other people when this O’Reilly’s opportunity popped up. There’s a lot of reasons why I shouldn’t have the seat. But I never seeked out driving higher than ARCA. Since the opportunity came to me, absolutely. More seat time, more opportunities for me to make mistakes and get better.”

McFarland continued, “Now looking at the ultimate goal, it’s to make it to the Daytona 500, but I’m having so much fun that I think it’s gonna end up being more than that. One day I’ll race the Daytona 500. I’m in no rush. We want to just enjoy the hell out of the process, just see where we end up.”

Cleetus McFarland has competed at Daytona multiple times

It’s not likely that Cleetus McFarland will run the Daytona 500 in the near future since he began competing in NASCAR’s Truck and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this year. He made his Truck Series debut at Daytona International Speedway in February and finished 37th after getting into a wreck. The YouTube star then competed in two O’Reilly races, finishing 32nd at Rockingham and 35th at Nashville.

McFarland began competing in ARCA last year and made his debut at Daytona. He finished 30th in the race, but he bounced back in this year’s ARCA Daytona race by earning a P11 finish.

The Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s most prestigious race and is normally the first race of the Cup Series season. Denny Hamlin is the active leader in Daytona 500 wins with three, and Richard Petty is the all-time Daytona 500 wins leader with seven.