Climbing the NASCAR ladder isn’t easy, especially for a YouTuber-turned-driver. And the Nashville O’Reilly race on Saturday just proved it. But in Cleetus McFarland’s dictionary, there’s no such thing as quitting.

McFarland got unlucky before the race even began as he started from the bottom (38^th) due to the washed-out qualifications. And then a series of mishaps just ruined his day, which saw him finish below 30 in his second consecutive O’Reilly race.

Still, it wasn’t enough to let him down.

"I ain't gonna give up, I'm gonna figure this out," said an optimistic McFarland after the race.

Starting from the 38^th position, McFarland drove well initially with some help from his Richard Childress Racing teammate Jesse Love to reach P29. But just when he became the Lucky Dog on Track, Cleetus spun sideways.

“All it takes is one [expletive] spin," said Cleetus on the radio.

Instead of coming back onto the lead lap, he fell down to P36. By Stage 2, he ended at P35. And as the stages kept going, his lap-downs kept increasing.

As he was three laps down later, he dragged the jack off the pit road. McFarland got a penalty, but his woes still don’t end here.

While serving it, McFarland again spun out on the pit road entrance, adding another penalty to his cart for a line violation. This made an already bad day worse.

By the time he finished the race, McFarland was six laps down.

"Well, I made a lot more mistakes than I wanted to," radioed McFarland. "I really screwed us spinning out. I wasn't expecting him to s*** the air off my car so bad and I lost it."

Nonetheless, the No. 33 driver maturely took it all on himself and defended his team, saying, "Thank you guys, I apologize for the mistakes. I'm learning so much, and I know it's at the mercy of your guys hard work."

This loss at Nashville was a tough pill to swallow, especially when you see his record in the season so far. At Rockingham, where he debuted in his O’Reilly race, he finished 32^nd. See this, even NASCAR disapproved of him running the crown jewel race at Talladega.

But interestingly, Talladega itself brought some redemption, not in an O’Reilly race but in the ARCA one, where he almost won the race, finishing runner-up.

However, speaking of Nashville, his results may have been forgettable, but his personality wasn't, as it made Dale Jr. share a moment with him on the track, who spoke about him later.

Dale Jr’s words of praise for the rising star

Junior, a veteran driver of the sport, saw past his race-day failures and admired McFarland's character. In the post-race presser where JR Motorsports celebrated Justin Allgaier’s fourth win of the season, Junior didn’t miss giving his two cents on McFarland.

"He's such a great dude, and I'll be honest, I feel like I've gotten to talk to him when the cameras are off, and he's such a great guy. He truly just wants to come in here and he doesn't want to be the story for all the wrong reasons.”

“He knows he's got a long way to come before he can really find the speed to perform, and I think his opportunities in ARCA are incredible opportunities for him to continue to improve as a driver.”

McFarland will need all the confidence boost he can get with such words as he gears up for his next stint, which is a double-header at Michigan.

He will first run in the ARCA Menards Series race on June 5 in the No. 30 Ford Mustang for Rette Jones Racing, followed by the No. 4 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series on June 6.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Suyashdeep Sason

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason