After making a handful of starts in the ARCA Menard's Series race last year, Cleetus McFarland (real name Garrett Mitchell) made the jump up into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the 2026 season-opener.
Making his Truck Series debut with Niece Motorsports, Mitchell was running inside the top ten early in the event, but he never got the opportunity to do much as his race came to an abrupt end after just six laps.
Running around tenth on the inside, Mitchell got loose at the exit of Turn 4 and began to wobble. He eventually lost traction and the No. 4 Chevrolet Silverado spun sideways, impacting the inside wall at the entrance of the pit lane with the driver's door.
It then ripped through the infield grass before coming to a halt. "I'm all good," radioed Mitchell. "That was a hard knock but Im good."
He was the only driver involved in the incident, and will likely finish 37th (last). He starts fifth in the ARCA season-opener at Daytona on Saturday.
"I'm an idiot"
Another look at what happened to Cleetus McFarland. pic.twitter.com/qd50NLAJhH
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 14, 2026
"The sensation was incredible," said Mitchell after being released from the infield care center. "We were three wide, which was insane from the start. It was immediately three-wide, which I wasn't expecting. It was insane. I was having the time of my life. I just did not check myself before I wrecked myself. I got loose out of Turn 4, and I was flying. I put too much wheel in it because I was getting tight because were freaking three wide on the second lap on. I think I only made it seven laps.
"I was a little tight, and I was just trying not to hit the guy on the outside. I came off Turn 4, flattened out, and I think I had too much wheel in it. I just started to get loose. I went right towards the field, and I'm like damn, I'm about to wreck 30 race cars, and I overcorrected to the left like an idiot. That's something Biff (Greg Biffle) did not teach me right there. I went left, put myself on a trajectory to hit the wall. Slammed into the wall, wrecked the truck, and now here I stand in the worst spot to do an interview at the Daytona International Speedway."
Read Also:“I did not check myself before I wrecked myself.”- Cleetus https://t.co/LDTtbL5MXSpic.twitter.com/ycHxBTyKea
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 14, 2026
Is NASCAR going to let Garrett Mitchell be Cleetus McFarland?
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