While the teenage phenom, Tristan McKee, dominated and took the win, Cleetus McFarland had a career-best day behind the wheel. On Saturday, Cleetus earned his first top-five finish of his NASCAR career in the ARCA East race.
It might be a regional development series, but Cleetus McFarland kept the car under him and you could argue that he made strides on the track. P4 at the finish today, the YouTuber stayed on the lead lap and competed against a few talented young development drivers.
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Carson Brown, a Richard Childress Racing development driver, finished P2 today. Not a bad showing for the RCR pairing. Now, Cleetus takes on the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Cleetus McFarland at Daytona International Speedway.(Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
((Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images))
This was a great result for Cleetus McFarland. In his post-race interview, he talked about gaining confidence, and he should feel confident. He was laying down consistent lap times that were just a few tenths off of the leaders.
McFarland benefitted from the mistfortune of a couple of other drivers. One of the favorites, Max Reaves, and another top driver in qualifying, Gavan Boschele had issues on the track that put them multiple laps down. Boschele hit the wall and was out of the race early.
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That is part of racing, though. Being able to finish all of the laps is critical to earning good finishes. Cleetus McFarland kept his car clean, kept it out of the wall, and he was rewarded with his first top-five finish in ARCA or NASCAR competition. Not a bad day.
In the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts race, McFarland will have a huge task ahead of him. Starting P35, he will have a lot of traffic to race though, and won’t benefit from there only being seven or eight fast cars.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Apr 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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