NASCAR Makes Decision on Cleetus McFarland’s Daytona Eligibility

Good news for Cleetus McFarland and Niece Motorsports. The YouTube personality and part-time racer has been approved by NASCAR for the Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona.

Last year, Cleetus McFarland competed in a few ARCA races. That included the season opener at Daytona where he finished P30 in a DNF effort. He bounced back for a P10 finish at Talladega not long after.

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NASCAR took his experience into consideration and figured he’s going to be fine to compete in the Daytona Truck Series race. He will try to get the No. 4 Niece Motorsports Chevy into the big show. The entire Niece program will have Greg Biffle font numbers for the Daytona weekend.

When Cleetus McFarland races, eyeballs usually follow. He has had his own in-car camera streaming his races on his YouTube channel in the past. NASCAR has leaned into promoting those things when McFarland races and works to build the relationship with the YouTuber and his fanbase.

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With only a few races in the ARCA Menards Series, is it too much too soon for Cleetus? That remains to be seen. Garrett Mitchell, McFarland’s actual name, will be the one driving. Of course, Cleetus will be the one we hear on the radio and during the TV interviews.

It is no secret that McFarland was close friends with the late Greg Biffle. Biffle and his family and friends on the December 18 flight were on their way to spend time with McFarland and his family when the deadly crash happened.

Biffle gave McFarland tips and helped him ease into the ARCA car last season. Now, McFarland will do his best to honor his friend with his No. 4 truck at Daytona. It will be a lot of fun to keep up with Cleetus at Daytona this week and see if he can make the big race in the Truck Series.

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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Feb 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.