What NASCAR O'Reilly Series field expects of Cleetus McFarland at Rockingam

When it comes to the YouTuber known as Cleetus McFarland making his NASCAR O’Reilly Series debut this weekend at Rockingham Speedway, future NASCAR Hall of Famer Rodney Childers articulated the benefits and potential concerns as well as anyone.

“We need the publicity and we need the personalities,” Childers told Motorsport.com on Friday morning. “You know, we have a lot of drivers these days that are kind of ‘blah’ and it’s awesome that Cleetus has the following that he has and I am thankful that he’s here.

“However, is he going to struggle? Yes, he is going to struggle and if he finishes the race, that would be a miracle, and that’s just being honest, right?”

Childers, now the crew chief for Carson Kvapil at JR Motorsports, went on to say that he ‘loves Cleetus to death but it’s going to be tough’ and just doesn’t want to see anyone get caught-up in a potential mistake.

“We don’t need the drama and he doesn’t either,” Childers said.

Childers is comforted by the fact that this is being done with Richard Childress Racing because there is confidence that the tenured organization will ensure that everything is treated with the utmost respect.

“That’s the most important part, that he is with good people that can coach him and teach him, having a good spotter,” Childers said. “Just people that really understand the sport and will tell him out to get out of the way and stuff like that.”

A very different challenge

His teammate, Kvapil, says the biggest concern is just how much harder to drive the NOAPS car is compared to ARCA and Trucks. These cars are extremely aero-sensitive and are light in the back.

“I feel like those cars are pretty stuck in the racetrack and these O’Reilly cars are pretty out of the race track,” Kvapil said. “When you get around other cars, they really get out of the race track, and it’s hard. We see veteran guys with experience spin out due to the air, and these are guys that know what they’re doing — and they aren’t even making their first start like Cleetus — so that is going to be tough for him.

“It’ll be interesting to see. I wish him the best. I just need to steer clear of him, I guess you could say. Let’s get through practice and qualifying and see how he’s doing but it’s definitely a lot different with 37 cars out there than by yourself.”

“I don’t want to be racing around him”

Jeb Burton had the bluntest expectation.

“To be honest, and no offense to him, I don’t want to be racing around him,” Burton said. “I want to be running up front and I don’t expect him to be running up front right now. He shouldn’t be, right? He just started racing.

“Hopefully we can have a good day and just finish. I think that’s hopefully his first priority too, racing these guys with respect and not doing something dumb to hurt one of our days. Other than that, it’s not a bad thing that he’s in the sport and brings a lot of eye balls.”

This is kind of where his cousin, Harrison, leans too.

“I think he knows where he is at, right,” said the younger Burton. “He knows that. I think he’s got this big personality but there’s this other side to him, where he has to know he’s in over his head, right?

“Not in a bad way, but he’s learning, and being thrown to the wolves. I don’t expect anything crazy but he’s raced enough to at least to know the etiquette. Hopefully we’re fast enough to not have to be worried about it.”

Just finish the race

What Cleetus most needs to avoid is what happened in his Truck Series debut at Daytona, where he got loose and spun from inside the top 10. He was fortunate that he was able to avoid contact with anyone else but destroyed his car in the process.

Allgaier just wants him, for everyone’s sake, to just finish the race without incident.

“Look, Daytona for him, that was a tough situation, right,” Allgaier said. “He wedged himself near the front of the field. That was lap 5, 6 or 6, whatever the number was but it was a 250-mile race so he lost out on all of those miles, right?

“Those are learning experiences that he can’t get back. So, my advice to everyone is always just ‘finish the race.’ Realistically, it doesn’t matter if you finish dead last but get the experience. Don’t put yourself in the most difficult positions, but realistically test yourself, push yourself to be better. He’s just going to have to learn. He’s run some ARCA races, so he has that experience and it will help, but this is going to be different.

“I think he can. I think he can go out there and have fun and learn. I think he is capable of having a productive weekend.”

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Sam Mayer, of Haas Factory Team, isn’t concerned at all.

“I’m not worried,” he said. “He got six to eight hours of testing and you can absolutely get a feel for it at just one racetrack. I think he’ll do good. He, obviously, doesn’t have the experience to run up front with these guys but I bet he is going to soak up as much as he can. I’m curious to see how he does.”

Childers wants to see him treat this race as if he were in an underfunded car and improve on something that happened last year when William Sawalich drove into the back of Katherine Legge.

He just didn’t say it by name.

“I was rewatching the race here last year (and) one of those wrecks was somebody just not explaining how to get out of the way and it wasn’t the drivers fault as much as everyone involved in that situation,” Childers said. “So, I think Cleetus has the right people around him and can coach him on how to get through that situation.”

Kvapil said Cleetus needs to be ‘eyes forward’ and just hyper aware.

“If he somehow gets cycled to the front half of the field at the end of the stage, he needs to back off a little bit and realize there is going to be a lot of stuff happening,” Kvapil said. “It’s going to be a lot going on all at once.

“So wherever he rides, whether it’s near the front, or the middle, I just hope he’s smart and lifts early and knows what the expect with the air. If he does all of that, I don’t have any problems with this.”

Lastly, Allgaier thinks he has the tools to do all of that.

“He understands how to race really well,” Allgaier said. “Like, I don’t have any issues with that. Will he have speed? That’s to be seen. He’s raced enough cars that he’s started to develop some race craft.

“But at this level, he’s going to have to focus on the detailed stuff that is so unique to our sport. Hopefully for him, this is a bucket list item, and he does everything right and wants to come back and do it again.

“If he does, that’s going to bring more attention and sponsors to our sport. It’s going to supplement what all of us have going on. It’s going to be great for everyone. There are a lot of positives. Everyone just has to put in the work to make sure it goes the way he wants it, and really, all of us want it to go.”

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