Ever since Cleetus McFarland and Richard Childress Racing announced their deal, NASCAR has been a target of criticism from fans and drivers alike. After all, he had just one Truck race and four ARCA starts to his name before being approved to race in the O\u2019Reilly Series in Rockingham. However, NASCAR decided against giving him the approval in Talladega, and President Steve O\u2019Donnell has finally revealed the next steps the YouTuber\/driver has to follow.<\/p>\n
NASCAR President comments on approval process for Cleetus McFarland<\/p>\n
During a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, O\u2019Donnell revealed the pathway McFarland would have to follow to start his racing journey in tougher tracks.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of every race. So, now, he\u2019ll go to the next race. We\u2019ll see. Obviously, there\u2019s some progression we need to see,\u201d said O\u2019Donnell. \u201cI applaud the team. Look, it\u2019s a tough call. He\u2019s a hugely popular driver. But these are the best drivers in the world, and we\u2019ve got to make sure that we\u2019ve got the right guys out there. There\u2019s always controversy of who\u2019s approved, who\u2019s not approved, but I think it was the right call. Let\u2019s see how he does it in the next race. Certainly, we\u2019d like to see him keep progressing. But he\u2019s got to do it the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n
McFarland is one of the biggest names in the American motorsports landscape. He has a YouTube subscriber base of over 4 million, and nearly 1 million followers on Instagram. A big argument from those who support his cause in NASCAR is that the sport itself can benefit from his fandom.<\/p>\n
However, his critics argue that his lack of experience can hurt other drivers and their race results. This was almost the case during the Truck race at Daytona when his first stage spin came to the detriment of a lot of other drivers. Despite that, he was approved for the O\u2019Reilly race at Rockingham.<\/p>\n
In the build-up to that, he grabbed a lot of headlines with a 4th place finish in the ARCA race at Rockingham. But in the O\u2019Reilly race, he finished outside the top 30 again.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Therefore him getting approved for the O\u2019Reilly race was something Freddie Kraft had an objection with, which he mentioned to Steve O\u2019Donnell during the DBC podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of talking about how great he did in the ARCA race, we\u2019re talking about, \u2018Did he do enough to get approved?’\u201dremarked Kraft.<\/p>\n
He suggested McFarland to run more ARCA races, learn the craft of stock car racing, and become a better driver. He added that the YouTuber would have to show more to support his cause, which was also the argument NASCAR made in denying him approval for Talladega.<\/p>\n
This was, however, not the first time NASCAR came under fire for approving an inexperienced driver.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
NASCAR was criticized for their approval process in 2025 by a Cup regular<\/p>\n
Following the Cup race at Phoenix, Daniel Suarez called out NASCAR\u2019s approval process as his race result suffered because of Cup debutant Katherine Legge. The Trackhouse driver was on course for his first top 10 finish of the season when Legge\u2019s spin ahead of him led to contact, ending Legge\u2019s race and causing damage to Suarez\u2019s car.<\/p>\n