Drag Illustrated Issue 141, February 2019 | Page 66

PLAY TIME Mitchell’s garage is loaded with cars, parts, projects and all sorts of other gadgets. It’s also a dream come true for Mitchell and his close-knit group of friends who are having the time of their lives each day. hatched in 2015 at Rocky Mountain Drag Week. The character – with ‘Murica oozing out of his pores – went viral overnight and Mitchell had found his path. He started “Cleetus’ Garage” on 1320Video and before long Mitchell had his own YouTube channel that catered to his growing fan- base. “That is the foundation of what built my channel today,” Mitchell says. “I learned skills, I was able to gain a following and Kyle basically threw me out of the tree and said, ‘fly.’” Now, Mitchell produces multiple videos every week on the hijinx of his daily life in the sport and the off-the-wall cars involved in them. He took viewers on an emotional, thrilling ride last year as “Leroy”, the salvage-titled Corvette, finally became the first GM-powered stick shift car to make a 7-second ride when it went 7.824 at 176.57 mph in August. Around three million people have watched Mitchell buy his latest Corvette – one with a truck engine in it – and his burnouts in everything from “Project Neighbor” to his Dale Earnhardt truck have become massive hits on his channel. 66 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com With his popularity continuing to boom, Mitch- ell talked with Drag Illustrated about how he built a massive following on the basis of storytell- ing, why interest in the sport may be higher than ever and what the future holds for the captivating YouTube star. This story has such a fascinating, humble be- ginning and certainly something you never could have expected, especially as you compare it to the full-length videos you create now. What do you remember about how Cleetus came to be? I did this video right in front of Tom Bailey’s 6-second Camaro that he brought to Rocky Mountain Race Week (in 2015). Basically I stood there and said, “I just want you guys to know my car is made in America and so am I,” and I did this goofy redneck accent and Kyle just blurts out this name, “We’re standing here with Cleetus McFar- land,” so I do this whole goofy little skit. I thought it was pretty fun, but you’re like, whatever. So I go to sleep and Kyle edits up this video he took on his cellphone and he posts it on his Facebook page that had around 2 million followers at that time. I wake up at around 8 a.m. – five hours later – and my phone was just exploding. There were nearly a million views of the video already. It literally went the definition of viral and pretty much from that day on I was known as Cleetus. It’s been pretty amazing. Throughout this process of building a follow- ing and creating this Cleetus persona, you’ve surely discovered a few methods to stand out and develop content. What have you found has worked for you in creating a connection with drag racing fans? Probably the number one thing is positivity and remaining positive no matter what happens, because shit happens. We’re devoted to keeping a smile on our faces and moving forward. There’s just so many times on my channel where I’m leading people into something as epic as I can make it and a head gasket blows or a transmission breaks. You take that hard sometimes, like you let down the world, and it’s all about positivity. Issue 141