Drag Illustrated Issue 141, February 2019 | Page 70

GARRETT MITCHELL CLEETUS’ TOYS Mitchell stands in front of three of the cars that have helped make him a star in the sport. All have a story and Mitchell has done an incredible job of telling it to his fans. classes. It’s so fun. You’re back in the pits and everyone is talking about what’s in their car, and vendors are there talking about their products. I think the street car market is incredible and it’s on fire right now. Your videos get an instant reaction these days and it’s not uncommon for them to reach a million views overnight. That still has to be a massive thrill for you. What goes through your mind during this process, when you see a video take off instantly? It’s so unbelievable, man. I’m just blessed to be in the position I am in. There’s so many people to thank for it and so many people have taught me so many things, including all my sponsors who dove in blindly with me with this. There’s so many good people in this sport and so many passionate fans who have helped me through the rough times when parts are flying and things are going crazy. It’s totally surreal, man, and I couldn’t be happier with my job. With your position and popularity, you’re now a big part of bringing new people into the sport, almost like a beacon of hope for drag racing in a sense. Do you view that as pressure? I don’t look at it as pressure because no matter what happens I’m going to do my same thing every day. I don’t think there’s pressure. I don’t 70 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com have anyone who tells me what to do because we don’t have any corporate people above us and that’s the way we want it. We’re just doing what any other guy would do. I try to keep it as pure as possible and I don’t feel like there’s any pressure because it’s real life to me. Looking into the future, do you have aspira- tions to drive competitively, whether it’s a Top Sportsman car or something else? I’d be silly to give up what I have to go to work for a team that could control me. I would probably love driving a faster car. I live for adrenaline, but I would be silly to give up how much fun we have every day to work for a team. What about your own team? Would you want to start your operation? I don’t want to get to that point. I like my junkyard car and I like my ghetto Pro Mod Corvette and I like my jet car that I’m building. I don’t want to be the fastest car on the planet, I just want to enter- tain people. When you look at the sport overall, is it something where you consider yourself a fan? Do you follow NHRA and are there drivers that really stand out to you there? I think the NHRA cars are unbelievable and those teams work so hard. The NHRA, just like everyone else in the drag racing community, is going to have to adapt to the new movement of everything. As far as racers go, “Stevie Fast” (Jackson) is the man. I’m actually hoping to do a video with him soon. A guy in your position with a tremendous fan following, is there advice you would give to a guy like “Stevie Fast” or another top driver to continue to try to reach a new segment of fans in the sport? I think some of those cars can be unrelatable in certain aspects because of how gnarly they are, but those guys are so good. They know those cars in and out and I think they could still do exactly what I do. In his videos, “Stevie Fast” started ex- plaining what they do in a way everybody could understand, so I think someone like him could be successful doing something like what I do, and I think he already is. It’s just a matter of making Issue 141