ARRETT MITCHELL , also known as the YouTube sensation “ Cleetus McFarland ,” was influenced by his dad and his involvement with cars .

“ He had a couple cool cars , but he worked at a taxi company when I was growing up , so I was always around Crown Vics ,” explains Mitchell . “ Then he owned a used car lot as well , and so I saw a lot of cool cars going in and out growing up . His [ love for cars ] was more of a work passion , but for me , it just became a life passion to work with cars kind of automatically just by being raised by him .”

At 16 years old , Mitchell found himself working with 1320Video , an internet-based automotive media company , and soon after , his path intertwined with the rise of social media .

“ I owe my whole career to the internet and social media ,” he explains . “ You know , I ’ m one of the extremely rare , lucky cases where I ’ m able to make money doing car stuff and just having fun . Social media and YouTube are the only things that made that possible , so it ’ s huge for me – it ’ s

November / December 2023 pretty much everything for me .”

Little did Mitchell know that when he attended Rocky Mountain Race Week in 2015 , his life would change . It ’ s where “ Cleetus McFarland ” was born – a literal overnight sensation – after Kyle Loftis , founder of 1320Video , posted a montage of Mitchell to Facebook being goofy , touting being “ made in America .”

But before the viral video , Mitchell loved building cars , and it was Rocky Mountain Race Week that got him hooked on the drag-and-drive scene . He even took home a win in 2022 at the event .

Other memorable moments in his career are being the first driver to run 7s in a GM car with a stick shift , being the first driver to clock in the 6-second range in a Corvette , and winning at the World Cup Finals : Import vs Domestic in “ Mullet ” – a 1986 Chevy El Camino with a 9.3L twin-turbo V8 .

“ We have a really good racing program at the McFarland Racing Shop ,” he says . “ We ’ re putting out our most high-quality vehicles ever , and we ’ ve seen a lot of success in our builds . Now we ’ re on the quest for 5s . It seems like all of our cars are getting into the 6s now , and eventually , we want to move into having a 5-second car that ’ s really competitive across the board .”

Most recently , Mitchell has found success on the track . He took home the win in Grannas Racing Stick Shift at the 27th Annual Haltech World Cup Finals Import vs Domestic in November , earning him back-to-back championships at the WCF in two different classes with two wins . In addition to his on-track performance goals , the 28-year-old has hopes for success off the track .

“ I want to bring a lot of people into drag racing ,” says Mitchell . “ I think at my events [“ Cleetus and Cars ”], we have a really strong crowd of people who ’ ve never even been to a racetrack . So we ’ re just trying to get as many people involved as we can .”

Mitchell isn ’ t quick to forget where he came from and those who helped him get there .

“ I ’ m really thankful for Kyle Loftis from 1320Video for helping me start my career ,” he says . “ I ’ m also really thankful for Texas Speed and Performance – it ’ s one of the first companies that really believed in me and got me started with company relationships and sponsors . Also , I ’ m really proud to be a part of Motion Raceworks . I own part of that company , and I think Motion Raceworks and TBM Brakes are on a huge trajectory to be insanely large businesses , and I ’ m pumped for that .”

After all of the success that Mitchell has had , he ’ s shares what keeps him motivated and not resting on his laurels .

“ I would say 90 % of my motivation comes from wanting to win races and competitions ,” Mitchell explains . “ Then the other 10 % comes from my love for cars .” – KAYLA ZADEL DI

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