Cleetus McFarland has been in the headlines for quite some time now. The NASCAR world can’t get enough of the influencer-racer finishing top 5 in ARCA. The fact that he did not crash even after sliding four times in his debut O’Reilly race at Rockingham is already surprising insiders and experts.
At least these runs have given hope that McFarland has potential. Veteran driver Mark Martin has already approved of his talent. However, Bubba Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft, partially seconds this motion.
Why Freddie Kraft Says Cleetus McFarland Needs to ‘Learn to Race’
While Kraft believes McFarland has potential, he is sure that it will take more than a few practice runs to get him in shape. On a recent episode of the “Door Bumper Clear” podcast, he shared his thoughts.
“I think he can drive. He’s got to learn how to race,” Kraft said, emphasizing the initial development. And he has his reasons.
He explained, “I thought he exceeded my expectations in the ARCA race. I wasn’t expecting, I figured he’d run top 10 like he had been. Ran top five. Your buddy Squirrel [McNutt], he ran top 10, too. I think those guys are perfect for that series. Like that’s ideal for them.”
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The veteran spotter then agreed with Martin’s perspective about the Richard Childress Racing rookie:
“Like Mark said, I think he met my expectations in the O’Reilly race. I don’t think if you were expecting him to do much more than that, you were kind of foolish. Obviously, you can’t say this after the fact. Luckily, the 25 wasn’t there.”
Kraft said, “He wouldn’t have made the race. He would have went home. He maybe tries a little harder in qualifying. If the 25 is there, which who knows if that would have worked out well, but you know he accomplished what he needed to do in the middle part of the after.”
Wallace’s spotter then spoke about McFarland’s poor decision, which could have ended his day early:
“Of course, you see poor decision, again right off the jump, dives bottom of three wide on lap three. Like the only thing you can’t do in this race, crash early. And he said, he goes, ‘I lost my mind. I blacked out.’ He said, ‘I just drove in there and almost wrecked.’ And he’s like, ‘So, but from that point to, you know, the rest of the race for a little while, you didn’t hear from him.'”
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He then explained McFarland’s primary purpose in the sport: publicity.
Freddie said, “We don’t usually hear about the 33rd place guy that’s three laps down, but you saw him on TV a couple times more than you would normally. Um, but that’s good. That’s what he’s there for essentially.”
Where the tides turn later on will be great to watch. But will McFarland make it to the big leagues in the next two seasons?
