YouTube career
On January 28, 2009, Mitchell started his YouTube channel, around the same time he became the social media manager for car media company 1320Video. [3] He eventually left 1320Video to pursue a full-time career with his own YouTube channel. [4]
In 2015, Mitchell adopted the moniker "Cleetus McFarland" after a character he created that went viral at the annual Rocky Mountain Race Week with Tom Bailey. The name Cleetus was quickly adopted by his YouTube channel and is now how he is most referred to, rarely hearing his real name used outside of close friends and family.
Mitchell would then go on to create a bodyless Chevrolet Corvette C5 with an exo-cage named "Leroy". Leroy built a major fan following online, winning numerous trophies and setting both personal and world records. After finding career success as a YouTube content creator and racing enthusiast, he built a purpose-built race car from a Chevrolet El Camino known as "Mullet". [3]
Freedom Factory
In January 2020, Mitchell bought the abandoned Desoto Speedway, a 3/8 mi Asphalt Oval & Figure 8 Track in Manatee County, Florida, [5] [6] and later renamed the track to Freedom Factory. [7]
During one of Mitchell's "Cleetus and Cars" events in November 2020, Parker Whitlock suffered third-degree burns due to a radiator hose explosion. [8] Until this event, drivers that entered the competition were not required to be wearing a full fire suit. During Whitlock's burnout in his bodyless Ford Mustang, a radiator hose routed past the driver exploded. Because Whitlock was only wearing a hoodie and shorts, he suffered third-degree burns and required multiple skin grafts. [9]
In addition, ahead of the November 2020 “Cleetus & Cars” event, Mitchell publicly downplayed the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic [10] , stating that he believed the threat had been exaggerated and that restrictions on public gatherings were excessive. [11] After contracting COVID-19 later that year, Mitchell said that his experience with the illness “really wasn’t anything to worry about.” [12] He also said that he proceeded with holding the event in part due to financial pressures related to operating the track and commitments to sponsors and participants. [13]
Racing career
Stadium Super Trucks
On April 6, 2022, it was announced on The Checkered Flag that Mitchell would make his debut in the Stadium Super Trucks at Long Beach, California, racing the No. 1776 truck as Cleetus McFarland. [4] In the weekend's second of two races, he was leading on the final lap, poised to take the victory until the last jump, when he spun out after his truck hit the ground, leaving Robby Gordon to claim the win. [14] Another attempt came at the Music City Grand Prix in August, but he was involved in crashes in both races; the second race saw him get squeezed into the wall while racing Gavin Harlien and Robert Stout, causing him to flip onto his roof. [15] He invited the trucks to his Bristol 1000 at Bristol Motor Speedway a month later, where he finished third in Race 2. [16]
Drag racing
On November 6, 2022, Mitchell & his crew won 1st place after eliminating Carlos Olivo in the McLeod Racing Warriors VS Tres Cuarto category of the 26th Annual Haltech World Cup Finals Import & Domestic Drag Races in the 4 day event. His Chevrolet El Camino (Mullet) managed an elapsed time of 6.474 seconds at a top speed of 222.95 mph on the final round of the elimination race. [17]
Returning to the event in 2023, he won in the Grannas Racing Stick Shift class driving his body-less Chevrolet Corvette "Leroy" with time of 7.325 and speed of 203.95 mph in the finals. [18]
ARCA Menards Series
2026
After the race at Bristol, it was confirmed that Mitchell will return to ARCA in 2026 on a partial schedule. [26]
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