Mark McFarland

Last updated
Mark McFarland
Mark McFarland with Blue Angels.jpg
McFarland at Naval Air Facility El Centro in 2006
BornMark M. McFarland
(1978-02-01) February 1, 1978 (age 46)
Winchester, Virginia, U.S.
Achievements2003 Dodge Weekly Series Champion
2008 Hooters Pro Cup Series Southern Division Champion
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
31 races run over 6 years
Best finish30th (2006)
First race 1998 Gumout Long Life Formula 200 (Loudon)
Last race 2006 Kroger 200 (IRP)
WinsTop tens Poles
010
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
11 races run over 3 years
Best finish36th (2004)
First race 2003 Virginia Is For Lovers 200 (Richmond)
Last race 2005 Silverado 350K (Texas)
WinsTop tens Poles
010
Statistics current as of November 25, 2012.

Mark M. McFarland (born February 1, 1978) is an American former NASCAR driver and current crew chief. He works for Spire Motorsports as the crew chief of their No. 77 Chevrolet SS in the ARCA Menards Series driven by Corey Day. In 2021, he won championships in both the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East with Ty Gibbs and Sammy Smith, respectively, as crew chief of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 car. In 2022, he and Smith won their second consecutive East Series championship, with the No. 18 car as a Kyle Busch Motorsports entry.

Contents

Racing career

Early career

McFarland's first LMSC win in 1996 Mark's 1st win LMSC.jpg
McFarland's first LMSC win in 1996

At the age of eight, he began his racing career, racing go-karts. He earned a factory ride after his first year of racing. In 1994, his karting career ended with 10 National Championships and 14 State Championships to his name.

At the end of 1995, he started racing late models at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Virginia. He was rookie of the year in 1996, and finished third in points. In the 1997 season, he captured 9 wins, and 27 top 10 finishes, at several tracks throughout the south. He finished second at points at Old Dominion.

NASCAR

Weekly series

In 2003, driving an asphalt Late Model Stock Car McFarland won 16 of his 18 starts at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Virginia. This earned him the national championship of the NASCAR Weekly Series, as well as the track championship.

As part of the 25th anniversary of the NASCAR Weekly Series in 2006, McFarland was named one of the series' All Time Top 25 drivers. [1]

National series

McFarland's 1998 Carolina Shoe Chevy 82BGN2.jpg
McFarland's 1998 Carolina Shoe Chevy
McFarland when he drove for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Mark McFarland.JPG
McFarland when he drove for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
McFarland piloting the No. 88 in 2006 US Navy 060216 N-5862D-158 Mark McFarland drives the NASCAR Busch No. 88 during a practice session at the Daytona International Speedway.jpg
McFarland piloting the No. 88 in 2006

In 1998, he ran select NASCAR Busch Series events, along with 15 late model races throughout the east coast. He qualified for several Busch Series events. In 1999, he did not run any NASCAR events, but finished fourth in points at Old Dominion, and set a new track and LMSC record of 15.222 (88.687 MPH), which still stands today. He continued to run late model and off and on Busch Series events through the 2003 season, when he won the national championship for LMSC in NASCAR. In 2004, he raced first for Jim Harris in the Craftsman Truck Series in the Harris Trucking Dodge. Then about mid season, he was picked to be one of the 4 Hungry Driver drivers in Tommy Baldwin Racing's No. 6 Busch Series Dodge's.

He then moved into the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series in 2005 driving the Winfuel No. 32 Chevy for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ken Barlow hand-picked Jefferson Hodges as the teams crew chief, saying, "Jefferson did a fabulous job building and leading this new team with knowledge and a true craftsmanship".

In 2006, McFarland was hired to drive the No. 88 United States Navy Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Busch Series. He was injured while running in the top 10 at the Milwaukee Mile and missed the next two races at Daytona International Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway. He had dislocated his shoulder and also injured some of the muscles around it.

Following the Kroger 200, he was released from his driving duties of the No. 88 U.S. Navy Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. would drive the car in the next race at Watkins Glen International and Robby Gordon drove it in subsequent races at Michigan International Speedway and California Speedway. Shane Huffman, also from the Hooters Pro Cup Series, drove the remaining races in the No. 88.

Crew chiefing career

McFarland served as a crew chief for Ben Rhodes when Rhodes won the 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season. For 2015, McFarland served as crew chief for Justin Haley's East Series team.

He served as the general manager for his partly-owned team, MDM Motorsports, for two years. The team would close down prior to the 2019 season. McFarland would then join Joe Gibbs Racing as the team's crew chief for its ARCA Menards Series No. 18 car, driven by Riley Herbst, Ty Gibbs and Todd Gilliland. He won the 2021 main ARCA Series championship with Gibbs and the 2021 ARCA Menards Series East championship with Sammy Smith. In 2022, McFarland remained the crew chief of the No. 18 car in ARCA, now owned by Kyle Busch Motorsports. With Ty Gibbs moving up to the Xfinity Series full-time in 2022, Drew Dollar and Sammy Smith shared the car in the main ARCA Series and Smith drove the car full-time in the East Series. Smith and McFarland won their second consecutive East Series championship together that year.

On January 9, 2025, it was announced that McFarland would move to Spire Motorsports in 2025 to crew chief their new ARCA entry, the No. 77 car, driven by Corey Day, a Hendrick Motorsports development driver. [2]

Personal life

McFarland now lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia with his wife and 4 sons. He and his wife Kitty opened a Nothing Bundt Cakes bakery location in the town in 2023. [3] They followed in the footsteps of NASCAR on Fox pit reporter Jamie Little, who is also a Nothing Bundt Cakes franchise owner in the Indianapolis area. [4]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
YearTeamNo.Make1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435NBSCPtsRef
1998 McFarland Racing 82 Chevy DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY TAL NHA
37		 NZH
29		 CLT DOV RCH
29		 PPR GLN MLW
34		 MYB CAL SBO IRP
DNQ		 MCH BRI DAR RCH
DNQ		 DOV CLT GTY CAR ATL HOM 68th265 [5]
2000 Petty-Huggins Motorsports 96 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSV TAL CAL RCH NHA CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NZH PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH
38		 DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO 111th49 [6]
84 HOM
DNQ
2001 Joe Gibbs Racing 20 Pontiac DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH
20		 DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM 103rd103 [7]
2004 Tommy Baldwin Racing 6 Dodge DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL GTY RCH NZH CLT
22		 DOV
23		 NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI CAL RCH
16		 DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO DAR HOM 73rd306 [8]
2005 JR Motorsports 88 Chevy DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL NSH BRI TEX PHO TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM
20		148th- [9]
2006 DAY
22		 CAL
30		 MXC
15		 LVS
27		 ATL
15		 BRI
31		 TEX
23		 NSH
33		 PHO
16		 TAL
7		 RCH
34		 DAR
18		 CLT
33		 DOV
30		 NSH
22		 KEN
26		 MLW
33		 DAY CHI NHA
11		 MAR
16		 GTY
25		 IRP
17		 GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 30th1975 [10]

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
YearTeamNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425NCTCPtsRef
2003 Green Light Racing 07 Chevy DAY DAR MMR MAR CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI RCH
12		 NHA CAL LVS SBO TEX 67th306 [11]
Dean Motorsports 55 Dodge MAR
15		 PHO HOM
34
2004 HT Motorsports 59 Dodge DAY ATL MAR
21		 MFD
6		 CLT
28		 DOV
35		 TEX MEM
33		 MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP
29		 NSH
29		 BRI RCH
DNQ		 NHA LVS CAL TEX MAR PHO DAR HOM 36th603 [12]
2005 Ken Schrader Racing 52 Chevy DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY MFD CLT DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS MAR ATL
DNQ		82nd73 [13]
Green Light Racing 07 Chevy TEX
30		 PHO HOM

Camping World East Series

NASCAR Camping World East Series results
YearTeamNo.Make12345678910111213NCWESCPtsRef
2007 Pete Knight81 Chevy GRE ELK IOW SBO STA NHA TMP NSH ADI LRP MFD NHA
22		 DOV 67th102 [14]
2008 GRE IOW
10		 SBO GLN NHA TMP NSH ADI LRP MFD NHA DOV STA 60th134 [15]

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References

  1. ↑ Schaefer, Paul. Where Stars Are Born: Celebrating 25 Years of NASCAR Weekly Racing, pp. 163-170. Coastal 181, Newburyport, Massachusetts: 2006; ISBN   0-9789261-0-2
  2. ↑ Srigley, Joseph (January 9, 2025). "Corey Day Joins Spire Motorsports for Select ARCA, Truck Races in 2025". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  3. ↑ Bartholomew, Mandy (April 18, 2023). "Former NASCAR driver finds new pace with Nothing Bundt Cakes business in Harrisonburg". WHSV-TV . Gray Media . Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Co-Owner of Nothing Bundt Cakes Leaves NASCAR for Bakery Life".
  5. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 2004 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 2005 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 2006 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 2007 NASCAR Busch East Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Mark McFarland – 2008 NASCAR Camping World East Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
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