TRUCKS: Early mistake causes Cleetus McFarland to crash out of NASCAR debut
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
SCREENSHOT: FS1
Cleetus McFarland picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s Fresh From Florida 250 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #4 Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet crashed after he completed 5 of the race’s 102 laps.
The finish came in McFarland’s series debut. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 9th for the #4, the 59th for Toyota, and the 205th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 78th for the #4, the 432nd for Toyota, and the 1,442nd due to a crash.
For Cleetus McFarland (the “Talladega Nights” inspired moniker of one Garrett Mitchell), Friday marked both a proud and emotional moment. The prolific and patriotic YouTuber would make his NASCAR national series debut, landing a ride in one of four Truck Series entries fielded by Al Niece at Niece Motorsports (his replacing Niece’s former #41 team). He secured his approval from NASCAR just days before the race, following a successful but physical test at Rockingham. But he would do so with a heavy heart following the tragic death of friend and mentor Greg Biffle, who died with his family and three others in a plane crash two months ago. McFarland and the three other Niece entries would carry door numbers resembling Biffle’s iconic #16, representing four of ten such tributes between the Cup and Truck Series races. McFarland, who spoke at Biffle’s memorial service, would also carry a special decal on his red-white-and-blue truck’s rear decklid.
At Daytona, McFarland ranked 23rd of the 37 who took part in opening practice with a speed of 50.061 seconds (179.781mph). When all 44 of the entrants took time in qualifying, he jumped to an impressive 12th with a speed of 51.459 seconds (174.897mph), just 37-thousandths of a second from a spot in Round 2. In all, seven teams failed to qualify. Fastest of the DNQs was Bryan Dauzat for Jim Rosenblum’s FDNY Racing, whose #28 O.B. Builders Door & Trim Chevrolet was just under two-tenths from making the field. Joining him were the following, each more than a second off the pole speed: Timmy Hill in the #56 Coble Enterprises Toyota, Justin S. Carroll in the #90 Carroll’s Automotive Chevrolet Tyler Tomassi in Carl Long’s #69 Tomassi Law LLC / MD Racing Network Ford, Norm Benning in the #6 Insurable, Inc. Chevrolet, Toni Breidinger in the #27 Raising Cane’s Chevrolet, and Greg Van Alst in his #35 Top Choice Fence Chevrolet.
Thanks to the OEM provisionals introduced by NASCAR to accommodate Kaulig RAM Racing’s five-truck lineup for RAM’s return to the series, the starting field consisted of 37 trucks instead of the usual 36. That final spot belonged to “Race for the Seat” reality show contest winner Timothy “Mini” Tyrrell in the #14 RAM-sponsored RAM. No teams incurred tail-end penalties prior to the start, so Tyrrell took the green flag 3.651 seconds back of the leader. However, intervals indicated that 21st-place starter Jason Kitzmiller had dropped to the back in his #97 A.L.L. Construction Chevrolet, shown as 3.752 seconds back.
Heading down the backstretch on Lap 1, Kitzmiller was starting to lose the draft on the inside line. He returned to the stripe now 4.352 seconds back of the lead, two-tenths behind 36th-place Jason M. White in Team Reaume’s #2 More Core Ford. The gap increased to 5.674 on Lap 3 then inched to 5.796 on Lap 4. That time by, Kitzmiller’s spotter told him if the leaders wrecked, he’d be told to “roll out of it.” By Lap 5, Kitzmiller was 6.957 seconds back of the lead, but still three-tenths back of new 36th-place runner Frankie Muniz in the #33 Ford. By then, the leaders were running two and three-wide with about six drivers trailing the field.
Coming off Turn 4, McFarland was still among the leaders, running in the 10th spot as the fourth truck back on the inside line. According to the driver, the field surprised him by going two and three-wide as early as Lap 2, and his truck started to feel tight. Coming off the corner, he started to lose control, wobbling to the left, then back to the right. He managed to stay off the trucks to his right, but ended up veering hard to the left. A closing Giovanni Ruggiero barely avoided McFarland as he spun toward the inside wall, then turned to the right just in time for the right-front, to smash into the barrier, whipping the driver’s side into the fence. The truck scooped up chunks of grass as it stopped in the infield, where McFarland dropped the window net. He climbed out uninjured, but disappointed by his mistake. By Lap 10, McFarland’s truck was towed to the team’s hauler. NASCAR declared him the first truck out on Lap 35.
Finishing 36th was Tony Stewart, who in his first NASCAR national series start since November 2016 qualified 15th in Kaulig’s #25 Ram-sponsored RAM. But on Lap 38, Stewart’s race came to an end when Jake Garcia’s #98 Quanta Services / Curb Records Ford snapped loose off Turn 4 and stuffed both drivers into the outside wall. Garcia managed to climb to 32nd by the finish, just outside the Bottom Five. The first driver he passed was Carson Hocevar, whose #77 IKEA / Best Buy Chevrolet showed tremendous speed, winning Stage 1, only to be involved in two cautions and twice plummeted through the field with mechanical issues and flat tires. He ultimately pulled off the track with suspension issues. A blown engine ended a frustrating week for Corey LaJoie, driving for the Henderson Motorsports team that was disqualified out of a win with Parker Kligerman in this race last year. LaJoie’s #75 Build Chevrolet dropped out with eight laps to go in regulation. Completing the group was Jason White, whose #2 More Core Ford was seen smoking in the tri-oval during McFarland’s wreck.
New driver-team pairings pay off immediately in Daytona
In the wake of Chandler Smith’s dramatic four-wide fifth-to-first victory, a number of drivers turned in impressive runs of their own. Making just his ninth series start and his first for TRICON Garage, Nick Leitz earned a career-best 11th in his #5 SEM Toyota. Three spots behind in 14th came Cole Butcher, whose first race for ThorSport saw his #13 Atlantic Tilt Load Ford earn a career-best run in only his third series start, improving on a pair of 23rd-place showings. While Team Reaume saw two of their trucks finish in the Top 20 with Frankie Muniz’ #33 Lucid Trading Ford in 16th and Josh Reaume’s #22 Aerial Titans Ford in 20th, they bracketed 18th-place Clay Greenfield in GK Racing’s #95 Backyard Blues Poole / Lure Chevrolet. Greenfield, who qualified an impressive 17th, earned the team its second-best finish behind a 15th at Talladega in 2024.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Despite the early exit, 10 of the previous 26 Truck Series races at Daytona saw the last-place finisher complete five or fewer laps.
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #4 in a Truck Series race since June 10, 2016, when Christopher Bell’s #4 JBL.com Toyota lost the engine on the opening lap around Texas. The number had never before finished last in a Truck Series race at Daytona.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #4-Cleetus McFarland / 5 laps / crash
36) #25-Tony Stewart / 39 laps / crash
35) #77-Carson Hocevar / 88 laps / suspension / led 20 laps / won stage 1
34) #75-Corey LaJoie / 92 laps / engine
33) #2-Jason M. White / 98 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Niece Motorsports (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
