Cleetus McFarland (Garrett Mitchell) took his newly purchased No. 33 Late Model car to Berling Raceway in Michigan for the prestigious Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin. He qualified 22nd in the 27-car field.
It was an eventful race for the popular YouTuber, which included an early spin while trying to avoid an incident ahead. He rubbed fenders, battled a tire rub, and even drew a middle finger from Evan Szotko while getting lapped in the middle of the race.
Well, with just under 20 laps to go, Cleetus' night came to a premature end. He got loose right in front of the race leader and spun, sliding down the track. The leader squeezed by, but the car directly behind was not as fortunate. That was Keith Herp, who was running off the lead lap in 14th at the time.
Cleetus and Herp made heavy contact, destroying both cars and ending the night for the No. 33. After driving his wounded Late Model into the infield, Cleetus reflected on the night with FloRacing. He finished 19th.
😮 Cleetus McFarland SPINS & takes Keith Herp with him! CLOSE CALL for leaders Evan Szotko & Bubba Pollard! #BattleAtBerlin 250! pic.twitter.com/l3BFjSOPYD
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) August 13, 2026
"Well I just suck, you know," he told the FloRacing broadcast. "I just suck. I was fighting for my life out there, trying to just learn this thing. Got a couple of good runs and then I would overheat my right-rear, trying to overdrive it. And then, I drove it in hard, guess I got loose and I was just drifting across, trying to gather it up and got drilled on the inside. So, that sucks. Apologies to the other team that hit me. I hope their car is not too torn up. But I was having the time of my life. Honestly, it was so fun and great."
Tristian McKee, who makes his NASCAR Truck Series debut this weekend at Richmond, won the Battle at Berlin with Bubba Pollard second and NASCAR Cup star Carson Hocevar third.
Cleetus intends to run more late model events at the Freedom Factory, a a 3/8-mile oval track he owns in Florida. His next planned NASCAR race will be the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Talladega Superspeedway on October 23. He finished a close second in the ARCA race at 'Dega earlier this year.
