Cleetus McFarland Has Something to Prove at Talladega — Full Press Conference

[0:00] We've now been joined by Cletus McFarland, who I don't think needs any formal introduction. [0:05] But, Cletus, thank you for joining us. [0:06] Welcome back to Talladega. [0:08] Thank you very much. [0:10] All right. [0:10] We will go ahead and open for questions. [0:12] If you have a question, raise your hand. [0:14] We'll work to get a microphone to you and who would like to kick us off. [0:17] All right. [0:17] We'll start up front with Jeff Gluck. [0:19] Hey, Cletus. [0:20] How are you? [0:21] Obviously, in Daytona truck race, you had one strategy maybe before the race, and then once it got going, maybe you changed your mind quickly. [0:30] So, this time around, what is your strategy, and do you think you can stick to it? [0:35] This time around, my strategy is to finish the race, you know, and when I focus on that, I typically do way better. [0:42] Obviously, Daytona, I only made it six laps, you know, that was pathetic, and I'm here to get some redemption. [0:49] And I'm not so much going to worry about trying to stay four inches from the bumper in front of me. [0:55] I'm going to worry about keeping my truck clean and racing a good race and bringing home the truck with four wheels on it. [1:06] Sorry. [1:07] Is there anything that you are trying to do with this race, you know, in terms of approvals, or is this just a one-off that you're just looking at in isolation? [1:15] Well, I think that this race does definitely, you know, I think everything I'm doing right now is NASCAR's watching, and that all counts towards me being approved to do other things, like racing O'Reilly's on super speedways is something I really want to do next year. [1:33] So, although that is a factor at all times, I mean, I'm sure being here at Talladega, it's more of a factor than normal, and I got second here in the ARCA race, so I love this track. [1:45] Like, as I can literally say, this is my best track right now, so I'm just hoping that I, with what I learned in Michigan in the truck and how it drives, I hope I can apply that today and just run a great race. [1:58] All right. [1:59] Steven, go ahead. [2:00] Steven Torano, NASCAR Pole Position. [2:05] Cletus, I wanted to get an update from you on the status of Greg Biffle's 2004 Ford Taurus that you bought at Mecham Nashville. [2:13] I know you had mentioned that Jack Roush had said that he was going to help get you the parts in order to get that motor up and going again, so just where are you on that, and then where are you as far as what the plans are going to be for that, the Freedom Factory? [2:28] Yeah, so we bought Biff's old cup car, and probably one of the coolest things ever is Jack Roush just called my cell phone, and I was like, you know, that's kind of a big deal. [2:39] And he just said, hey, you know, I saw you bought the car from us, and I understand, you know, it's got a display drivetrain in it, and we want to help you find the stuff to get it back up to speed, because I said in my video that I want to make it run. [2:54] We were thinking about it. [2:55] We think Biff would have wanted us to get the car running and do some burnouts in it and use it, you know, for some cool stuff, so that's what we're going to do. [3:01] So I haven't talked to Jack since, but, you know, it's just really cool that he reached out to us and is going to help us do that, but we'll absolutely get the car running and rip it. [3:12] Are the parts in yet, or are they on the way? [3:16] The parts, I would say, are in the development stage, so we don't have them yet. [3:21] Gotcha. [3:22] Thanks, Kalitas. [3:23] All right, Holly, go ahead. [3:25] Hi, Holly Kane with the NASCAR Wire Service, and a Floridian, by the way. [3:29] I wanted to ask you, ideally, what does your schedule look like in NASCAR next year? [3:35] What do you kind of, like, have specific goals of this is what I would like to do? [3:40] So I've got an announcement in about a week for what we're doing next year, but I will say that some of the things that we have planned that are pretty close to set in stone are so cool and unexpected [3:53] that not only from a competitor's standpoint, there were things I didn't expect to happen that we're going to get to do, but just in our partnership with NASCAR. [4:05] You know, when I first got into NASCAR, they were – I was getting – my first day, I got two penalties, you know, and so I thought this relationship's not off to a good start. [4:14] But based on the phone calls that I've gotten in the last month, you know, I just can't believe that NASCAR is letting us bring some of these ideas to the table and, like, run with it. [4:27] So we got some really cool stuff coming that is going to make for a busy schedule next year, for sure. [4:35] I don't want to over-hype it, but it's pretty cool. [4:37] All right, Chris. [4:39] Chris. [4:39] Cletus, there's a lot of chatter that Freedom Factory could host a regional touring series event in 2027. [4:46] If that does come to fruition, what would it mean to you to have a points-paying event? [4:52] When you say that regional, are you – you're referring to any series? [5:00] Yeah. [5:01] I think – I think there's definitely going to be some stuff happening at the Freedom Factory that has NASCAR's name on it in the near future. [5:12] Very good chance. [5:14] All right, Chris. [5:15] Go ahead. [5:15] On this side. [5:16] Hey, Cletus, Chris Gollum with Above the Yellow Line Media. [5:20] Full disclosure, Holly and Chris in succession took my top two questions there. [5:25] So playing it off the cuff a little bit, have you had the chance to speak with any of the drivers who will also be entering the truck series this weekend, [5:34] get to know them and their race craft in ways you haven't before and gotten an idea of who you might want to try and work with tonight? [5:42] You know, I definitely don't have any conversations of working with people, but, like, I just was talking with Minnie and Brendan Butterbean, you know, [5:51] just talking about some stuff. [5:52] Like, I think a lot of the guys, I got a race around most of them in Michigan, and now I have a good understanding of, like, some of these dudes are crazy. [6:01] And my whole thing is to stay clean, right, on this particular race. [6:07] So I don't know. [6:08] I really don't know where I'll end up. [6:10] You know, I don't want to speculate too much, but I'm just going to get in there and try and handle the truck the best I can and see who I end up with. [6:20] Thanks, Cletus. [6:21] All right, Tim. [6:25] Tim, we're in Motorsports today. [6:26] I don't know how much you've been able to talk to Carson overall, but any advice you got for him going into this weekend of what he would like to see you do? [6:34] Yeah, I was talking to Carson at dinner this week, and he was telling me how the trucks basically reach, you know, a terminal velocity where they're aerodynamically just stuck. [6:46] And the guy behind you is, you know, trying to push your back bumper through your front bumper, and the truck is just plowing through the air. [6:54] And he said it gets pretty loose. [6:55] So, you know, if you find yourself in clean air with someone behind you, hold on. [7:00] He was pointing that out. [7:01] But other than that, he said just be ready to drive. [7:06] Have you gotten to see his tank, by the way? [7:08] Because I think it's very interesting. [7:10] I have seen Carson's tank. [7:11] I think that was a smart purchase on his point. [7:14] You know, a lot of things in life you can use a tank for, especially when you drive like Carson. [7:19] You know what I mean? [7:21] And actually, I was in a minivan the other day on the road, and he rear-ended me. [7:26] With a Camaro. [7:29] So, I mean, I think it's only fitting he drives a tank because of just the way he drives in general in his entire life. [7:38] All right, Jeff, go ahead. [7:39] From a content creation standpoint, on your vlog, when he came down to do the mail truck stuff, you show him in the passenger seat, and he's editing his own video stuff, as you do. [7:51] And you obviously knew him before his big spike in popularity this year. [7:56] What have you seen from him, from what he's doing for NASCAR, what he's doing for the sport, that has impressed you from a little bit afar? [8:05] Well, you know, Carson, I don't know his exact age, but, you know, now I can say he's young because I'm an old guy. [8:14] But I'm really proud of Carson on several fronts. [8:19] I would say one that really impresses me is his ability to be so heavily criticized and not give a damn. [8:28] I mean, that's pretty impressive for a guy his age. [8:31] You know, some people can really get caught up in everything that's going on in the Internet. [8:36] But Carson seems to be completely unaffected. [8:39] And he just shows up with a smile on his face, and he's such a good driver. [8:43] I mean, he always runs to the front somehow. [8:48] So, I just, I don't know, his ability to come back every week and just put on a show, it's impressive. [8:55] But, yeah, I mean, to speak about what you mentioned, when Carson came to my shop, I've always been YouTubing on the road, right, doing all these races. [9:03] So, I've always got my laptop with me. [9:06] I mean, George could tell you I have my laptop at, like, 50% of our dinners, finishing a video, uploading it, whatever. [9:12] And I was just really proud of Carson because he shot that video with us. [9:16] And then he brought his laptop to our lunch, and he had it flipped open and was finishing up his video. [9:21] And I was like, that's the way to do it because in YouTube, you know, if you just hire some guy to make your videos, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just that you don't put that final touch on it, right? [9:36] Like, and so he's doing it himself. [9:39] I think it's the best way to make content. [9:42] So, I'm excited to see how that goes. [9:44] I mean, his videos are already crushing it. [9:46] Nobody is really getting that personal experience from a cup driver that he's offering. [9:51] And so, I think his YouTube channel is going to blow up. [9:54] It's going to be really good. [9:56] All right, Dalton, go ahead. [9:58] Hey, Gladys, Dalton Hoffman, it's a front stretch. [10:00] It's now the second weekend that you get to share a track with Tony Stewart. [10:03] How has your interactions with him been like? [10:06] You know, I haven't seen the smoke in a minute. [10:09] He, I guess probably the last time I talked to him was Daytona. [10:14] And so, I was excited to see he's back out here. [10:16] I don't know. [10:17] I don't know what, I think I almost took him out last year or earlier this year. [10:21] So, I'm going to hopefully not do that. [10:23] But I would guess he's going to be smart and run, you know, in a safe spot until the end of the race because he knows better. [10:32] So, I might even locate him, try to get in a nice cushion behind him, and just run the race and make it to the end. [10:40] That's the goal. [10:41] And it's been a few months since that Arca race, that last lap, where you had the lead coming off of four. [10:46] Yeah, back then you were pretty hard on yourself. [10:49] How many times have you replayed that last lap in your head? [10:53] Not that many. [10:54] But it's a good thing to remember that the finish line is way down there. [10:59] It's not in the center of the front stretch. [11:01] So, I won't forget that. [11:06] That's for sure. [11:07] And I, you know, the thing at Super Speedways is don't leave your help. [11:13] You know, that's what I did in the spring, and it cost me the race. [11:16] So, if I got help and I'm in a position to win, I'm staying with that guy. [11:22] You know, I'm going to worry about myself and what's in my mirror versus, you know, trying to block a guy or run up front. [11:28] So, that was a very good learning lesson for me. [11:33] All right. [11:33] Any final questions? [11:36] All right. [11:37] We'll go over here. [11:40] And then, George. [11:48] Good morning. [11:48] And Rowdy Maglite with Rowdy Maglite Media. [11:52] With all the short tracks that were kind of disappearing, do you think the diversity of the Freedom Factory that you're putting on down there is kind of bringing the crowd back to your track? [12:05] Are you saying, like, with short tracks closing, is it helping my track? [12:09] Like Florence Motor Speedway announced it's closing. [12:12] All the little short tracks that are closing. [12:15] You know, I don't think it helps my track at all. [12:17] I think the more short tracks that are open, the better it is for all the short tracks. [12:22] But, I mean, I can't imagine how hard it is to run some of these smaller short tracks. [12:27] I've been visiting some just out in the country. [12:29] And, I mean, it can't be easy. [12:33] You know, I mean, it's not easy. [12:34] And we have a massive platform to, you know, to contact people and tell them to come to our racetrack. [12:41] So, I don't know. [12:45] I love short tracks. [12:47] And to see, like, Berlin sold out two days in a row, you know, that fires me up. [12:51] So, I'm trying to travel around more and pick more short tracks that we can go help and bring more eyes to. [12:57] But the short track business is just hard. [13:00] What do you think about Berlin? [13:02] I love Berlin. [13:03] Berlin is really cool. [13:05] So, I mean, short tracks is tough. [13:09] Like, just to get that many seats in, you know, butts in seats to fill your short track and turn a profit is a massive accomplishment any time you can do it. [13:20] I mean, it's just hard to swing a profit. [13:22] You basically, typically for a short track to be successful, it's like the owner's got to have another business that can support it. [13:29] And so, when I see them fall, you know, I don't, I'm not surprised. [13:32] It's just hard. [13:34] It's just hard. [13:36] Hey, George, go ahead. [13:38] Hey, Cletus. [13:39] Scroll McNutt here from McNutt Media. [13:41] I've heard of that, yeah. [13:42] Yeah, it's pretty, it's a pretty big deal. [13:45] Kind of like your last race here at Talladega, where you came in second place. [13:51] Yeah. [13:52] Now, I like that you're being really politically correct. [13:56] Didn't you crash at that race? [13:58] Yeah, I almost didn't make it. [13:59] But I like that you want to keep the truck clean, bring it home on all fours. [14:03] But answer me this, did you come here to win? [14:06] I did come here to win. [14:08] That's exactly what I like. [14:09] I'm trying to take Blue's Hog to the front. [14:11] Yeah, you're in the Nice Motorsports Chevrolet, covered in Blue's Hog sauce. [14:15] Yeah. [14:16] I love that. [14:16] Hey, ask me if my sauce sold out. [14:18] Do you have any sauce left? [14:20] No, guys. [14:21] Sorry. [14:22] My sauce sold out. [14:23] I love that. [14:24] That's a good way to treat your sponsor. [14:26] One more thing. [14:27] Is it true that if you win this race, I'm guaranteed to see you in a cup car next year? [14:32] Yes. [14:33] Actually, you know what I wanted to put out there, George, is the first crew chief to [14:38] get me a win in any NASCAR series, ARCA and up. [14:43] I'm buying my crew chief a ZR1. [14:46] So any crew chief out there. [14:51] But, I mean, it don't matter if it's ARCA truck or Riley's Cup. [14:54] And if I get a win, that crew chief, the first one, getting a ZR1. [14:59] I have heard that rumor, and I'm very happy to hear that. [15:02] It's a good way to entice your team to get a win. [15:05] So good luck out there, buddy. [15:06] Thanks, McNutt. [15:08] All right, Cletus. [15:09] Thank you, as always, for spending time with us. [15:11] And best of luck later this afternoon.