There are 4.75 million people who will watch Cleetus McFarland do just about anything. On Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway, he's going to do two things they've never seen him do at once: give the command to fire engines, and then go race against the field he just sent off the line.
Folks, this is the most fun the Truck Series weekend has to offer, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
Here's the deal. McFarland is pulling double duty at the DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 on Saturday. Grand marshal AND driver. He gives the command, then he runs the race in the No. 4 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet. It's a rare thing — most years, nobody does both jobs in the same afternoon. That's not nothing. That's a SHOW.
And look — I know what some of you are thinking. YouTube guy. Internet famous. Does he belong out there with the real racers? Let me tell you something. This kid can actually drive.
McFarland owns a racetrack — the Freedom Factory down in Bradenton, Florida, a place he's turned into its own kind of motorsports circus. His channel is built on custom car builds, drag racing, burnouts, and the sort of high-octane nonsense that earns millions of subscribers. But here's the part that matters: he's been racing for real this year. Six starts across three divisions — ARCA, the Craftsman Truck Series, and the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. His first two O'Reilly Series races came at Rockingham and last weekend at Nashville. And in the ARCA race at Talladega, he led 19 laps and finished runner-up. Runner-up. At Talladega. That's not a bit. That's a result.
Saturday at Michigan is his second Truck Series start of the season — his first since the Daytona season opener. He'll be in the Niece Motorsports No. 4, carrying a Comprehensive Logistics and Circle B Diecast paint scheme, and the folks at Michigan are leaning all the way into the spectacle.
"Bringing a wheelman like Cleetus McFarland to the heart of the automotive capital is a perfect pairing," said Joe Fowler, the track's president. "Cleetus is a natural-born entertainer and one of the biggest names in racing today — there's no doubt he's going to energize the crowd before putting on a show for our fans."
McFarland, for his part, sounds like a kid on Christmas morning. "I'm fired up to serve as the Grand Marshal," he said. "I've never done anything like this before, but it's going to be a super cool opportunity. We're going to be ripping it on Saturday."
And here's the thing the sport understands better than it used to: that enthusiasm is worth more than a sponsor check. You hand a guy with millions of subscribers the microphone, put him in a real Truck Series entry, and let him be himself — and a whole audience that never watched a green flag in their life is suddenly locked in to FS1 at 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon. That's not a gimmick. That's how you grow a sport.
He's not the only big name in the field, either. Cup regulars Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, and Christopher Bell are all entered, along with Michigan native Carson Hocevar. Spencer Davis is back in a truck for the first time since 2023. But none of them are giving the command to start engines before they buckle in. Only one guy's doing both.
The DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 goes green Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1 — the opening act of a loaded Michigan weekend that wraps up Sunday with a Cup title fight I broke down separately. Michigan's a fast two-mile oval that's produced overtime finishes in each of its last three Truck races, so the racing should be wild regardless. But keep one eye on the No. 4. A YouTube star is about to find out what it's like to say those famous words — and then back them up against a field with Cup talent in it.
We're going to be ripping it on Saturday. His words. I couldn't have said it better.