YouTuber Cleetus McFarland will be making his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at the Rockingham Speedway on April 4, amidst much controversy. Not many in the stock car racing community are pleased that Richard Childress Racing has given him a seat despite his lack of solid racing experience. And that’s not a shallow complaint.
The repercussions of this risk that NASCAR, Richard Childress Racing, and McFarland are taking could come with huge costs. The Rockingham Speedway is one of the most challenging tracks on the schedule. Veteran driver Mark Martin recently expressed his worry about McFarland being able to take it on and come out of the race with his car in one piece.
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He said, “This place is highbanked. It’s really fast. You have to lift, going into the corners, at the right time, and you have to get back on the gas at the right time. Let’s say you lift too early and you pick up the gas too early in turn one and coming off turn two. If you pick up the gas too early, you’re coming off that corner, and that turn two wall comes at you really fast.”
The car cannot be recovered in such situations. The wall comes at the driver before they even realize it, and it’s too late to turn the car. Mark continued to point out that the track is “wicked fast” and needs a very good understanding of what is required to overcome it. Although McFarland will have a very fast car, he will still be challenged like he never has been before.
Notably, he might need to pass this test for the team to let him drive the car at the Talladega Superspeedway later. Martin hopes that he qualifies somewhere in the latter half of the pack’s midfield and keeps himself out of trouble. The best outcome he can have is bringing the car past the checkered flag after completing all the laps.
All his competitors will come with a large amount of experience. Racing against them with the goal of finishing high will only attract unnecessary chaos. His debut can be considered a victory if he doesn’t cause any wrecks or doesn’t get caught in a wreck himself. It would only be understandable if he feels jittery before the green flag waves.
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As Martin said, standing at the end of the pit road and looking at Rockingham’s Turn 1 can unnerve even the best. And McFarland is only a rookie.
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