Garett Mitchell, better known as the popular YouTuber Cleetus McFarland, began his stock car racing career last year in the ARCA Menard's Series. He did so under the guidance of NASCAR legend Greg Biffle, who became close friends with Mitchell over the past 1.5 years.
However, Biffle was among seven who lost their lives in December plane crash in Statesville, North Carolina. They were planning to meet up with Mitchell in Florida.
In a newly released video, Mitchell revealed that he considered giving up on NASCAR after Biffle's tragic passing, but has since chosen to continue on in hopes of one day fulfilling the dream of competing in the Daytona 500.
"Greg Biffle, my mentor, passed away last month, so things are going to be a lot different," said Mitchell. "I'll admit to you guys that a month ago when everything happened, I didn't want to ever step foot in a NASCAR garage again. I didn't want to race. Now that some time has passed. I have realized what would The Biff want. He would want me to continue racing and trying to climb the ladder in NASCAR.
"When Biff and I originally talked about racing NASCAR, I told him I wanted to race the Daytona 500. He kind of politely told me that that's not gonna happen without doing some serious work, so we started a plan of getting to the Daytona 500. Knowing we had to be in ARCA, and then likely Truck, and then maybe the O'Reilly Series, and then Cup. You can't just go race the Daytona 500 ... now I am prepared to complete that mission."
Mitchell will compete in ARCA races at Daytona, Talladega, Kansas, and Michigan this year, and hinted at more starts to be announced at later date. He just took part in the January ARCA test at Daytona with 'Be Life Biff' plastered across the rear bumper.
He also revealed that Biffle had planned to join Mitchell in the ARCA race at Talladega later this year. In the same video, Mitchell revealed that friend George Siciliano (aka Squirrel) is working to get approved to run the same Talladega race.
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