Freddie Kraft doubles down on Cleetus McFarland, uses Logan Paul as an example for NASCAR

Freddie Kraft is not backing down from his thoughts on Cleetus McFarland after what he saw from him at the NASCAR Truck Series race at Daytona. This week, the spotter for Bubba Wallace appeared on the inaugural episode of The Gluckcast and used social media star and WWE Superstar Logan Paul as an example of why having McFarland in NASCAR isn’t the best idea.

“What if Logan Paul decided he wanted to run NASCAR next year?” Freddie Kraft asked host Jeff Gluck. “No background, no racing background, he’s got plenty of money to do it, and he just goes out and rides around at Talladega, he goes out and rides around at Charlotte, goes out and rides around at Bristol.

“Is everybody going to be on board with him being approved for Daytona? I think people would go nuts about that. He doesn’t have the motorsports background, but it’s the same scenario. It’s a YouTube star that just decided he wanted to go race one day. I don’t know if he’s capable of doing that, but he could. It’s not like Garrett (McFarland) has set the world on fire in the ARCA Series. It’s kind of just been survival of the fittest, and whatever finish comes, comes. I think that is a comparable thing where people would go nuts about that guy getting in.”

Freddie Kraft blasts NASCAR for adding Cleetus McFarland to Daytona race

Cleetus McFarland (real name Garrett Mitchell), who has over four million subscribers on YouTube, competed in four ARCA Series races last year and finished in the top 10 twice. He made his Truck Series debut this past weekend and finished last after being involved in a wreck.

Kraft, who is also a spotter for Gio Ruggiero in the Tuck Series, spoke about McFarland on his Door Bumper Clear podcast and criticized NASCAR for approving a social media star. “This is gonna be very unpopular, and I’m sorry, but what are we doing? Are we trying to get the best racecar drivers on the racetrack, or are we trying to get the biggest social media following?” Kraft said Monday on Door Bumper Clear.

“… There were two glaring examples this weekend: one was Cleetus, obviously, in the Truck race. What has he done? For me, I get it, there’s a system in place that you have to run certain races to get approved for other races. The system should not be based on participation; it needs to be based on results. This guy ran two plate races last year, wrecked in both of them, wrecked half the field in one of them trying to do a restart.”

It’s not clear if McFarland will compete in another Truck Series race this season. As for other racing opportunities, McFarland is set to compete in the ARCA race at Talladega on April 25.