Cleetus McFarland was shocked to see how fast his fellow racers were during Thursday’s (September 11) race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Following previous starts at Daytona, Talladega, and Charlotte, it marked his fourth ARCA Menards Series start of the year, driving the No. 30 entry for Rette Jones Racing.McFarland, who qualified 20th, got a taste of short-track racing for the first time at the half-mile oval. The YouTube sensation, who finished inside the top-10 at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year, was running between 15th and 20th for most of the race.“I got my butt kicked, man,” Cleetus McFarland said. “I think, as far as tracks where the driver's skills show the most, I found the one out of the four I've done because these guys put on a clinic for me. I think I started 20th or somewhere in there, because someone in front of me had to go to the back, and I ended 18th.”“I'm not excited, I'm not mad, but those dudes in the front, oh my gosh! I don't have doors, or they'd be blown off because they were so fast,” he added.McFarland then told the reporters that he would be back next year with Rette Jones Racing on a part-time schedule. Per reports, the Mooresville-based organization will do about eight to 10 races throughout the 2026 season, besides a handful of Super Late Model starts for the McFarland.Cleetus McFarland finished 17th at Bristol, seven laps down. In his Daytona debut, the Floridian got caught in multiple wrecks before logging a P30. Talladega went smoother, but things went southward again at Talladega, where he triggered a restart melee. Still, he was able to salvage a P9, which also happened to be his career-best finish.When Cleetus McFarland apologized for his “terrible” mistake following a career-best performance at CharlotteThe way to Cleetus McFarland’s career-best finish in the General Tire 150 at Charlotte was nothing short of drama. While SCCA Trans-Am TA2 Pro Am Series full-timer Austin Green bagged his maiden win in the ARCA Menards Series, McFarland managed to pull off a P9 finish, marking his first start at a non-superspeedway.But things started going wrong for McFarland on the restart with 62 laps to go. As the lead lap cars accelerated through the restart zone, McFarland blew his tires off, lost control, and rammed straight into Isabella Robusto's right rear, forcing her into the outside wall.“I want to start out by apologizing to the team that I took out," McFarland told FS1 during a post-race interview. "I think it was several cars. I just feel terrible. Every time I go racing, I don't want to get taken out. I've felt it. It sucks. I've been sent home and I made a complete rookie maneuver on the restart.”Several cars were caught in the mess; notably, 10 of them sustained significant damage. However, Cleetus McFarland’s car escaped any major damage.