Cleetus McFarland ARCA: Serious 20-Race 2027 Run With RCR

Caecey Killian October 29, 2026 4 min read 0

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The Cleetus McFarland ARCA deal is official, and it lands right in the middle of the loudest argument in stock car racing this year. When Richard Childress Racing put Garrett Mitchell in the No. 33 Tommy’s Express Chevrolet at Rockingham in April, he finished 32nd, six laps down, after spinning on Lap 206. Days later, NASCAR denied his request to run the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Talladega.

The critics did not hold back, in a year when fans already had plenty to argue about after the Hocevar and Blaney fight at Bristol. Pete Pistone said YouTube views “should not impact the approval process,” and spotter Freddie Kraft called the Rockingham run “a waste of a very good race car”. Cleetus’ answer is seat time, a whole season of it. “These guys have been in these cars every single weekend,” he said in the announcement video. “It’s pretty hard to keep up, it turns out.”

The Cleetus McFarland ARCA Deal At RCR

Cleetus will run the full 20-race ARCA Menards Series schedule in 2027 in the No. 33 Chevrolet, with Robert “Bug” Strmiska as crew chief, according to the AP. Mr. Sam Spray Wax is on the hood. It is RCR’s first ARCA program in about 15 years.

RCR is building seven new cars for the program: two superspeedway cars, four for the intermediates and short tracks, and a road course car. They will live in RCR’s Cup garage, in line with the No. 3, where fans on the museum tour can see them. Richard Childress signed off on that spot himself. The deal started with a phone call from Ty Dillon, who won the 2011 ARCA title for RCR the last time the team ran the series.

“RCR hasn’t had an ARCA team for 15 years, but when they did, they won some races,” Cleetus said. “Pressure’s on.”

Mr. Sam Bought The Hood

The title sponsor for the Cleetus McFarland ARCA is a story of its own. After a Mr. Sam Spray Wax car surprised Sam at Talladega, Cleetus says they sold more than 20,000 bottles in a day. When RCR pitched the ARCA program, Cleetus floated the price to Sam while Sam was grabbing a Coke from the shop fridge. Sam laughed it off, then showed up the next morning saying he could not sleep and they had to do it.

Tommy’s Express Car Wash, Heatwave Visual and Black Rifle Coffee Company ride along as associate sponsors, and two fully wrapped semis (one Heatwave Visual, one Mr. Sam) will haul the operation around the country.

Squirrel McNut Goes Full Time Too

Squirrel McNut is running the full 2027 ARCA schedule as well, in a fully paid ride with Rette Jones Racing. He stays in the No. 0 Heatwave Visual car with Mark Rette as crew chief, and the cars are Cleetus’ old Rette Jones chassis. The big change is the body. After a year in a Ford, the crew is cutting the Mustang skins off and hanging Chevrolet sheet metal, so both friends will race bow ties.

O’Reilly Starts Stay On The Calendar

Cleetus is not walking away from the O’Reilly Series. He has four races signed for 2027 in the No. 33 Tommy’s Express Chevrolet with Bug on the box. “I made some mistakes, no doubt,” he admitted. “Tommy’s, they stuck with me through thick and thin.”

The ARCA season opens at Daytona in February, with Phoenix and Talladega close behind. The sign on the RCR wall says it best: “The winner ain’t the one with the fastest car. It’s the one who refuses to lose.” Racing a full season out of the building where Dale Earnhardt won his championships is about as “do it for Dale” as it gets. As the crew says at the end of every video, be like Biff, and we will see you at Daytona.

AboutCaecey Killian

Caecey Killian covers builds, installs, and product features for Car Junkie Magazine. He has spent years on the floor of the garage chasing horsepower across SBC, LS, and modern muscle platforms, and that shop time runs through every article he writes. His current CJM project is Project Street Reaper, a 1976 Camaro built around a fresh SBC 350. He is also known for Project Mighty Mouse, a 1977 Chevy Nova running a 1962 small-journal 327 SBC, with build coverage published across multiple online automotive magazines. His media background spans long-form build documentation, install coverage, and product features across the magazine and the Car Junkie Magazine YouTube channel. He writes the way he wrenches: specific, honest about the mistakes, and grounded in real garage work.

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