Cleetus McFarland aims to add Pro Late Model division to Crown Vic races

As part of purchasing a straight rail Late Model from Port City Race Cars, Garrett Mitchell dba Cleetus McFarland intends to add those cars to the same card as his Crown Victoria races as part of an expanded content promotion.

McFarland, who also owns the Freedom Factory (formerly Desoto Speedway) in Bradenton, Florida, runs notable events like the Freedom 500 and the 2.4 Hours of Le Mullets.

McFarland is expeditiously working his way through the NASCAR ranks to eventually race the Daytona 500, having made ARCA and Truck Series starts at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. He is racing at Rockingham Speedway for Richard Childress Racing on Saturday to earn his O’Reilly Series license to run at Daytona and Talladega later in the season.

But, he also has purchased this Pro and Super Late Model chassis, to further hone his race craft, but also create some content around a series alongside the Crown Vics.      

“Yeah, my plan with that deal is to just start my own Late Model Series that will travel with the Crown Vics,” McFarland told Short Track Scene on Tuesday. “We do about six events a year with the Crown Vics, so I want to start my own little Pro Late Model series on top of that, tag them with what we’re already doing.

“Then, wherever we go, the local can join us or my friends with Late Model and can join us. We’re already at the track with the Crown Vics so might as well run the Late Model too. That’s my current outlook on using them. I’m committed to learning those cars and put on a bunch of races to the schedule.”

Currently, Freedom Factory hosts UARA events with promoter Ricky Brooks, and McFarland would want the longtime racer and technical director to be a part of that.

“I’m going to ask him if we can partner up in some ways,” McFarland said. “But also, it’s not that big of a deal to turn a Pro into a Super so I want to run some in his Super class too. But really, with these races I’m talking about, my internal team would run it because we’re already running races.

“We’re more than capable of hosting a small race with one class of Late Models so that’s kind of the tentative plan.”