YouTuber Cleetus McFarland's impact on NASCAR shows how influencers are changing the game
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In an era where motorsports audiences are shifting and the battle for attention heats up, Cleetus McFarland is redefining how the sport reaches new fans. The YouTube sensation with 4.17 million subscribers — more than NASCAR's own YouTube channel — recently made his ARCA Menards Series debut at Daytona. While his race at the NASCAR ARCA 200 was cut short due to an incident not of his making, his presence in the sport — and its impact — was anything but sidelined.
The numbers tell the story. NASCAR's official YouTube channel, with 1.38 million subscribers, posted McFarland's FOX Sports booth appearance, and it has already amassed over 500,000 views, dwarfing the engagement of most other videos on the platform. His post-crash pit lane interview has pulled in 400,000 views, while his personal video chronicling his ARCA debut has surged past 1.6 million views in just four days.
The broader effect is evident in the ARCA Menards Series' TV ratings. The season-opening ARCA race at Daytona saw its most-watched broadcast since 2013, drawing 1.16 million viewers on FOX*, even surpassing the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at 1.01 million. While no direct causation can be confirmed, the timing of McFarland's participation and the spike in viewership cannot be ignored. Incredibly, McFarland has more total views from his own content than FOX's entire coverage of the ARCA race itself. At this point, ARCA might get more exposure if it just live streamed the race on Cleetus' channel. That's probably not a great idea but the system has somewhat flipped — FOX and NASCAR aren't just working with McFarland because they want to; they have to.
McFarland’s draw was further validated when he appeared on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Dirty Mo podcast — an episode that rocketed to 1.2 million views in just two days.
What makes McFarland stand out is not just his ability to drive, but his ability to bring fans along for the ride in ways traditional motorsports marketing cannot. NASCAR has wisely recognized this, giving him unprecedented access to in-car footage for his YouTube channel — something most racing series, especially those with TV deals, do not permit.
But does it even make sense anymore to restrict in-car content when some drivers can generate more views than the series itself? That's a question every motorsports series needs to ask themselves. Wouldn't it be giving sponsors and stakeholders more value through whatever means possible, even via creators?
This trend extends beyond NASCAR. Formula E has also embraced the power of content creators and influencers through its upcoming Formula E Evo Sessions. This initiative pairs 11 of the world's most-followed personalities — such as UK's race engineering YouTuber Driver61 and car-building YouTuber Emelia Hartford — with Formula E race teams to experience the GEN3 Evo race car firsthand. The event, scheduled for March 2025 at the Miami International Autodrome, offers influencers an immersive motorsports experience. With a combined reach of over 300 million followers, these creators will share their journey through social-first content and a documentary, giving fans an unprecedented behind-the-scenes view of elite EV racing.
Similarly, Formula Drift has embraced the rise of digital creators, with YouTuber Adam LZ, who has 3.81 million subscribers, becoming a full-time competitor in the series. LZ is no slouch — he finished the 2024 pro series in fifth overall out of 39 competitors. Formula D co-founder Jim Liaw emphasized on RACER's Creative Drive Podcast that "we didn't have restrictions on content usage, drivers to stream, post and create" when asked about their rapid growth.
With this open approach, allowing drivers, teams, and partners to freely use their own content for social media promotion, Formula Drift significantly broadened its reach. This policy has helped the series grow its fanbase by leveraging the personal brands of its drivers, ensuring that audiences engage not just with the competition but also with the personalities behind the wheel.
With this open policy, LZ, with his millions of YouTube subscribers, brought a fresh, younger audience to the sport, proving that influencer-driven motorsports content is a powerful tool for engagement.
McFarland represents a new breed of motorsports personality: a driver, a promoter, and a media powerhouse rolled into one. His growing influence suggests that for NASCAR and other racing series, collaborating with creators like him isn't just a smart move — it's essential for the future of the sport.
*Source: Sports Business Journal
