Cleetus McFarland is going to get somebody killed...

In reply to lnlogauge :

It's still driven by clicks and revenue.  The money derived from it makes it legitimate.  It still isn't in the same spirit as people doing the car hobby thing for nothing.  Sure they do a lot and some people have lots of fun but it's still the auto equivalent of Johnny Knoxville.  Granted that's what appeals to the no attention span audiences of today.  
 

It's in the same spirit as that YouTube guy that makes expensive project cars and destroys them on YouTube for lulz. Clicks and cash.  That's it.

In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :

If making revenue is what makes it illegitimate, you can remove pretty much everything. The YouTuber crown Vic is done for exposure and clicks for everyone involved.  But that's ignoring the danger ranger racing he hosts with anyone who enters. Or the drifting event he does multiple times of year.  At a track that was delapidated and ready to be turned into a subdivision.  How many people do you think are updating small oval tracks right now?  The clicks and revenue are the reason for that. 

In reply to AClockworkGarage :

A lot of people love to hate on Garett. Probably has a lot to do with his genuine and explosive success and youtube fame. I think you're overstating the dangers, but also these are grown adults who love to be in the entertainment industry. They're very well aware of the risks, but want to participate anyway. You can hardly even call this amateur racing. All of these guys/gals either race professionally and do this for fun or have their own entertainment channel. It's lighthearted and fun. Also, you seem to know a lot for someone who loathes his channel :)

DID YOU SEE HIS LATEST VIDEO??? SOMEONE COULD CHOKE ON ONE OF THOSE LEGO PIECES!!!

In reply to adam525i :

As pricey as that is, as I understand it tends to be in line with custom lego sets.  I'm kind of tempted, although part of it is because the current prize vehicle looks really cool.

eastsideTim said:

In reply to adam525i :

 I'm kind of tempted, although part of it is because the current prize vehicle looks really cool.

The F-150? Hot damn, that thing is rowdy

In reply to adam525i :

All I see is a broken link.

NickD said:

eastsideTim said:

In reply to adam525i :

 I'm kind of tempted, although part of it is because the current prize vehicle looks really cool.

The F-150? Hot damn, that thing is rowdy

So hot.

In reply to lnlogauge :

You miss the point.  Revenue is the only thing making the shenanigans legitimate.  You remove the revenue and all of this disappears instantly and overnight.  Social media has had interesting effects on society and that includes the car hobby.  It's all about clicks and revenue.  No clicks, no revenue, poof.

Its also the oddest part of it.  Hating it by clicking just adds to the revenue stream.  
 

It's a schtick thing.  It's all a show to generate clicks and convert them to cash for a society with the attention span of a gnat.  It's a phase that will pass too.  

In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :

You seem to think that the Crown Vic thing is his whole main deal. It's pretty much a sidebar for him and his buddies to have fun. Garrett is a legitimate car guy and a pretty hardcore racer. He was the first guy to get a stick shift GM into the 7s, he's gone deep into the 6s, and just this year alone he has won a jet boat race (on his first race, no less), nearly won both of his first two Stadium Super Truck races, and won Midwest Drag Week, Rocky Mountain Race Week, FL2K, and World Cup Finals. And he has countless Rocky Mountain Race Week, Street Car Takeover, LSFest, TX2K and FL2K wins. He's a pretty damn talented wheelman, a lot of the times he hops right in an entirely new type of vehicle and can hang with veterans of the sport.

In reply to NickD and Inlogauge:

You guys make a good point that some good does come from it.  There are two sides to every coin.  I'm glad there is good being done with some of the revenue.  That is better than most social media revenue.  That revenue could be used even better as pointed out in the very first post.  I still believe social media is a net negative to society.  A few counterpoints don't eliminate that.  

In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :

I won't disagree with you there. But rather than focus on vapid trash (whatever your personal definition is, therein) I try and find people/ channels that entertain and/or enlighten.

In reply to Appleseed :

I get it.  I don't really have names for this type of thing.  I usually only watch stuff from people I know, venues I know or things I'm trying to learn about.  

He's in low 7s, almost high 6s with 3 cars. He's rebuilt a race track, boosted so many other youtubers, bought 20% of Motion Race Works, and has promoted many businesses around the country and Australia. He has also made me laugh many times when my life was E36 M3 with his shenanigans.

I'd like to meet the guy.

In reply to preach (dudeist priest) :

Mullets been 6's. 

NickD said:

In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :

You seem to think that the Crown Vic thing is his whole main deal. It's pretty much a sidebar for him and his buddies to have fun. Garrett is a legitimate car guy and a pretty hardcore racer. He was the first guy to get a stick shift GM into the 7s, he's gone deep into the 6s, and just this year alone he has won a jet boat race (on his first race, no less), nearly won both of his first two Stadium Super Truck races, and won Midwest Drag Week, Rocky Mountain Race Week, FL2K, and World Cup Finals. And he has countless Rocky Mountain Race Week, Street Car Takeover, LSFest, TX2K and FL2K wins. He's a pretty damn talented wheelman, a lot of the times he hops right in an entirely new type of vehicle and can hang with veterans of the sport.

This. I don't watch all of his videos or follow all that closely, but I have seen enough to know he's a heck of a driver, and well versed in multiple areas of driving, and from what I've heard in interviews (mostly going off his apprearance on the Roman Atwood Podcast) he seems like a genuine guy that I would definitely like to meet. 

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

Fair enough.  I think most people sell their own ability to drive a bit short.  If you got that kind of seat time how good would you be?  I typically finish in the upper 1/3 at any rallycross I attend.  If I got more seat time, I'd do even better.  I won my class two years in a row, but that was mostly due to consistency.  I probably won't win next year since I will be going to two venues and both are really far away now.  I also want to do a hillclimb if possible. 

Old Cleeter seems to really like his new Porsche Turbo.  Several videos have been posted of him blatantly speeding on the street and he even posted one of himself doing 180.  yikes!  He also loves the launch mode.  I predict he'll be buying a trans pretty soon.  Wife and I are headed out there this weekend to watch the spectator drags.

I'll be there tomorrow night, God, I hope he doesn't get someone kilt!

Lof8 - Andy said:

I predict he'll be buying a trans pretty soon.

Why?

I'm a little excited for the video where he realizes his mistake of buying a centerlock car (turbos are available with either centerlock or five lug wheels).

Pretty sure all the turbos are centerlock wheels now, don't think 5 lug was available....

Lof8 - Andy said:

Old Cleeter seems to really like his new Porsche Turbo.  Several videos have been posted of him blatantly speeding on the street and he even posted one of himself doing 180.  yikes!  He also loves the launch mode.  I predict he'll be buying a trans pretty soon.  Wife and I are headed out there this weekend to watch the spectator drags.

I doubt it. Bill Caswell did a video a few years ago of like 61 straight launch control starts, up to 60, stop turn around do it again, in a row and the car never even went into limp mode. 

EDIT: Just looked it up that was from 2014! Wow. 

AClockworkGarage said:

Full disclosure, I cannot stand this guy. I think he's a terrible representative of the hobby. I don't watch his channel. Also he has a very punchable face. That said, occasionally I get tricked into watching him when he shows up on other channels I do watch. Such was the case when I watched the latest episode of Finnegan's Garage where he visited the cleetus & Cars event at Bristol motor speedway.

While watching the video I spotted a few things that made me think "how the hell was this even allowed to happen?"

Background for those who don't know, Cleetus is a law school dropout who makes his living as an automotive youtuber. He bought a short track in Bradenton FL and named it the Freedom Factory (big Jan 6th energy there) before making a hard right into covid denial. He then began hosting the Freedom 500. A spec crown vic invitational where a bunch of youtubers attempt to race. Cleetus provides the cars.

This past labor day they hosted an event at Bristol Motor Speedway. 100 laps, 30ish cars, a bunch of inexperienced drivers. The cars are literal death traps. here's some screen caps I grabbed.

The cars are not caged. they have roll hoops with curved door bars.

They have no rear down bars at all.

As near as I can tell they bought a basic 4 point NHRA roll hoop and installed it backwards, low mounting the down bars to use them as door bars. This was deemed good enough to put inexperienced racers wheel to wheel on a banked nascat track notorious for crashes...

One of the few experienced racers in the field immediately ran out and got some pool noodles just to have some kind of padding on the spartian 'cage"

The cars also had window nets. rivited directly to the door.

So you cannot drop them and cannot get out. This is only really a problem if you cannot open the drivers door.

Oh, would you look at that. Every one of those cars has the driver's door blocked. Every one of those drivers had to climb through the car to crawl out the passenger window. The #24 had to crawl through a spray of hot coolant coming from the 40 cars ruptured radiator.

But I suppose getting showered with hot coolant is sort of a Cleetus tradition.

I cannot understand how Bristol looked at these cars and thought, yeah... this is fine.

I'm not posting this just to E36 M3 on a guy I hate. My concern is that his gross negligence is going to get somebody killed, that story will make the news, and there will be a backlash on the legitimate amateur racing community.

Show me on the Cleetus where he hurt you? 

Also what's the political slant have to do with anything? Sounds like you're just using it as a justification to attack him even further than necessary on a racing/car forum. I'm failing to see the correlation between his political beliefs and the safety of the vehicles he utilizes for his YouTube channel videos. 

What does dropping out of law school have to do with anything? The dude still found a way to be successful and provide for himself and his family. Not everyone is cut for school. I'm in law school right now and I completely understand why anyone would drop. But again, what's the relevance to the safety of the vehicles and him dropping out of law school? 

I've raced with the dude before in Champcar, not a bad guy at all, a bit of a d1ckhead (like arriving via helecopter 5 minutes before the drivers meeting at Palm Beach, but aren't we all d1ckheads at one point or another?), but super approachable, loves to talk cars, helpful, and appreciative of help he receives at the track.  

Also if you're in the entertainment industry and you aren't the least bit polarizing, you're doing it wrong. 

docwyte said:

Pretty sure all the turbos are centerlock wheels now, don't think 5 lug was available....

Maybe they're all centerlock now I have no idea. But the 991s definitely had the option still; the wrecked auction car was five lug.

Regardless of whether you like him or not, this post is kind of infuriating. The Freedom Factory and the neighboring Bradenton Motorsports Park were built way outside the urban development boundaries for noise considerations, now the county wants to build a housing development right next door. We've seen how this scenario plays out all over the country already.

"ATTENTION neighbors, friends, and followers. Bradenton Motorsports Park and the Freedom Factory are facing a major threat… 4,500 new homes right next door to our historic racetracks. On December 15th, 2022 the Manatee Country Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing to consider and act upon this application. 50+ years ago Manatee County moved the racetracks out passed the “Urban Development Boundary” to get noise out of their neighborhoods… now they’re preparing to let a neighborhood be built RIGHT NEXT DOOR! We all know how this works… new neighbors come in and complain about the racetracks (that were there before them) until they’re stripped of their rights to operate like normal. We want current and new residents of Manatee County to be happy... putting newcomers next door to a busy racetrack is a bad idea. What the heck is an Urban Development Boundary if we don’t follow it? We cannot let this happen. We ask that any Manatee County residents who care about our tracks will come and speak in the hearing on December 15th at 9am at the Manatee County Administrative Center. If you cannot make it, we ask that you respectfully contact the commissioners via their emails that are provided below. PLEASE be respectful to these people as we need them on our side"