YouTuber-turned-racer Cleetus McFarland (real name: Garrett Mitchell) till hasn’t finished the opening stage of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race after his first two starts.
At his Daytona debut in February, he lost control at the exit of Turn 4 and slammed the wall just six laps into the race. He took a more cautious approach to his second start at Talladega, but it still wasn't enough.
Cleetus was riding in 27th behind the main pack when a pileup broke out in front of him, collecting eight trucks.
Cleetus passed Cory Roper as he approached the accident scene, and appeared to make contact with him as he came down and slowed. He spun and slammed the inside wall, destroying the No. 4 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet.
Cleetus couldn't believe it, exclaiming over the radio after slamming the dash with his fists: "You have got to be kidding me ... No way ... I'm fine. I'm just pissed off dude."
Outside the infield care center, Cleetus reacted to the crash: "It just sucks, you know. I just honestly saw the wreck, slowing down heavily, I was getting called down. I was trying to get down out of the way and I don't know how or where, but I just lightly got tapped in the back left. It sent me on a trajectory and just, just, uh, bent down the front of my car and I just was so pissed. It sucks.
"I felt like my truck was really tight. So I got out of the way. And I was riding, having a great race. I was learning phenomenal. I saw the wreck, got on the brakes. I was totally good. And then I just got spun and my truck's wrecked ... sucks."
Others involved in the crash included Corey LaJoie, Tony Stewart, Stewart Friesen, Cole Butcher, Daniel Hemric, Andres Perez, and Kris Wright. The incident began when Friesen slowed near the front of the pack with an apparent flat tire, with a stack-up rapidly escalating into a massive crash.
Speaking to another media scrum that included Motorsport.com, Cleetus explained why he took his hands off the wheel as the truck spun sideways: "There's a point when you know you're done and I already had the wheel full-lock to the right. There's nothing I could do and I've just had my wrists jarred before by trying to hold the wheel while you smash into the wall, so I took my hands off the wheel and I knew I was already screwed."
Answering a question from Motorsport.com on what else he could have done, Cleetus wasn't sure: "I thought I was gonna dodge the accident. I thought I was totally good and then just out of nowhere I just got smacked in the back left. I haven't seen it so I don't know exactly what I did to cause it. When I went into that sideways drift, I thought for a second I was gonna save it but it just had a little bit too much yaw and it circled around and I jammed on the brakes to try and get the truck to slide straight, but I was too late I already screwed myself."
He went on ton say that this feels worse than his early exit at Daytona. "Yeah, I'm really frustrated because this time, it's not like I just did a bonehead move in the middle of the race and slammed into the wall like I did in Daytona. I felt like I had so much leeway ahead of me. I felt like I had a long race ahead of me. I was good. I was getting comfortable, I got loose a couple times gathered it up and then to wreck on that -- it just sucks. I also understand the fact that I've caused wrecks that have made other people wreck and so I was a victim of that today and I'm just gonna move on."
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