Cleetus McFarland Is ‘Still Struggling to Cope’ with Greg Biffle Tragedy

One of the biggest heartbreaking moments for NASCAR in the 2025 was the tragic death of Hall of Famer Greg Biffle and family. They passed away in the tragic private plane crash at Statesville Regional Airport. The whole community hasn’t yet moved on from the moment and someone that is struggling more than most is YouTuber turned racer, Cleetus McFarland.

He became the stock car racing lower division sensation only because of the mentorship from Greg Biffle and talking about it recently, McFarland whose really name is Garrett Mitchell, admitted that he still can’t stop thinking about losing his teacher. The only reason he is still racing is the fact that it will dis-honorable for the legacy of the HOF if he stops driving because of the tragedy,

With death, I’ve struggled with stopping to think about it. … I just struggle with like not stopping. I just keep going. I think that’s how I cope with that type of stuff. When I think about what Biff would want us to do, I definitely don’t think he’d want us to sit around and cry about it, which we did but now it’s like, let’s go racing.

Cleetus McFarland told Kenny Wallace.

Cleetus McFarland on dealing with death, & the loss of Greg Biffle

From @Kenny_Wallace Conversations pic.twitter.com/7JzCBJUtGt

— Kenny Wallace Media (@KWallaceShow) July 10, 2026

Further talking about it to ex-racer Kenny Wallace, Cleetus McFarland asserted that he is determined to expand the legacy of Greg Biffle by keeping his head high, despite the sadness. He also revealed how the veteran was supposed to race with him un the ARCA race at Daytona and how much he hates not having the opportunity.

We always, spread the word of who he was. I don’t know. That’s just what I’m doing. I’m sad about everything. And I’m just trying to keep my head up… Biff was going to race ARCA with me. He was going to be in a car at Daytona. Those things would’ve just been a lot more fun with him there

Cleetus McFarland added.

Cleetus McFarland reveals how much Greg Biffle shaped his career

In the same conversation, Mitchell explained how the late legend shaped his racing career. When the YouTuber was slowly making a name for himself in ARCA, he got multiple offers from Truck and second division teams. The legend didn’t let him sign those deals as he knew they were nothing but a sponsorship money grab for the teams and not something that could make his student a better racer.

If Greg hadn’t been there to guide me, I probably would’ve taken those opportunities… Looking back now at the deals we declined, we wouldn’t have been able to do the RCR deal if we’d taken those other opportunities.

Cleetus McFarland said.

Biffle thought the youngster patience and that paid off, when Richard Childress Racing came and offered him a better multi-race deal with more opportunities to develop his craft. That’s why he feels if the late racer was still beside him, his career would’ve been in a much better spot.

Greg’s guidance really set me up much better for the opportunities that came shortly afterward with RCR. He still has a trickle-down effect on me, for sure… He really helped shorten the learning curve on a lot of the small things I struggled with. I just connected with him really well, and I listened to him. I’d probably be a little better off if I still had him.

Cleetus McFarland added.

The comments from the racer/entertainer are on point and shows how much he is misting the man the thought he most things he knows about race craft. It would be interesting to see how the youngster is going to honor his mentor in the coming years.

Also Read: Kevin Harvick Exposes “Dysfunctional” Ford After Brad Keselowski’s Criticism