Cleetus McFarland recently registered his best-ever finish in an ARCA series race, having made his debut earlier this year. Despite the feat, he made headlines for all the wrong reasons, given an inexperienced decision from the Rette Jones Racing driver.
Recalling the same, NASCAR insider Freddie Kraft recently identified the difference in treatment of male and female drivers in the sport. In this, Kraft compared McFarland and Katherine Legge.
Freddie Kraft Highlights the Harsh Reality of NASCAR
Much like McFarland, Legge also made her NASCAR debut in 2025 but hasn’t achieved similar success. Although the latter made her debut in a higher series, she is yet to register a strong result in her favor, while the YouTuber-turned-racer has already earned himself two top-ten finishes.
But that wasn’t the topic of conversation on the latest episode of the “Door Bumper Clear” podcast. The conversation instead revolved around the difference in treatment male and female drivers receive.
A mistake’s a mistake, and Cleetus let the bald eagles fly just a tad bit too hard. 💥😅 @FreddieKraft | @TBR7NY | @LarryMac28 pic.twitter.com/1VxJzZ7ffi
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) May 30, 2025
While the NASCAR insider believes both McFarland and Legge are far from being ready to drive a NASCAR-spec car, he detailed that both drivers receive extremely different treatment from the fans for their poor showings.
Recalling last week’s incident, Kraft said that McFarland made a mistake on the track, but he still got a pass for it because of his popularity. He added that had it been Legge in place of McFarland, she would have been roasted on the internet.
“Do I think Cleetus did anything egregious? No, he made a mistake,” Kraft said. “But everybody wanted to give him a pass because we all love him. But if that was Katherine Legge on the outside of the front row and she made that mistake, with similar oval track experience, she’d be getting roasted on the internet because she doesn’t belong there.”
Kraft added, “Cleetus is probably a little over his head running an ARCA car right now.”
Following the events that transpired last week, McFarland owned up to his mistake and apologized to Isabella Robusto and her team for sending them home early.
As things stand, McFarland isn’t scheduled for any race before the Bush’s Beans 200, which will take place in Bristol in mid-September later this year. He also hopes to make it to the Cup Series by 2027, aiming to start the Daytona 500 in two years.
Meanwhile, Legge is scheduled to run multiple races in the remainder of the 2025 season. Her next outing will be on June 15 in the Cup Series race scheduled at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
