It’s rough, but it’s his.
Admit it: at least once in your life you’ve fantasized about buying a racetrack so you can play with your cars however you like. If you’re normal, you carry out this fantasy at least once a day. Well, YouTube Cleetus McFarland has made this fantasy his reality. It might sound glamorous, but he purchased an abandoned track, so not quite as much as you might think. That doesn’t make the move less than awesome.
McFarland is calling his newly-acquired track the Freedom Factory. Yes, it’s a funny name and so very appropriate for him. It was formerly Desoto Speedway, which is located in eastern Manatee County, Florida.
What better way to celebrate this than to produce not just a somber announcement video, but instead a “police” chase between a Ford Crown Victoria and a NASTRUCK around the weed-infested track? After that there’s a whole group of the YouTuber’s friends in their wild creations, which include a turbo Chevy Corvette and the Mystery Machine, to show off as they speed around the oval. What follows is a symphony of tire smoke, turbos spooling, and unrestricted exhaust noise, just what McFarland’s fans love.
This is big news for the area. For one, people are excited the track will be coming back, at least eventually. Then there’s the whole angle of a YouTube star being the new owner. That certainly doesn’t happen every day.
The plan is for McFarland to shoot a lot of his YouTube videos at the track. Events open to the public are also supposed to be in the mix. The first one on the schedule is Cleetus and Cars on November 20-21, 2020.
Desoto Speedway originally opened back in the 1970s but closed its doors to the public over two years ago. At 63 acres it’s a pretty sizable property. Exactly how much McFarland paid for the track hasn’t been disclosed, but looking at the state of things he’s definitely going to pour plenty more into making it suitable for hosting public events. The sale closed about the middle of January, but McFarland waited until recently to make his announcement.
