Garrett Mitchell, more famously known as Cleetus McFarland, is heading to Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan next week to take another step in his oval racing career development. Mitchell will be piloting a Super Late Model in the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin on Wednesday, August 12 at the tricky half-mile Berlin Raceway.

McFarland teased his participation in the race during an appearance on the “Door Bumper Clear” podcast earlier this summer, but Berlin Raceway made his entry official on Tuesday on social media.

Berlin Raceway is one of the trickiest short tracks in America, and the Tekton 250 is the track’s longest and richest event at 250 laps and paying out $40,000 to the race winner. 

NASCAR Cup Series winner and friend of McFarland, Carson Hocevar, once said that “there’s never been a perfect race car at Berlin. It’s just who is the best of the worst in handling” when he was asked to describe what makes Berlin so difficult. Hocevar would know, as he’s a multi-time winner at Berlin, his home race track. Hocevar will also be in action against McFarland as he looks for his second victory in the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin after winning this event in 2024.

The Tekton 250 will be McFarland’s first Late Model start as he continues his development in all aspects of oval racing. McFarland has made eight starts in the ARCA Menards Series, two in the ARCA Menards Series East, and two each in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series.

McFarland this season has led 25 laps in ARCA Menards Series competition. He led 19 laps before finishing second at Talladega Superspeedway this past April, and led six laps at Michigan Speedway after starting from the pole position.

McFarland will also be sticking around Marne, Michigan for a few extra days as he will also be hosting a two-day festival of motorsports fun at Berlin Raceway on August 14 and August 15 with the "Freedom 100" set to take place on Friday night.

Race fans can watch McFarland run the Tekton 250 live on FloRacing with a FloRacing subscription. Fans can subscribe by clicking here.