YouTube sensation Cleetus McFarland is making his much-anticipated return to Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 22. This time, he’s bringing his friends and they are going to get dirty.
McFarland, who wowed the BMS crowd last summer with his Bristol 1000 Crown Vic race and intense Burnout Competition, is returning to the dirt-transformed version of Bristol for the Inaugural Danger Ranger on Dirt. The event will feature McFarland and his friends racing on the Bristol dirt in Ford Ranger pickup trucks and is sponsored by Bully Dog, Nitto Tire and RoadActive Suspension.
McFarland has hosted Danger Ranger races on asphalt and concrete in the past but never on a dirt surface.
“We have 30 Ford Rangers, and in my opinion, they are best truck ever built,” McFarland said. “We are going to run all 30 trucks at the same time for 50 laps around the legendary Bristol Motor Speedway. We were trying to come up with a really fun event. Everyone loves pickup trucks and watching them race on Bristol’s huge dirt high banks is really cool. What could go wrong? We have a lot of live action planned. All the trucks have roll cages. Your Ranger can be as well designed as you want, but you can’t modify the engine and you have to have a roll cage.”
The event is also going to feature the Midwest Dirt Series Compacts All-Star Invitational race. Defending Series champ Allen Hite and his rivals Nick Jenema, Mike Currier, Chace Willard and Nick Williams, along with Cleetus McFarland in the No. 4 compact and several others, will lead a full field of the very best Midwest Dirt Series Compacts to the green flag in this All-Star Invitational race.
"In addition to the Danger Ranger on Dirt race, we are also going to have 40 of the Midwest Compacts on the track at the same time, getting after it at Bristol in a 30-lap race," McFarland said. "It's going to be fun to watch the best of the best drivers in these Midwest Compacts compete on the dirt-covered high banks at Bristol. We're looking forward to putting on a heck of a show."
Fans will also get to see what promises to be a thrilling event with the inaugural Demolition Drags. In the Demo Drags, pairs of cars will race down the BMS backstretch, two by two, where literally anything goes. The first to survive the race and cross the finish line first wins. Participants will race in an elimination bracket where the winner of each round advances to the next round to ultimately determine the grand champion of the Demo Drags.
“It’s just a drag race down the backstretch where everything goes,” McFarland said. “You could call it strategic combat drag racing, where you can do whatever is necessary to try and win the race, including making contact with your opponent's car to get the win. Anything goes to the end. But you have to cross the finish line first to win. We have some demolition cars in the back ready for this and we are going to destroy them to end the night and have some fun with it.”
Prior to racing getting underway, fans are invited out to the BMS backstretch grandstand concourse at Gates 6 and 7 for a pit party, where they will be able to meet the drivers who will be competing that evening, including McFarland.
Tickets for Cleetus McFarland’s Danger Ranger on Dirt event are on sale, $30 for adults and $10 for kids. Parking passes are available on BMS property for $10 while supplies lasts. To purchase tickets online, please click here, or call the BMS Ticket Sales center at (866) 415-4158.
Danger Ranger on Dirt Event Schedule
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Pit Gate Open 9 a.m.
Drivers Meeting Noon
Spectator Gates Open at 1 p.m.
Pit Party 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Concourse at Gates 6 and 7)
Racing Activities 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
5 p.m. - Midwest Compacts Qualifying
5:35 p.m. -- Danger Ranger Qualifying
7 p.m. - Midwest Compacts Feature race (40 cars, 30 laps)
8 p.m. - Danger Ranger Feature race (30 trucks, 50 laps)
9 p.m. - Demo Drags
