CONCORD, N.C. – Want to meet your favorite Hendrick Motorsports driver, score some swag, eat some good food, tour the organization’s storied campus and entertain the kids all at once? 

Well, here’s your opportunity!

Hendrick Motorsports Fan Fest returns the weekend of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with events and activities planned throughout Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 24. 

That includes Q&As and autograph/photo sessions with Hendrick Motorsports drivers as well as Jeff Gordon and Chad Knaus. Fans can enter raffles to win wristbands to attend one of the following sessions: 

• To enter to win a wristband to Gordon’s and Knaus’ session at 11 a.m. on Friday, click here. 
• To enter to win a wristband to a session featuring William Byron and Corey Day at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, click here. 
• To enter to win a wristband to Chase Elliott’s session at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, click here. 
• To enter to win a wristband to Alex Bowman’s session at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, click here. 

RELATED: Take our trivia quiz for a chance to win this 300 wins hat!

Kyle Larson will not be on hand due to his obligations in Indianapolis and instead, signed select pieces of merchandise ahead of time. To enter to win a signed piece of Larson memorabilia, click here. Fans attending on Friday will also be able to follow along with Larson’s efforts in Indy with Carb Day being shown on two TVs. 

Winners will be limited to one autograph session per email address, though fans are welcome to sign up to win a wristband to more than one session. Autograph session entries are limited to three times per IP address.

Guests can also enter to win a tour of the Hendrick Motorsports campus, which will run every half hour from noon to 3 p.m. on Friday. Each entry may request up to four people per reservation. To enter for a chance to win a tour, click here. 

There will be 120 winners for each autograph session and 240 entrants will win a spot in a tour. 

RELATED: Highlights from 2024 Hendrick Homecoming

Fans also attending festivities at the race track will be able to catch a tram running back and forth starting at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Two food trucks and a dessert truck will be operational on campus throughout both days of the event, as will the Hendrick Motorsports team store.

Finally, for attendees with children, kid-friendly activities will be set up and will run throughout the event as well. 

Parking on site is available throughout campus. 

Here’s a look at the weekend’s schedule:

What’s Happening?

Garret Mitchell, better known as Cleetus McFarland, has brought new attention to NASCAR and the ARCA Menards Series. A deep dive into the numbers shows that Mitchell is bringing new eyes to the sport and his own brand as well.

A Symbiotic Relationship

While YouTuber Garret Mitchell’s time in NASCAR has been brief, the manner in which the sport props the 30-year-old car enthusiast up has obviously drawn its fair share of haters.

NASCAR fans, often timid about allowing outsiders into their circle, have wondered if NASCAR only cares for the attention brought by Mitchell, who has a massive 4.29 million subscribers on his channel, Cleetus McFarland. Yet, when Mitchell ran his first ARCA Menards Series race at Daytona in February, the sport itself welcomed him with open arms.

NASCAR even collaborated with Mitchell to create a live in-car camera that would be on YouTube during the race. Even after he crashed early on, Mitchell was perhaps the first ARCA driver to hop in the FOX booth post-wreck to talk about his experience.

However, with his appearance at Talladega last weekend, the talk of the town was once again the attention he brought alongside him, including multiple collaborations with NASCAR Media, all hoping to gain from his inclusion in their productions.

After Daytona, fans had dubbed his presence “the Cleetus McFarland Effect,” but just how strong has his impact been, and could his ARCA efforts help both himself and NASCAR? Let’s take a look at the numbers behind the “Cleetus McFarland Effect.”

NASCAR’s Gains

During his short debut in the ARCA Menards Series Ride the ‘dente 200, Mitchell’s in-car camera on the NASCAR YouTube Channel exploded and, at press time, sits at 780,159 views. But his true effect would not be seen till days after the race when news broke that the race scored 1.160 million viewers, the most-watched ARCA Daytona race since 2013.

This bump in viewership was partially thanks to the race’s slot on “Big FOX,” which was given to the series prior to McFarland or even Hélio Castroneves entering the race. However, McFarland’s impact was clear, as clips of his now infamous quote of “Rippin’ around Daytona like a bald eagle” even circulated outside normal NASCAR circles.

According to Social Blade, by the end of February, the NASCAR YouTube channel had jumped from January’s 1.330 million subscribers to 1.380 million. This means that after roughly gaining 10,000 to 30,000 new subscribers a month in 2024, the sport dropped to 50,000 from January to February.

Some could say there is little correlation to the “Cleetus McFarland Effect” present in these numbers. Still, during his second race at Talladega this past weekend, the NASCAR YouTube channel again leaped, gaining roughly 20,000 subscribers that Saturday.

Once again, his live in-car camera on the NASCAR YouTube Channel had over 70,000 viewers at one point. This alone is good news for NASCAR, as getting new eyes on the product is great, but the question remains: is Mitchell seeing any gains from NASCAR’s viewers?

Cleetus’ New Found Exposure

Mitchell’s gains are clear via his YouTube stats as well.

During his ARCA Menards Series debut, Mitchell’s pre-race uploads, “The Start of my NASCAR Career” and “NASCAR Put Me On Probation, Here’s Why,” garnered 1.8 and 2 million views apiece, respectively. While a massive number, this is typical for the Cleetus McFarland YouTube Channel.

Even his latest ARCA video, “Talladega ARCA 200 – Insane Finish With a Broken Engine! (we got LUCKY),” currently has just 1.3 million views. But his non-racing videos, in which he collabs with Dale Earnhardt Jr., have set the bar. His video at Talladega with Earnhardt, titled “Dale Jr. Drives the Dale Truck! (blew his mind), scored 2.1 million views and has only been up for a little over two weeks.

Another video titled Meeting Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Touring his Race Shop, after his appearance on the Dale Jr. Download and uploaded to his secondary channel, Cleetus2 McFarland, is the channel’s ninth most watched video, at 1.1 million views.

The true magnitude of Mitchell’s growth since January is seen in his subscriber count.

According to Social Blade, in January, the month in which ARCA tested at Daytona, he gained 60,000 subscribers; in February, 80,000 subscribers; and in April, Mitchell added another 60,000 subscribers. Mitchell ended January with 4.110 million subscribers and is currently at 4.29 million, which is not bad for a few months.

The Ripple Affect

Obviously, NASCAR and Mitchell have both seen some impressive gains in attention since the start of this indirect symbiotic relationship. This growth has spilled over beyond these two and into the broader NASCAR landscape.

We have already talked about the bump in viewership for NASCAR on FOX and the views his video has gained on social media, but what about the rest of the NASCAR media scene?

Mitchell has appeared on numerous NASCAR podcasts at this point. His interview on Corey LaJoie’s Stacking Pennies is currently the show’s second-most-watched episode on YouTube.

Mitchell’s recent interview with Kevin Harvick on FOX Sports’ Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour from May 1 is already the podcast’s most-watched episode on YouTube, with over 350k views.

Mitchell has even topped the charts on perhaps the most popular NASCAR YouTube Channel, as his post-Daytona interview on the Dale Jr Download is the most viewed full-length episode on the Dirty Mo Media YouTube Channel and the third most watched video overall at 1.8 million views.

Whether fans like it or not, Mitchell’s time in NASCAR is drawing numbers and attention for the driver, the sport, and NASCAR media. As he continues his journey through NASCAR, these numbers may only continue to grow.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

The 18-year-old rising star was close to celebrating in Victory Lane at Talladega Superspeedway, but everything changed in an instant while defending the race lead. Connor Zilisch moved down to block a charging Jesse Love and contact was made. Zilisch’s No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet spun wildly to the inside, slamming the wall nose-first in a violent impact.

While he was checked and released from the infield care center, it was revealed a few days later that he would skip this weekend’s race at Texas due to injuries sustained in the crash. However, he has declined to speak about the nature of the injuries while updating his recovery.

“I’m getting better each day,” Zilisch told The CW on Friday. “I’m up around and walk in and injuries to your back are ones you don’t want to mess with. And you know, it’s unfortunate because the Blue’s Hog car looks really good this weekend, and I wanted to drive it, but thankfully, l’ve got a driver that’s pretty fast driving it this weekend — Kyle [Larson], so, yeah, I’m excited to watch my team and cheer them on this weekend. It’s tough missing a race and watching your race car getting driven by another race car driver, but I’m super excited to learn from Kyle and see what he has to say, and it’s going to make our team better.

“I’m doing everything I can to heal up as quick as Xfinity mobile — that’s a good one, right? And yeah, I’m excited to get back as soon as I possibly can.”

Connor Zilisch head-on impact

As for if he’d like to see Larson wheel his car to Victory Lane or if it would be bittersweet, Zilisch said it would be ‘awesome.’

“I want to see my team do well, and I want to see my team succeed,” he continued. “And it wouldn’t be a hit on me, because, you know, Kyle Larson winning a race isn’t really a shock to anybody. I would be happy and excited for my team, and I’m excited to see what he says and what his feedback is like. I drove the car in sim and I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of what it’s like, so I’m curious to see what he has to say.”

The Xfinity and Cup Series will be on track at Texas Motor Speedway as the 1.5-mile oval north of Fort Worth will play host to about six consecutive hours of practice, qualifying and racing.

Cup drivers will be on track at 11 a.m. ET for practice, followed by qualifying for Sunday’s 400-mile race. Kyle Larson is the defending Cup pole-sitter at Texas, and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott won the April 14, 2024 race to snap a 37-race skid without a victory.

The Xfinity Series will race at 2 p.m. ET (CW), its 12th consecutive race to start the 2025 season before a two-week break.

Chase Elliott looks to score his first Cup points win since last year’s Texas race, while Ryan Blaney seeks to end recent struggles.

Texas Motor Speedway schedule

(All Times Eastern)

Saturday, May 3

Garage open

• 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. — Cup Series
• 11 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. — Xfinity Series

Track activity

• 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. — Cup practice (Prime, Performance Racing Network)
• 12:10 p.m. – 1 p.m. — Cup qualifying (Prime, MRN)
• 2 p.m. — Xfinity race (200 laps, 300 miles, Stage 1 at Lap 45, Stage 2 at Lap 90; CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Weather

Saturday: Mainly sunny skies in the afternoon with a high of 75 degrees and winds from the north at 10 to 15 mph. It’s expected to be 70 degrees with no chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race.