YouTube star becomes partner in Bradenton Motorsports Park


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A race car driver and YouTube star has become 50% owner of Bradenton Motorsports Park, in a move the two partners say will help handle surging interest in the facility off State Road 64 in east Manatee County.

After an October 2024 event that drew record attendance to Bradenton Motorsports Park despite bad weather, “it became apparent … the drag strip was bursting at the seams with growth” and the owner “needed a strategic partner,” says Garrett Mitchell, who races and broadcasts on YouTube under the name Cleetus McFarland, on Facebook.

McFarland shared news of the partnership on his YouTube channel, where he has a following of more than 4 million. He has more than 1,500 videos, most of which are centered around autos. He also owns a neighboring race track on State Road 64 called Freedom Factory. Between the two properties, McFarland estimates there are more than 100 acres for racing.

“We’re going to take these race tracks to the absolute next level,” McFarland says. “We’re synchronized from here forward.”

Of Bradenton Motorports Park, he says: “It’s a big facility. It’s got a lot of moving parts,” in a video where he takes viewers on a tour of the race track’s tower and tech shed.

The path to co-ownership has been a “natural progression,” Victor Alvarez, who owns the other 50% of the facility, says in the video. “It’s a very strategic partnership. Now we’ll have access to double the staff, double the equipment.”

Owners Victor Alvarez and Garrett Mitchell (whose racing name is Cleetus McFarland) stand in front of the new timing system at the racetrack.
Image via Bradenton Motorsports Park / Facebook

Josh Dauta is now the general manager of both the Freedom Factory and Bradenton Motorsports Park. For the past four years, he has been general manager of the Freedom Factory. Dauta started out his career in racing running staging lanes for the Bradenton Motorsports Park, he says.

“I am coming full circle … so it’s a dream come true,” Dauta says.

Having a new general manager will give Bradenton Motorsports Park the chance to level up, according to Alvarez. 

“This place just needs a little bit more attention,” Alvarez says. “We’ve grown so much and there’s so much happening and there’s so many upgrades we want to do that we just need somebody that could be here every day, all the time, and just take really good care of this place and help us take it to the next level.”

When Bradenton Motorsports Park was built in the 1970s, Alvarez says, the vision was not for it to have events “to the capacity that we do. I mean, we fill these places up, we have some of the fastest races in the country, and it wasn’t really built for that.” Each year, Bradenton Motorsports Park draws 300,000 visitors to its drag strip off State Road 64, according to its website.

The new partnership means McFarland and Alvarez can more easily team up on investments to accommodate growth.

“We’ve got some big upgrades already done and more on the way,” McFarland says, adding the duo put $100,000 into a tech shed “that’s pretty serious.” The tech shed, which is not yet complete, contains room for storage, tools and space for technicians to work on race cars on scales.

Two years ago, McFarland notes he and Alvarez invested in stands for the spectators, while the tech shed is an investment that will benefit the racers.

In addition to making upgrades, McFarland says the owners are working on Bradenton Motorsports Park merchandise.

McFarland thanked his YouTube fans for supporting his channel, which he says helped make it possible for him to partner in his latest venture.

Alvarez and McFarland say they had been acting unofficially as partners for a while, before the deal closed Dec. 20. Making the partnership official is a demonstration of commitment, according to McFarland.

“This just further drives in our passion for racing and our desire to keep this drag strip here and going for as long as we can. We’re committed. We’re in this to win this,” McFarland says. “We’re going to make this place better.”

 

author

Elizabeth King

Elizabeth is a business news reporter with the Business Observer, covering primarily Sarasota-Bradenton, in addition to other parts of the region. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, she previously covered hyperlocal news in Maryland for Patch for 12 years. Now she lives in Sarasota County.

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