How Cleetus McFarland Became the First to Pilot a Stick Shift Corvette To a 6-Second Quarter-Mile Pass
We’ve watched as Garrett Mitchell (a.k.a. Cleetus McFarland) has gone from a part time YouTuber and a possible career as a lawyer, to doing YouTube full time, purchasing a race track, expanding his team, and knocking down several personal goals.
One of the central cars he started his channel with was a 2001 Chevrolet Corvette known as Leroy, and now that Corvette has knocked down yet another performance barrier.
Leroy The Savage (named for the original person the car was built for, Leroy Coker, as noted on the sill plate), was originally purchased in March of 2017 for $5500 and sporting 32,000 miles.
It was doubtful anyone knew just what Cleetus and this Corvette would do in the drag racing world over the next year and a half.
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The C5-design Corvette sported its original naturally aspirated LS1 engine and a 6-speed manual transmission, and from the start Cleetus stated the “engine and transmission are solid, because we’re planning on adding boost.”
Within three months of purchase, Leroy would get a GM LSA supercharger, along with some upgraded cylinder heads and a ‘bald-eagle’ camshaft from Texas Speed and Performance (TSP) for its first upgrades, along with an exoskeleton roll cage for safety.
On the chassis dyno with tuning done by Faster Proms, the Corvette returned 705 rear-wheel-horse-power (RWHP). Just a couple weeks later, Cleetus stick-shifted Leroy to its first 9-second pass, a 9.98 at 136.51 mph, at Orlando Speed World Dragway.
Within a week of his first 9-second pass, Cleetus made the announcement that he would be upgrading and shooting for his next mark.
His sights set on more power and a possible 8-second run, the supercharger and stock engine would be ditched for a TSP 427 cubic inch engine, based on a re-sleeved GM aluminum block, and filled with TSP’s forged rotating parts.
A pair of 64/66-millimeter Precision turbochargers would boost the incoming air. Less than one month later, the turbocharged engine was on the chassis dyno and had cracked the 1000 RWHP mark, settling for 1005 ponies at the rear wheels.
After battling some issues with the stock ECU, Cleetus made the jump to a Holley Dominator ECU, and finally made his first 8-second pass in late October 2017 at Cecil County Dragway in Maryland, an 8.90 at 159 mph.
But that mark wouldn’t be enough, and by August of 2018, Cleetus made history by becoming the first stick-shift GM vehicle to clock a 7-second quarter-mile pass, a 7.82 at 176.57 mph, at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
With the Corvette still enjoying street-car features and manners, Cleetus took it to several Street Car Takeover events, as well as Rocky Mountain Race Week (RMRW) events, where he scored victory in the Stick Shift class in 2019, as well as both 1.0 and 2.0 events in 2020. He finished second to Chad Fegley at RMRW 2.0 in 2021, marking Leroy’s final drag-and-drive appearance.
Taking a more serious approach to the car, the car was stripped to its bare bones in the spring of 2022, and converted to a new rear subframe and aftermarket 4-link rear suspension.
This allowed the transmission and clutch to move from the rear of the car to the front, and the car went on a serious diet. The upgrades were completed by October of 2022, and the car immediately started setting new bests for Cleetus, who made no bones about the fact he wanted a 6-second pass.
By January 20th of 2023, Leroy had clocked a best of 7.01 at 193.74 mph, just a few ticks away from that desired 6-second pass. One month later, the Corvette picked up a win at in the Stick Shift class at Street Car Takeover at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
Since then, Cleetus made a change to a Harrell Engine and Dyno (HED) 392 cubic inch engine, based on a LSX block and wearing a bigger set of MAST cylinder heads. The smaller cubic inch build was done to allow the engine to rev higher, with Pete Harrell noting it should be good to 9,000 rpm.
This past weekend, Leroy produced a best pass of 7.15 at 196.87 mph at FL2K during eliminations, hinting that 6-second goal was still within reach.
Just two days after the conclusion of FL2K, Cleetus attended a private track rental at Bradenton Motorsports Park, hoping for a 6-second pass.
He opened with a 7.15 to match his FL2K number, and then improved to a 7.014 at 203 mph, his first 200 mph blast in the Corvette.
Three runs later, the barrier was broken as Cleetus produced a 6.92 at 203.86 mph, becoming the world’s first stick shift Corvette in the 6-second zone. He later backed it up with a 6.95 at 204.94 mph pass.
Watch all the record-breaking action here:
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Cleetus McFarland and 1320 Video.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com