Garrett Mitchell, known more affectionately as Cleetus McFarland, rocked out a succession of career-best runs at FL2K22 last weekend at Florida’s Gainesville Raceway behind the wheel of his “Mullet” Chevrolet El Camino, culminating in a double-up victory Sunday evening. 

Entered in both Extreme 28s and Elite Street Car Shootout, Mitchell opened his weekend with a 6.939 at 210.77 mph, and followed it up with a 6.827 at 213.33, and a 6.667 at 212.59. Amidst a handful of abbreviated runs during eliminations, Mullet went 6.800 at 215.27, and 6.595 at 219.44. 

McFarland and Rick Prospero, each double-entered, advanced to the final round of Extreme 28s and Elite Street Car Shootout, and agreed to have a single runoff for the two categories and split the winner’s payout down the middle. Driving his stupid-quick Mazda RX-7, Prospero got a huge advantage out of the gate, .016 to .123, but Mullet scorched the Gainesville Raceway 1/4-mile to the tune of a 6.543 at a booming 221.38 mph to drive around Prospero’s 6.741 and turn on the lamp.

“I’ve come up shy at FL2K the last two years,” said Mitchell, who thanked his team and Pete Harrell, who helped with the tuning. “Last year, we spun almost every run but one I think, then went out in eliminations. This year, we didn’t spin a single time. Not one of the cars in the group spun. That in itself is a huge accomplishment, plus all the cars are still running. They’re driving into the trailer. James [Taal] went out by .0002, Mullet won two classes, and George [“LS George” Siciliano] won his class. Way more than I could ask for this weekend.”

Mullet sports power from a Steve Morris-built 540 cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet, built upon a Brodix aluminum block topped with CNC-ported HeadHunter cylinder heads and a custom billet intake manifold. Morris utilized a Callies Magnum crankshaft, ARP head studs, and other high-horsepower-focused goodies in the build. The combination is fed by a big honkin’ set of 94mm Precision turbos. The 3,000 horsepower-capable setup replaced a very much overworked twin-turbo LS combo earlier this summer.

On its 6.54-second march, Mullet clocked a 1.150 sixty, and a 4.335 at 176.44 mph to the 1/8-mile. While the numbers are certainly well shy of the 5.88-second 275 drag radial world record, that it was accomplished on that tire with a 3,500-pound car that’s capable of and has been successfully driven hundreds of stop-and-go and highway miles is nothing short of amazing. And with more boost weather on tap in the coming weeks, 6.54 may only be the beginning.