YouTube star Cleetus McFarland buys Desoto Speedway in Manatee County

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) - There will once again be a lot of action at the Desoto Speedway in eastern Manatee County. A YouTube star is now the proud owner of this property.

It’s always been a dream for Cleetus McFarland to own a racetrack. That dream is now real for the popular YouTube sensation and car enthusiast.

“We’ve been on an everlasting search for a place or a playground for our creations our cars that we build everyday, for our shows on our YouTube channel," said McFarland. "What better than an abandoned speedway that we can fix up and make exactly how we want it.”

The 63-acre speedway site opened back in the 1970s but has sat empty for the last two years. The plan is to have a place for fans of McFarland to come and he has many. More than 1.7 million people subscribe to his YouTube channel. They will now shoot a lot of their videos here and eventually host speedway related events that the public can enjoy.

“We hope to run some very successful events, boost the economy in the town, bring people in from all over the world and show them how great of an area Bradenton and Sarasota is,” said McFarland.

McFarland and his team says they will refer to this racetrack as the Freedom Factory.

“We’re hoping to put on a show for the people out here, you know bring back the legacy of this American historic racing track,” said McFarland.

The purchase price of the speedway has not been disclosed.

Cleetus and Cars will be the first public event at the Desoto Speedway. That event is scheduled to take place on November 20th and 21st.

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