The Return of Mullet - Cleetus McFarland Preps the 6-Second El Camino for First Drag and Drive in 2 Years at Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks
Built as one of the quickest cars to enter his arsenal, the 1986 El Camino known as Mullet has scored victories for Cleetus McFarland on both the drag and drive event structure, as well as the pure racing side.
Since it debuted on its first event in May 2021, Mullet has continued to evolve into a quicker and faster machine. After a three-year run, including multiple appearances between Sick Week presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive and Sick Summer Presented by Motion Raceworks, Mullet got an overhaul in 2025-26. Now, it’ll make its first drag and drive event in two years at Sick Summer.
The start of summer - Sick Summer presented by Motion Raceworks, is coming up quick - June 14th-19th, 2026. Don’t miss your chance to join us in 3 states, at 4 tracks, for 5 days of sun and fun with hundreds of enthusiasts on a road trip and drag race that checks all the right boxes! For more information, including track dates, Sick Ward and Sick Spit Show & Shine options, CLICK HERE to visit the Sick Summer event page!
“We’ll be changing gears to attempting to take Mullet to Sick Summer on big tires,” said Cleetus. Although the car has seen several drag and drive events, the changes since its last appearance have been massive.
Following its final racing use in 2024, the El Camino went to Cameron Johnson Race Cars (CJRC) and got a lot of upgrades. Included in the updates is a brand-new frame, chassis and roll cage, new suspension, new stance and a lot of weight reduction.
After months of work by CJRC, fellow drag and drive competitor Devin Vanderhoof and team at HCR Innovations got the car delivered to their shop, and completely wired and plumbed the car with all new pieces.
The car was delivered back to CJRC for a few final touches, and hit the track in October 2025 for testing. The work was completed in time for an appearance at World Cup Finals in November at Maryland International Raceway, followed by the Christmas Tree Drag Racing World Championship at Bradenton Motorsports Park in December.
Just a few weeks after Christmas, Mullet went back to CJRC, where Cameron and team finished the work so the car would be able to run on both big slick tires as well as radial tires, a few changes for drag and drive duty, and got the car ready for paint.
Hot Rod Engineering got the El Camino for paint and final finish work, and it was delivered back to Cleetus about a month ago in a fresh black gloss hue. Cleetus has hinted he will have the car wrapped, but so far, no hints or photos of what the final look will be.
Don’t miss your chance to be a part of Sick Summer presented by Motion Raceworks, June 14th through 19th, 2026. We’re starting it all at Byron Dragway, and you can grab discounted spectator tickets in advance, or join us for the week on Sick Ward, by CLICKING HERE!
For more details about Sick Summer presented by Motion Raceworks, CLICK HERE!!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Cleetus McFarland and CJRC.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com