Going "stir-crazy" has it's own special qualifier versus normal insanity: it tends to be a result of confinement or imprisonment. Can anybody relate to that? Anyone at all? Over the past year fans of racing, action, tire smoke and everything automotive have had to sit one out and wait as the pandemic swept the globe. Few events were able to be held at all, and those that were had to be strongly monitored to make sure that everyone who showed up happy and healthy went home in the same condition. A year of home-grown haircuts, curbside take-out dinner (or worse, experiments in home-cooking) and movie binges that borderline on the obsessive have taken their toll and many are ready to get out and see some live action. In this case, one man stood up. Followed by a band of like-minded friends, all of whom have a taste for the tang of fresh tire smoke, the clean smell of high-grade race fuel and a cold Mountain Dew in-hand, Cleetus McFarland and his friends descended upon Houston, Texas for their Cleetus & Cars event.

Parker Mitchell takes on his first burnout competition (and his first wall-tap) in his nitrous-assisted Fox Mustang.

While there was plenty to like and enjoy about the whole event, including the first side-by-side seven-second run between the "Leroy the Savage" Corvette and the "Ruby" Corvette on the drag strip, it's the burnout pad that has become the hallmark of a Cleetus and Cars event. The whole team has taken to Australian-style burnout competition, with Cleetus leading the way. For the Houston crowd, favorites like Justin "JH Diesel" Hildebrand's Ford and the rotary-powered "Mystery Machine" had no trouble sending the tires into the fire. But the true star of the show is the "War Bird", a 1965 Ford XP Falcon that made the trip from Rod Shop in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. The absolutely monstrous methanol-slamming Falcon is a legitimate legend from Australian competition and gave the audience present a solid lesson in what it really takes to win Down Under.

Jamie Lankford from PFI Speed lines his Honda Civic up for a pass down the strip.

The next Cleetus & Cars event is scheduled for May 1st, 2021, at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Indiana.