Hocevar and McFarland Take the Win at the 2026 LeMullets Crown Vic Race
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland won the 2026 2.4 Hours of LeMullets, a full-contact Crown Victoria race on a Florida short track.
According to Motorsport.com, Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland have won the 2026 edition of the 2.4 Hours of LeMullets, a full-contact event run with Ford Crown Victorias.
The race takes place at the Freedom Factory short track in Florida, a 3/8-mile oval. Motorsport.com reports that a chicane-style section was added to the backstretch for the event, and that much of the action and damage happened in that area.
The outlet describes the race as a long, chaotic contest with heavy contact throughout the field. Its report calls the finish epic, underlining how the closing stretch unfolded.
Motorsport.com also notes that the event has been held every year since 2020, which makes it a recurring fixture rather than a one-time stunt. Further details on the final laps and the full finishing order are not part of this report.
Background
The Ford Crown Victoria was a body-on-frame sedan that Ford built for many years, with production ending in 2011. Its rugged construction, with a separate steel frame under the body, made it a favorite for police fleets and taxi operators, who valued its durability and simple mechanicals. Once those fleets retired the cars, large numbers of used examples became cheap and easy to find.
That combination of low cost and sturdy structure has long made older full-size sedans popular for demolition derby and similar contact events. In these contests, drivers typically strip out glass and interior parts, add roll cages and safety equipment, and try to be the last car still running. The rules and formats vary widely, from simple last-car-standing contests to multi-lap races with specific objectives.
Oval tracks are a common setting for this kind of racing, especially smaller short tracks where local fans gather for weekend events. Chicanes, which are tight sections of turns, are often added to slow traffic and create more collisions. Full-contact racing sits in a gray area between motorsport and spectacle, and its rules, safety oversight and sanctioning arrangements differ from one event to another.
Both drivers named in the report have profiles in other parts of motorsport. Carson Hocevar is associated with stock car racing, and Cleetus McFarland is widely known to automotive audiences for drag racing and car builds. Their involvement brings attention from fans who follow those wider scenes. Enthusiast events like this one also reflect a broader interest in older cars, which often gain new life through racing and modification.
Why it matters
The result matters less as a competition standing and more as a sign of how car culture keeps finding new uses for cars that automakers have stopped making. A discontinued sedan that once served as a patrol car or taxi can become a racing machine, and the event shows how a model's afterlife can outlast its production run by decades.
The event also highlights a tension that runs through contact racing. Its appeal depends on collisions and spectacle, while any sport built around impact raises questions about protection for drivers, marshals and spectators. Organizers and sanctioning bodies usually answer those questions through rules, equipment standards and inspections, and how well those measures work is a central part of whether an event like this can sustain itself.
For the broader motorsport audience, the story is a reminder that racing is not only about top-tier series and manufacturer budgets. Grassroots and novelty events attract large followings, create community around older vehicles and keep attention on the mechanical craft of building a car that can take a beating and keep going.
There is also a practical angle. As the supply of older full-size sedans shrinks, the pool of cars available for events like this one may change, and that could affect costs and availability for competitors who depend on them.
What to watch
The first question is whether the event continues on its annual pattern now that it has reached its latest edition. Its track record since 2020 is a useful sign of stability, but recurring events depend on sustained interest, volunteers and venue arrangements.
Readers should also watch for official results, footage and any statements from organizers, since those will fill in details that this report leaves out, including the closing laps and the rest of the field.
Rules and safety measures will be important to follow. Any changes to the chicane layout, vehicle preparation standards or inspection process would indicate how organizers are balancing spectacle with protection.
Finally, the supply of Crown Victorias is a long-term factor. As the cars age and become scarcer, the event's future may depend on how competitors and organizers adapt.
Viewpoints
Commentary from our columns: three angles on this story.
The Driver's Seat the enthusiast's take
There is something wonderful about a race that does not pretend to be anything other than what it is. A pair of drivers, a field of old Crown Victorias and a short oval in Florida make for a picture that many enthusiasts will recognize immediately. The car itself carries a story. It was built to be a workhorse, served in fleets and taxi lines for years, and now it is being pointed at a track and asked to do something entirely different.
Congratulations to Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland on the win. Winning a chaotic event like this takes more than speed. It takes nerve, patience and a willingness to accept that the car you climbed into may not look the same by the end of the day.
What I love most about events like LeMullets is the community they create. People who never meet on a grid of polished machines gather around their own projects, swap ideas and cheer for each other. That kind of racing keeps the spirit of motorsport alive, away from the spotlight and close to the people who build and maintain cars with their own hands.
The Pit Wall the racing and strategy angle
A contact race is a strategy puzzle with the rulebook scrambled. Every lap changes the picture, and the best teams are the ones who can read the chaos and adapt quickly. The chicane on the backstretch is a good example. It forces traffic into a narrow funnel, turning a simple straight into a decision point where drivers have to choose between aggression and survival.
What makes a result like this interesting from the pit wall perspective is the timing. In an endurance-style format, the closing stretch often decides everything, and the ability to stay in the fight while others fall away matters as much as raw pace. Reporting describes an epic finish, and that phrase suggests the final phase came down to who could keep a car running and position it well.
The format rewards preparation and composure. Strategy in a race like this is less about fuel windows and tire choices and more about knowing when to hold back, when to commit and how much punishment a machine can take before it becomes a liability.
The Skeptic open questions and weak points
Celebrating a spectacle is easy. The harder questions come after the cheering stops. Full-contact racing depends on collisions as part of its appeal, which means the people who design the rules, inspect the cars and staff the event carry a heavy responsibility. This report does not describe the safety arrangements, and readers should look for them rather than assume they exist in a particular form.
There are also open questions about sustainability. The event has been held every year since 2020, which is a respectable run, but a recurring contest built on aging cars faces a supply problem. Crown Victorias have been out of production for years, and each season the pool of usable examples may shrink. What happens when the parts and bodies become scarce is a question no single race can answer.
None of this takes away from the drivers who won, and it is fair to appreciate the effort involved. But a good story should still ask what standards are in place, how they are enforced, and whether the event can keep its spectacle without losing sight of the people taking part.