Landon Cassill

Landon Cassill

Born (1989-07-07) July 7, 1989
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Awards 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
200 races run over 7 years
Car no., team No. 38 (Front Row Motorsports)
2009 position 55th
Best finish 1st (2012)
First race 2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 (Michigan)
Last race 2016 GEICO 500 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
116 races run over 8 years
2015 position 18th
Best finish 12th (2014)
First race 2007 Gateway 250 (Gateway)
Last race 2015 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 12 1
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
8 races run over 2 years
Best finish 31st (2008)
First race 2008 O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (Kansas)
Last race 2011 NextEra Energy Resources 250 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 3 0
Statistics current as of May 1, 2016.

Landon Douglas Cassill (born July 7, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 38 Ford Fusion for Front Row Motorsports.

Early career

Cassill was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and began racing on a quad when he was 3 years old. Cassill moved to go-karts. He finished second in the Pro Kart Tour at Atlanta Motor Speedway at age 10. The following year, he earned his first of two Kart Series national championships. Cassill won four International Kart Federation (IKF) championships, some on dirt and some on asphalt.

In 2000, Cassill competed in three different classes: two karting and a midget class. He won all three state championships on the same night.[1] Cassill won four more state championships at the Newton Kart Klub in Newton, Iowa in 2001. He then started racing in a modified at the half mile Hawkeye Downs.[2]

He was racing in the ASA Late Model Series (ASALMS) in 2003 while he was in high school at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids. He has also raced in legend, modified, and late model racecars. Other series include the American Speed Association and the CRA Super Series.

At age 16, he became the youngest winner in ASALMS history when he won at Lake Erie Speedway on June 9, 2006; holding the record until Erik Jones surpassed him at age 14 in 2010.[2] On July 3, Cassill won his second ASALMS race, this time in a Southern Division race at South Georgia Motorsports Park near Cecil, Georgia. The win made him the first driver to win in both the Northern and Southern Divisions.[3] He won his first Challenge Division race at I-70 Speedway on July 8 to become the first driver to win in all three divisions. He finished second in the Challenge Division points behind Kelly Bires, and eleventh in the Northern Division despite starting in half of the races.[4]

NASCAR

2008 Nationwide car

In 2006, Cassill was introduced to NASCAR through the GM Racing Development competition. He was one of 16 drivers that participated in the three-stage evaluation process that took place at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, North Carolina, North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth, Georgia, and Nashville Superspeedway.

Cassill was signed by Hendrick Motorsports in December 2006. In 2007, Cassill tested the team's Car of Tomorrow car at Lakeland Speedway and Greenville-Pickens Speedway. Along with his driving duties, Cassill has worked in the team's research and development program and drove during practices for the Hendrick pit crews. Cassill made his Nationwide Series debut at Gateway International Speedway in July 2007 after turning 18, as NASCAR requires national series drivers to be at least 18 years of age (regional series drivers can be 16). Cassill finished 32nd in his debut. He was in contention to score his first top-10 finish at Memphis before another driver spun him out on the final lap. In his six starts that year, his best finish was 18th at Dover.

In 2008, Cassill drove the No. 5 National Guard Chevrolet in 16 Nationwide series races for JR Motorsports and the No. 4 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet in the 3 road course races. In Cassill's first start of the season, at Nashville, he started 22nd and finished 19th, two laps down. He earned his first top-10 finish in the June race at Nashville with a 9th-place finish. He won his first pole at Loudon, but had to start at the back of the field due to an engine change. He quickly moved his way up in the race, but was wrecked by Bobby Hamilton, Jr., resulting in a 34th-place finish. He was involved in another incident with Hamilton, Jr. at Memphis which resulted in an altercation following the race. In 19 starts, Cassill earned 5 top-10 finishes and won Rookie of the Year honors. He also drove a limited schedule in the Truck Series for Randy Moss Motorsports; garnering 3 top-10 finishes. Cassill made his lone 2009 start on October 24 at Memphis; driving Phoenix Racing's No. 1 Miccosukee Chevrolet to a 10th-place finish.

In 2010, he drove the No. 98 truck for Thorsport Racing in the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona, but was caught in an accident on the first lap of the race. He made 6 starts in the Nationwide series: 3 in the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports and 3 in the No. 09 Ford for RAB Racing. Cassill made his Cup Series debut at Michigan; driving for veteran team owner James Finch. He finished 38th in his Cup debut. He ran 15 other races that year for Finch, TRG Motorsports, and Larry Gunselman.

Cassill started out the 2011 season with a 3rd-place finish in the opening Nationwide series race: the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona. It would be his lone Nationwide start of the year. He drove in 3 Sprint Cup races for Germain Racing before moving over to Phoenix Racing. Cassill competed in 32 of the 36 races that year, with his best effort in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan, where he started and finished 12th. After the end of the season, he was replaced for 2012 in the Phoenix Racing No. 51 by Kurt Busch.[5]

2012

In early February 2012, it was announced that Cassill would drive for Front Row Motorsports in the 2012 Daytona 500, driving the No. 26 Ford,[6] but the deal fell through as Cassill received a full-season offer.[7] Shortly after it was announced that Cassill would drive the No. 83 in 2012, driving for a new team, BK Racing, that purchased the assets and owners' points of the former Red Bull Racing Team. Cassill would go on to finish 31st in season points.

2013–present

Cassill at Martinsville Speedway in April 2013
Cassill at Road America in June 2014

On January 17, 2013, it was announced that Cassill would leave BK Racing due to contract disagreements.[8][9] In late February, he joined Circle Sport, driving the team's No. 33 in the Sprint Cup Series for the remainder of the season.[10] In early March it was revealed that Cassill was suing BK Racing for a claim of unpaid winnings.[11] Later in the season, starting at the Brickyard 400, Cassill began running in the No. 40, jointly fielded by Circle Sport and Hillman Racing, in a majority of races.[12]

In December 2013, it was announced that Cassill would return to the No. 4 Chevrolet in the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series for JD Motorsports, replacing Mike Wallace as the team's lead driver,[13] in addition to returning to the No. 40 Chevrolet for Circle Sport in the Sprint Cup Series.[14]

In the 2014 Cup season, Cassill tied his career-best finish of 12th at the Daytona 500, and recorded his best career finish of 4th at the Geico 500. Carsforsale.com was the primary sponsor of Landon Cassill during these and four other races including Kansas Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Michigan International Speedway.[15][16][17]

On December 16, 2014, G&K Services re-upped as a full-time associate sponsor with multiple primary sponsorships in select markets. Those races include Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway®, Talladega Superspeedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway.[18]

On February 2, 2015, Snap Fitness returned to the No. 40 team for a second year, sponsoring the races at Atlanta, the All-Star Showdown, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, and Darlington Raceway. On February 11, it was announced that Cassill will be partnering with Carsforsale.com for a second year.[19] Carsforsale.com sponsored the Daytona 500 and five other Sprint Cup races in the 2015 season. He ran very strongly in the 2015 Coke Zero 400, but his underfunded car was involved in a massive crash on the last lap at the checkered flag; he would finish 13th.

With Hillman joining Premium Motorsports, Cassill lost his No. 40 ride. In 2016, Cassill joined Front Row Motorsports, driving the No. 38 Ford Fusion.[20] During the Texas race, a big one occurred on lap 271, Cassill barely made it through. Cassill had his best performance of the season in the Food City 500, where he led 20 laps on a contrary fuel strategy to a 22nd place finish.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
2012 BK Racing Toyota 39 22
2014 Hillman Racing Chevrolet 18 12
2015 Hillman Smith Motorsports 17 43
2016 Front Row Motorsports Ford 24 23

Xfinity Series

Camping World Truck Series

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
2 Cassill started the 2013 season running for Sprint Cup Series points, but switched to the Nationwide Series starting at Charlotte in May.

References

  1. ↑ Biography at his official website; Retrieved November 9, 2007
  2. 1 2 Hawkeye Downs Hero-Landon Cassill; Dennis Michelsen; stockcarpitpass.com; June 21, 2006, Retrieved November 9, 2007
  3. ↑ Landon Cassill, Retrieved November 9, 2007
  4. ↑ The ASA Late Model Series’ own, Landon Cassill signs with NASCAR powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports; ASA Late Model Series and M.P.H. Promotions, Retrieved January 5, 2007
  5. ↑ Spencer, Lee (December 22, 2011). "Kurt Busch reaches deal for 2012 ride". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  6. ↑ Rodman, Dave (February 2, 2012). "Daytona 500 boasts record purse of $19 million". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  7. ↑ Spencer, Lee (February 2, 2012). "Cassill leaves Front Row days before 500". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  8. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (February 9, 2012). "Landon Cassill to drive for owners who purchased Red Bull equipment, points". SceneDaily.com. The Sporting News. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  9. ↑ Spencer, Lee (February 14, 2012). "Reutimann's Daytona ride is with BK". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  10. ↑ "Cassill signs with Circle Sport for 2013 season". The State. Columbia, SC. February 27, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  11. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (March 19, 2013). "Landon Cassill sues BK Racing for $205K, says he was 'deceived'". Sporting News. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
  12. ↑ "Cassill to Drive No. 40 Sprint Cup Series Entry at Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Circle Sport. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  13. ↑ "Cassill to drive main ride for JD Motorsports". Yahoo! Sports. December 13, 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-14.
  14. ↑ Davis, Jeremiah (December 16, 2013). "Cassill secure in 2014 plans, continues to build career". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, IA. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  15. ↑ "Carsforsale.com Expands Partnership with Hillman Racing and Cassill". hillmanracing.com. hillmanracing.com. 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "No. 40 Carsforsale.com Chevy SS to Race at NASCAR Toyota/Save Mart 350". hillmanracing.com. hillmanracing.com. 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  17. ↑ "Carsforsale.com to Sponsor Landon Cassill and No. 40 Hillman Racing Chevy SS at Michigan". hillmanracing.com. hillmanracing.com. 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  18. ↑ "G&K Services Returns As Landon Cassill Sponsor".
  19. ↑ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carsforsalecom-to-sponsor-landon-cassill-in-daytona-500-for-second-consecutive-year-300034924.html
  20. ↑ Utter, Jim (January 19, 2016). "Landon Cassill to join Front Row Motorsports for 2016". Motorsport.com. Retrieved January 19, 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Landon Cassill.
Achievements
Preceded by
David Ragan		 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year
2008 		Succeeded by
Justin Allgaier
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