Landon Cassill

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.^[20]

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

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts
2010	Phoenix Racing	09	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH 38	SON	NHA	DAY			POC 41	GLN	MCH 38		ATL DNQ						CLT 42			TEX 40			47th	717
	TRG Motorsports	71	Chevy																			CHI 39	IND 39				BRI 37		RCH 33		DOV 38
	Gunselman Motorsports	64	Toyota																											NHA 42		KAN 43	CAL 40		MAR 42	TAL DNQ		PHO 40	HOM 40
2011	Germain Racing	60	Toyota	DAY	PHO 38	LVS 43	BRI 42																																	55th	0¹
	Phoenix Racing	09	Chevy					CAL 24	MAR 26	TEX 28	TAL 31	RCH 31	DAR 29	DOV 30	CLT 35
	Phoenix Racing	51	Chevy													KAN 35	POC 24	MCH 12	SON	DAY 26	KEN 23	NHA 26	IND 20	POC 27	GLN	MCH 31	BRI	ATL 22	RCH 25	CHI 30	NHA 33	DOV 31	KAN 17	CLT 28	TAL 16	MAR 42	TEX 26	PHO 29	HOM 36
2012	BK Racing	83	Toyota	DAY 22	PHO 35	LVS 36	BRI 29	CAL 36	MAR 29	TEX 30	KAN 34	RCH 20	TAL 34	DAR 26	CLT 18	DOV 38	POC 43	MCH 18	SON 31	KEN 25	DAY 32	NHA 29	IND 25	POC 26	GLN 23	MCH 25	BRI 24	ATL 20	RCH 19	CHI 29	NHA 27	DOV 36	TAL 30	CLT 26	KAN 18	MAR 19	TEX 26	PHO 25	HOM 27	31st	598
2013	Circle Sport	33	Chevy	DAY	PHO 32	LVS 42	BRI 33	CAL 30	MAR 33	TEX 34	KAN 29	RCH 25	TAL 22	DAR 30	CLT 37	DOV 32	POC 38	MCH	SON	KEN 36	DAY 24	NHA 32				MCH 32						DOV 38	KAN 33		TAL 37				HOM 33	61st	0²
2013	Circle Sport	40																					IND 33	POC 29	GLN 28		BRI 23	ATL 37	RCH 34	CHI 29	NHA 34			CLT 33		MAR 29	TEX 34	PHO 42		61st	0²
2014	Hillman Racing			DAY 12	PHO DNQ	LVS DNQ	BRI 30	CAL 25	MAR 25	TEX 34	DAR 25	RCH 26	TAL 11	KAN 42	CLT 36	DOV 34	POC 33	MCH 35	SON 43	KEN 32	DAY 31	NHA 34	IND 30	POC 41	GLN 29	MCH 29	BRI 22	ATL 31	RCH 34	CHI 28	NHA 25	DOV 35	KAN 21	CLT 23	TAL 4	MAR 19	TEX 43	PHO 29	HOM 29	56th	0¹
2015	Hillman Smith Motorsports			DAY 43	ATL 43	LVS 35	PHO 37	CAL 25	MAR 21	TEX 32	BRI 43	RCH 26	TAL 39	KAN 29	CLT 39	DOV 23	POC 25	MCH 31	SON 36	DAY 13	KEN 28	NHA 30	IND 26	POC 14	GLN 35	MCH 36	BRI 38	DAR 20	RCH 30	CHI 27	NHA 38	DOV 40	CLT 23	KAN 43	TAL 34	MAR 21	TEX 25	PHO 35	HOM 35	55th	0¹
2016	Front Row Motorsports	38	Ford	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	MAR	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	KAN	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	BRI	MCH	DAR	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	CLT	KAN	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	-	-

Daytona 500

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

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NXSC	Pts
2007	Hendrick Motorsports	24	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY 32	IRP 30	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH 22						PHO 34	HOM	72nd	510
2007	Hendrick Motorsports	5																														DOV 18	KAN	CLT	MEM 20	TEX			72nd	510
2008	JR Motorsports	5		DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH 19	TEX	PHO 22			RCH 23	DAR	CLT	DOV 25	NSH 9	KEN 11	MLW 22	NHA 34	DAY	CHI 10	GTY 6	IRP 7				BRI 22	CAL	RCH 12	DOV 25	KAN	CLT	MEM 13	TEX	PHO 6	HOM	26th	2092
2008	Jay Robinson Racing	4	Chevy									MXC 23	TAL													CGV 14	GLN 31	MCH											26th	2092
2009	Phoenix Racing	1	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MEM 10	TEX	PHO	HOM	115th	134
2010	JR Motorsports	7	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	NSH	PHO 35	TEX 18	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV 20	CLT	NSH	KEN	ROA	NHA	DAY																			69th	483
2010	RAB Racing	09	Ford																		CHI 33	GTY 31	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH 28	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	GTY	TEX	PHO	HOM	69th	483
2011	Phoenix Racing	1	Chevy	DAY 3	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	TAL	NSH	RCH	DAR	DOV	IOW	CLT	CHI	MCH	ROA	DAY	KEN	NHA	NSH	IRP	IOW	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM		65th	41
2013	JD Motorsports	4	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL QL^†	TEX 36	RCH 19	TAL 17	DAR 23	CLT 21	DOV 22	IOW	MCH 26	ROA 39	KEN 36	DAY 23	NHA 30	CHI 21	IND 25	IOW	GLN 17	MOH	BRI 23	ATL 19	RCH 23	CHI 22	KEN	DOV 19	KAN 22	CLT 32	TEX 24	PHO	HOM 33			24th	359²
2014		01		DAY 21	PHO 19	LVS 19	BRI 12	CAL 35	TEX 33	DAR 12	RCH 13	TAL 8	IOW 10	CLT 30	DOV 14	MCH 14	ROA 8	KEN 13	DAY 30	NHA 15	CHI 21	IND 16	IOW 13	GLN 33	MOH 14	BRI 22	ATL 15	RCH 14	CHI 16	KEN 29	DOV 16	KAN 34	CLT 17	TEX 19	PHO 32	HOM 35			12th	800
2015		01		DAY 31	ATL 17	LVS 20	PHO 37	CAL 21	TEX 25	BRI 28	RCH 10	TAL 11	IOW 20	CLT 17	DOV 22	MCH 35	CHI	DAY 31	KEN 16	NHA 23	IND 31	IOW	GLN 36	MOH 18	BRI 15	ROA	DAR 8	RCH 18	CHI 32	KEN	DOV 15	CLT 18	KAN 18	TEX 22	PHO 29	HOM 16			18th	637
^† - Qualified for Daryl Harr

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	NCWTC	Pts
2008	Morgan-Dollar Motorsports	46	Chevy	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN 13	CLT 9	MFD 20	DOV 24	TEX	MCH	MLW 3	MEM	KEN													31st	892
2008	Randy Moss Motorsports	81	Chevy														IRP 14	NSH	BRI	GTW	NHA	LVS	TAL 6	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	31st	892
2010	ThorSport Racing	98	Chevy	DAY 36	ATL	MAR	NSH	KAN	DOV	CLT	TEX	MCH	IOW	GTY	IRP	POC	NSH	DAR	BRI	CHI	KEN	NHA	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	119th	55

^* 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

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

Official website
Landon Cassill driver statistics at Racing-Reference

Achievements
Preceded by David Ragan	NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year 2008	Succeeded by Justin Allgaier

Front Row Motorsports

Personnel

Bob Jenkins

Sprint Cup Series

Drivers	(34) Chris Buescher (35) David Gilliland (38) Landon Cassill

Crew chiefs	(34) Scott Graves (35) Randy Cox (38) Donnie Wingo

Notable former drivers

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