Landon Cassill tries to make name for himself
Bob Pockrass
Bob Pockrass began covering NASCAR in 1992, primarily covering short-track racing and events. He has worked for Street & Smith's Motorsports Group since 2003.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Landon Cassill’s name above the door of the ThorSport Racing truck just says “Landon.”
Is he like Madonna and just wants to be known by one name? Or does he need to prove himself before they’ll put his last name on the truck?
“I think Landon is good,” Cassill says. “Unless you think they’ll mix it up with somebody else.”
Whatever the case, it’s nice to see Cassill, er, Landon back on the track. He’s called a development driver for Hendrick Motorsports but in the last year, he’s been more of just a test driver. After competing in 19 events in the Nationwide Series in 2008, he drove in only one Nationwide race last year.
The 20-year-old needs to get a more stable ride to continue developing his skills. He hopes this one race with ThorSport turns into more truck races. Hendrick is helping out with an engine and an engine tuner. They are using David Gilliland’s Late Model hauler.
“I’m going to be at every [Nationwide] race, so hopefully I can pick something up,” Cassill says about his prospects this season. “But this is something I’m really, really, really pumped about. It’s a new [truck for this] team. I’m really excited about building it from the ground up.”
In other words, it really doesn’t matter what it says above the door, as long as he gets more than one chance in the driver’s seat in 2010.
