Whatever happened to Landon Cassill?
Last weekend, I thought I spotted a familiar face near pit road at Bristol.
So I walked up and tapped the person on the shoulder.
"Excuse me," I said, "didn't you used to be Landon Cassill?"
Cassill, last year’s Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year, got a good chuckle out of it. But he hasn’t had too much to laugh about these days.
He’s jobless and rideless and hasn’t run a NASCAR race all season. The 19-year-old was supposed to be part of JR Motorsports’ plans this season, but when sponsorship became difficult to find, his opportunity was taken away.
Cassill is still under contract at Hendrick Motorsports as a development driver, so he’s been showing up to almost every Cup race this season. But he said he’s not supposed to speak about his situation, and politely declined comment.
Nevertheless, the fans don’t seem to have forgotten him. In the few minutes I spent chatting with him at Bristol, at least a half-dozen fans approached and asked for his autograph – and this while he was in street clothes with no logos indicating that he was a driver.
“My 16-year-old daughter loves you!” one fan gushed.
“You’re great! I hope you get a ride soon!” said another.
On SceneDaily.com, fans have been wondering about Cassill’s future all year. When it was announced that drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Scott Wimmer would all get a chance to drive JR Motorsports’ No. 5 car, fans chimed in with comments wondering why Cassill wasn’t included.
“WE WANT LANDON! WE WANT LANDON! WE WANT LANDON! BACK IN THE 5! BRING BACK LANDON!” wrote a poster called StylishGordonFan2.
“LET LANDON DRIVE!!!” Frank Caughman wrote.
“Ok, why are all these Cup drivers taking over the ride that was meant for Landon Cassill?” a poster named Darrian Bruce wrote. “When Landon was in the car for more than one week at a time he did a great job. These Cup drivers (Jr., Newman, Stewart and Martin) have already proved themselves and Landon deserves a chance to prove himself.”
I don’t have the answers, but it says a lot about both the state of the Nationwide Series and the sponsor situation these days that Cup drivers are blatantly taking opportunities away from young drivers like Cassill.
In the meantime, Cassill plans to keep showing up at the racetrack hoping for something to happen. There’s nothing else he can do but wait.
