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Top Nationwide rookie Landon Cassill ready for next step in NASCAR
By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Landon Cassill, winner of the 2008 Raybestos Rookie of The Year award in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, talks to the media during a luncheon at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Tuesday.
Mark Sluder
NASCAR Scene
Landon Cassill remembers telling his teacher in the third grade about wanting to be a NASCAR Raybestos Rookie of the Year someday.
That day came last weekend for the 19-year-old, part-time Nationwide Series driver.
Now, Cassill is hoping he’ll get a chance down the road to fulfill another elementary school dream: Winning a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.
“To be honest, I told my teacher in second grade that I wanted to win 10 Winston Cup championships,” a grinning Cassill recalled earlier this week at a luncheon honoring the top rookies for 2008 in each of NASCAR’s three national series.
But before winning a Cup title or even making his debut in NASCAR’s premier series, Cassill has his sights set on a full-time Nationwide or Truck series ride for the 2009 season. So far, though, neither has panned out for the driver who made all but three of his 19 Nationwide starts this past season in the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
“It’s really kind of up and down and back and forth,” Cassill said. “It’s hard to say. I feel like we’re definitely working hard on trying to get something for me to race. I feel like if I spilled any beans it would be getting the cart in front of the horse. We’ve just got to continue working hard.
“The economy’s tough right now. There’s a lot of people in trouble in our sport right now. I can sit and pout about not having a ride or not having something to race next year, but there’s a lot of good people and good workers that are out of work that need to find jobs.”
A lack of primary sponsorship for the No. 5 JR Motorsports team may prohibit Cassill from returning to that car at all next season. As of now, the company plans to only enter the car in select races. It competed fulltime in 2008 as Cassill shared the seat with several drivers, including team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson.
Cassill made his series debut in 2007 after meeting NASCAR’s minimum age requirement of 18 that summer. He ran six races for Hendrick Motorsports, where he is a development driver.
“If you look at somebody with the whole package, Landon has really got it,” said Rick Hendrick, who now co-owns the two JR Motorsports Nationwide teams with Earnhardt Jr. “He is so good out of the car with sponsors, and sponsors love him. I mean they absolutely think he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. He’s good at motivating the team, and every time he gets in the car he’s better, so he’s got a tremendous future in this sport.
“There are a lot of veterans out here who could take some lessons from how he handles sponsors and how he handles the team and the way he tries to make that whole group work together. He’s mature way beyond his years.”
In addition to his select Nationwide appearances in 2008, Cassill also competed in seven Craftsman Truck Series races, all for the team now known as Randy Moss Motorsports.
“Just really, seat time’s made him better,” Hendrick said. “Getting in the car, getting in traffic, racing other guys and just experience – that’s what he’s needed, and that’s what he’s got this year.”
In his 19 Nationwide starts this past season, Cassill collected one pole – at New Hampshire in late June - and five top-10 finishes, including career-best sixth-place efforts at Gateway International Raceway and Phoenix. Cassill was paired with four different crew chiefs over the course of the year.
“It’s tough,” he said. “Fortunately the crew chiefs that I worked with were all people I knew. … They’re all people I knew and people I’ve worked with. … I got to work with all of them. I knew their personalities, and they were, for the most part, smooth transitions.”
Cassill, who beat Chip Ganassi Racing’s Bryan Clauson by eight points for rookie honors, became only the third driver to claim that honor without running a full schedule.
“It’s tough, but you’ve got to make the best of it,” Cassill said of his partial slate. “You want to race every week, but you’ve got to use it to your advantage.”
Cassill is also learning a lesson in patience as he tries to nail down plans for the 2009 season.
“It’s tough because I don’t know,” he said. “I suppose if somebody said, ‘If we don’t find a sponsor, you’re not going to be a NASCAR driver anymore,’ yeah, I’d probably be losing sleep. But you just don’t know. Nobody knows right now what’s going to happen.
“So I’m almost a little more relaxed because I know that we’re working as hard as we can right now to get what I need to get, and there’s nothing more that we can do.”
Mentioned Drivers:
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the AMP Energy 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6248 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -184 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -192 |
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -239 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -279 |
| 6 | Kurt Busch | -312 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -340 |
| 8 | Ryan Newman | -402 |
| 9 | Kasey Kahne | -414 |
| 10 | Carl Edwards | -437 |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | -448 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -556 |
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Comments
11 responses to "Top Nationwide rookie Landon Cassill ready for next step in NASCAR ". Post a Comment.
Mary Reeson said:
Nov 20, 2008 at 3:32 PMGood Luck Landon,I sure hope something works out for you!
Report as AbuseHopefully Jr and Rick can get some sponsors in place for the #5 and put you back in the car!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportPamela Johnson said:
Nov 20, 2008 at 4:32 PMHope you can get sponsorship and a ride Landon! Would prefer it be with Hendrick but as long as you are racing. Have had hopes that if/when Jeff decides to retire you'd be the man in the seat. Don't give up!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportPatsi Wilbanks said:
Nov 20, 2008 at 6:06 PMCongratulations Landon!!!!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTim the Fan said:
Nov 20, 2008 at 6:31 PMIf Hendrick's has such high praise for this young lad then why doens't he forget Martin and put the kid in a car where he can grow. Look at Regan seat time in the big boys is what makes or brakes a career. We've seen so many great talents in the lesser divisions fail in Cup. Also seen some that struggled in lesser divisions and become real good Cup drivers. Forget all this developement and put him with the Big Dogs. He learns in three years or he finds another profession.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportMark Ernst said:
Nov 20, 2008 at 6:58 PMBrad Keselowski will more then likely be drivivng the 5 car in 2010. Thats when the
Report as AbuseNationwide series is going to their COT and
Jr doesnt have the driver. The cost for him
to go to the new car isnt in the budget. He
still needs to find more sponsors for the
88 car.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDoug Hall said:
Nov 20, 2008 at 11:53 PMRick does not co-own the #88 JRM car. Can you PLEASE get your facts straight before you pulbish an article
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» Confirm Abuse ReportPaul Baumgarten said:
Nov 21, 2008 at 7:05 AMI couldn't believe my eyes when the announcer said the skinny little kid from Iowa was going to drive a late model. But at age 15 he made the feature at Madison's (WI) big Summer late model special and ran door to door with the best from the midwest. And later that year, there he was again at LaCrosse for their storied Oktoberfest races where LC again did a great job of passing cars in a very strong field. By the time he was 16 he left no doubt that he was going to be something really special to watch. Way to go, Landon, on your ROTY award. You are with an awesome company. Let your development take place at a pace that will ensure your future success. Remember, even Jeff Gordon spent two years in the Busch Series.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBrenda Thompson said:
Nov 21, 2008 at 7:08 AMGood luck on getting your ride next year!!!! You did a great job this year!!!Hang in there Jr. and Rick will take care of you!!!!!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbeth emerson said:
Nov 21, 2008 at 9:22 AMExcuse me Doug but you are wrong. Hendrick does co own the 88 car. He and Jr announced that earlier in the year. i personally heard Jr talk about how He and Rick are co owners in Jr motorsports. Hendrick has 30% of the company and co owns both cars with Jr. Jr kept the majority in both but Hendrick does co own the 88 and the 5. You need to get your facts straight. You go get them Landon. Jr will get sponsorship and you will be in the 5 car in 2009.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbeth emerson said:
Nov 21, 2008 at 9:26 AMI pray that Jr gets the sponsorship for fultime in the 5 car. I want to see landon back in that car. Great young man will be a champ someday. For you Doug you have your facts wrong. Hendrick does co own the 88 with jr. Listen once in awhile they talked about that earlier in the year. Hendrick is now a partner in junior motorsports has been all year.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportCallaway said:
Nov 21, 2008 at 10:04 AMI know everyone wants to see if Martin can get it done running a full season but yet again a semi retired gray beard has kept the sport bottled up in the past at the cost of the future. In all likelihood the 5 car would have gone to Keselowski allowing Cassill to drive the 88 Nationwide car with full sponsorship full time which he needs. It's not that I'm not all for Martin getting a shot but at some point the torch needs to be passed to the future stars. I kind of think Ricks took the conservative approach collecting a known star and securing sponsorships overtook his gambler mentality and betting on the future.
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