There are several NASCAR Cup Series drivers who deserve better rides. Landon Cassill is one of them. Will he ever get a ride with a top-tier team?
Landon Cassill, 28, has switched teams frequently throughout his NASCAR Cup Series career, which began back in 2010. However, he did not become a full-time driver until the following season. In 2010, he drove for Phoenix Racing, TRG Motorsports and Gunselman Motorsports before driving for Germain Racing and Phoenix Racing the following season in his first season as a full-time driver.
After 2011, Cassill has never driven for more than one team in a season. However, he has still changed teams frequently. In 2012, he drove for BK Racing before making the transition to Circle Sport in 2013. Then in 2014, he drove for Hillman Racing and then continued with the team in 2015 after it was renamed to Hillman Smith Motorsports. In 2016, he started driving for Front Row Motorsports, which is the team he currently drives for.
Cassill currently sits in a 32nd place tie in the championship standings with a top finish of 16th place this season and just one other finish inside the top 20. However, he has been close to the top 20 several times, with five other finishes from between 21st and 23rd place.
More from NASCAR
- NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
- NASCAR: Will Kevin Harvick’s major record ever be broken?
- NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
- NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
- NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
In most ways, Cassill’s statistics aren’t great. In fact, they really aren’t even good in any way, shape or form. He has driven 248 career races and has just one top 10 finish. In fact, his win drought of 248 races is longer than all other active drivers’ win droughts…and he doesn’t even have a victory to trace back to.
However, he has driven for lots of underfunded teams, so it’s amazing that he has produced the small amount of solid results that he has. And it’s definitely understandable why he doesn’t have many great finishes. Plus, while he does only have on career top 10 finish, it was far better than a 10th place result, which we’ll touch on in more depth below.
Cassill also has four other finishes of either 11th or 12th place throughout his career, so he has been solid given the fact that he has never driven for a great team. Running up toward the front for the teams he has driven for is definitely respectable for the 28-year-old.
Now let’s get back to that lone top 10 result that Cassill has to his name. It was far better than a 10th place finish; in fact, it was even better than a 5th place finish. His lone top 10 and top 5 finish came back in 2014 at Talladega, and he finished the race in 4th place, and he did it driving for Hillman Racing, which is nowhere near the competitive level of the top-tier teams.
While that 4th place finish really is the only highlight of Cassill’s career, the fact that he even has that highlight given how many small teams he has driven for shows that he could benefit from being given a ride with a top-tier team. He certainly deserves a chance.
Next: Top 10 active NASCAR drivers of all-time
Do you believe Landon Cassill deserves a Cup Series ride with a top-tier organization? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it. Also be sure to follow Beyond the Flag on both Instagram and Twitter.