NASCAR Cup Series: Landon Cassill to drive for StarCom Racing in 2019

Landon Cassill is set to return to the NASCAR Cup Series as a full-time driver in the 2019 season, and he is set to do so driving for StarCom Racing.

The 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season was the first season since the 2013 season during which Landon Cassill did not either compete in or attempt to qualify for each of the 36 races on the schedule.

Cassill drove in 29 races this past season, and he did so driving for StarCom Racing. In 25 of these 29 races, he drove the #00 Chevrolet, and in the other four, he drove the #99 Chevrolet.

The 29-year-old Cedar Rapids, Iowa native is set to return to StarCom Racing in the 2019 season, and he is set to return as the full-time driver of the #00 Chevrolet.

This announcement comes after StarCom Racing formed a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing and purchased a charter from the team to guarantee themselves a starting spot in each of the 36 races on next year’s schedule.

Richard Childress Racing previously used this charter to field the #27 Chevrolet, which did not compete this past season. Instead, StarCom Racing leased this charter for the 2018 season.

Here is what Cassill had to say about the opportunity to return to StarCom Racing and to return to being a full-time Cup Series driver in the 2019 season, according to ESPN.

"“I’m very excited to be back with StarCom Racing for 2019. We put in a lot of work at the end of 2018 to make improvements for this coming year, and I think that work will pay off across the board. The team is making big investments in cars and engines to step up our program, and it only motivates me to bring 110% as a driver.”"

Here is what StarCom Racing team manager Derrike Cope had to say about signing Cassill as the team’s full-time driver for the 2019 season, according to ESPN.

"“We are coming off a successful first year for our new owners and team. We certainly endured a great deal of adversity as a start-from-scratch Cup team, learning along the way with positive results for the most part. With a continued commitment from our owners, Mike and Matt Kohler and Bill Woehlemann, we are looking forward to the prospects of being a better race team in 2019.“We are extremely proud and pleased to have acquired the charter from RCR. We are excited to have contracted Landon Cassill for this coming year as I have enjoyed working with him in 2018 and what his experience brings to the race team. We are working hard now preparing for Daytona and cannot wait for the season to start!”"

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Cassill has competed in 288 Cup Series races in nine seasons over the course of his career thus far. He has competed in each season since the 2010 season, his first season in the sport, on at least a part-time basis.

In these 288 races, Cassill has earned one top five finish. This top five finish, which was a fourth place finish in the October race at Talladega Superspeedway in the 2014 season, is also his lone career top 10 finish. He has recorded a career average starting position of 32.1 and a career average finishing position of 29.4, and he has led 65 of the 74,380 laps that he has completed.

The most recent season during which Cassill was a full-time driver was the 2017 season, which was his second and final season driving for Front Row Motorsports. After driving the #38 Ford for the team in the 2016 season, he drove the #34 Ford for the team in the 2017 season.

How will Landon Cassill perform in his first season as the full-time driver of the #00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet? The 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to begin at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on Sunday, February 17, 2019 with the 61st annual Daytona 500.