CUP: Cassill Looking For New Opportunity

Sprint Cup

CUP: Cassill Looking For New Opportunity

Phoenix Racing driver's ride goes to Kurt Busch...

Bob Pockrass | http://www.scenedaily.com | Posted January 11, 2012 Charlotte, NC

Landon Cassill has been hired to drive for a team that purchased assets and last year's points from the now defunct Red Bull Racing team. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Landon Cassill doesn’t have a car to drive in the Sprint Cup Series test this week at Daytona International Speedway and doesn’t know if he’ll have a ride next month for the Daytona 500.

After running 32 Cup races last year, including 29 for Phoenix Racing, the 22-year-old driver was left without a ride when the team looked for a more experienced driver and signed former Cup champion Kurt Busch. Cassill, a former Hendrick Motorsports development and test driver, is hoping to land at Front Row Motorsports or with another Cup team. He has started 48 Cup races and 33 Nationwide Series races.

“Any one of these deals for me is an opportunity,” Cassill said in a phone interview. “I’m not trying to grab something on my way down. I’m not trying to scratch something from the bottom of the barrel for the last ride because I was ditched at a higher organization or I’ve burned bridges.

“I’m honestly trying to work my way up in a hard-working way and I hope people respect that. So whatever opportunity I get, whether it’s at Front Row or a new team or start-and-parking, it’s a good opportunity for me to prove myself, and that’s what I’m looking for.”

Cassill feels like he took a step forward last season with four top-20 finishes with Phoenix Racing. The team finished 30th in the owner standings (Cassill had declared for Nationwide points at the start of the year and was not eligible for Sprint Cup points).

“We had a lot of times that we ran in the top 20 and I learned how those guys raced, how they acted, how they carried themselves,” Cassill said.

Maybe most importantly, he gained experience on every oval track on the circuit.

That experience, Cassill said, can help him work with an organization looking to grow.

“I want these owners and general managers to know that I want to develop a team, I want to be part of something like that,” Cassill said. “That’s where these teams are at right now. … They need to build.

“I want these teams to know that I’m not here to pick up your ride. I want to work my way up. I want to do this the right way, the old-school way. I want people to respect us as a team for how hard they work.”

Cassill believes that if he can work well with a team that’s building, there could be opportunities in the future with a more established team.

“I’m in a motivated position right now because I know a lot of free agents will be coming back up next year, a lot of [guys have] one-year deals and a lot of guys have contracts coming up [for renewal] towards July,” Cassill said.

“If I can stay in the mix of this stuff and kind of even repeat my Cup season in 2010, I feel like I’ll be in a really good position to hopefully stay in the sport and stay racing for more years to come.”

Cassill is not bitter about losing the ride with team owner James Finch and Phoenix Racing.

“I don’t have any type of entitlement to the 51 car,” Cassill said. “I never did. I didn’t feel like it was my ride to lose. I don’t feel like it was taken from me.

“I feel like I had to earn it as much as anyone else who wanted that ride. For Kurt to get that deal, it is a great opportunity for James and it is a unique situation for Kurt as well.”

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DAYTONA PRESEASON THUNDER TESTING: During the Jan. 12-14 test sessions at Daytona International Speedway, fans can submit questions and comments through Twitter @SPEED (http://www.twitter.com/speed) using the #daytonatesting hashtag.