Landon Cassill has taken his No. 10 team on quite the voyage in 2022. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
For the past 12 years, Landon Cassill has proven his worth as a steady, competitive driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Previously racing with JR Motorsports and JD Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, Cassill finds himself in the best opportunity of his career with Kaulig Racing. Ahead of Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET on USA), Cassill ranks 10th in the championship standings, 21 points above the Playoff cutline.
The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native continues to make strides with the No. 10 Chevy Camaro team. One of Cassill’s career highlights includes a riveting runner up result at Martinsville, a race that showcased the venerable veteran’s willingness to extend his elbows during crunch time.
As established in Part I of my interview with Cassill, he’s appreciating his new Xfinity home at Kaulig with teammates, AJ Allmendinger and Daniel Hemric. Moreover, he provided some accurate observations about the repaved Atlanta Motor Speedway prior to logging laps on the track.
In Part II, Cassill and I discuss the youthful energy of the Xfinity Series, racing in the Next Gen car and one of his incentives to win his first Xfinity Series race.
Now, let’s get “In the Hot Seat” for Part II with Landon Cassill!
Rob Tiongson : You’re still relatively young, but the Xfinity Series has a lot of 18 to 20-year-olds. How do you see your experiences serving you well when it comes to picking and choosing those battles?
Cassill doesn’t mind mixing it up with the new faces of Xfinity racing like Bailey Currey. (Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)
Landon Cassill : Yeah. I mean, it does, and I see that during every single race where I can definitely tell that my experience helps with my patience, or my willingness to make maybe smarter decisions than other drivers. But that experience only lasts so long.
I mean, those young drivers, they figure it out pretty fast. I mean, they’re good. They’re in the Xfinity Series for a reason. They’re good drivers and so they learn fast. And so you just… at the end of the day, I feel like right now I’m just taking this approach that I need to focus on what I can control and do my job every week.
Tiongson : You have some experience driving the Next Gen car. What’s your general thoughts with the Next Gen car and its potential to create a closer, competitive style of racing in Cup as we’re seeing with F1 with their Next Gen car?
Cassill : Man, it’s been interesting. I mean, I think that the teams are still just figuring it out. It’s going to take some time. I think you’ll see some teams with some advantages early on.
Obviously, Trackhouse has kind of got it figured out. I think Stewart-Haas is running really well. But I think there’s going to be a lot of parity. I think the field is going to be closer. And the rate at which teams are finding speed is going to start slowing down, and the cars are going to get tighter and tighter over time.
Tiongson : And then folks at home, some of them are complaining, like, “Oh, the Next Gen car is just so much slower. The Xfinity cars are even faster.” But would you agree with this observation that speed doesn’t always equate to better racing for Cup?
While Cassill’s primary focus is his Xfinity efforts with Kaulig, he’s competed in select Cup races with Spire Motorsports. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
Cassill : Yeah. I mean, I agree with that, to some degree. I will say that it was a pretty proud thing for all of us racers to be driving Cup cars that had 900+ horsepower in the 2000s, 2010s. I’m proud that I got to drive cars like that, because it’s something else to experience 9500 RPM and 900 horsepower.
So, I do think that that will be forever missed, if that’s something that never comes back. But I agree with you in terms of what puts on a good race. Big horsepower alone isn’t exclusive to good racing.
Tiongson : That’s true. It’s not just a black-and-white observation to say, “Oh, high speed racing doesn’t always equate to good racing.” But in certain situations, I think it also does lend itself to competitiveness, to say the least.
Of course, you’ve got your children who watch you race. What is it like to share one of your passions with them when they get to be with you during the race weekends?
Cassill : It’s just been a pleasure for my kids just to see me race right now and really get into it. I mean, Beckham is enjoying the races more now than ever, and he’s more interested in racing now than ever, maybe because his dad finally is on TV and has a chance to win.
So the kids have been… there’s a bounty on my head right now for a top five. The kids, I guess, get ice cream if I get a top five and unlimited Shirley Temples if I win. So they’ve been rooting for me for that.
Tiongson : That’s a really great incentive. It makes me think of how Daniel Suárez has the whole Dairy Queen thing. At least you have an actual legit reason to have some of those desserts with your family.
Now, I’m going to put you in my shoes, being a journalist. If you had to describe yourself as a driver, what three words would you choose, and why?
Make no mistake that Cassill appreciates his quality opportunity with the No. 10 Voyager Chevy team. (Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)
Cassill : Patient, prepared and hopefully lucky. I’d like to be lucky. I don’t know if I would say that to describe myself.
Maybe that’s a wish, that I wish I was lucky. I don’t know. Patient, prepared, for sure.
Tiongson : We’ll consider lucky. That’s a unique word choice.
Cassill : Lucky to be here.
Tiongson : Exactly. Fortunate. I think we’ll accept that.
Cassill : Fortunate, there you go.
Tiongson : In our world, we have the concept of twin cities or sister cities that unites two locations globally. So what racecar driver, in any division, would you say is your essential brother racer, or essential twin, in any motorsports division, anywhere in the world?
Cassill : I like Lando Norris over in F1. I think maybe he’s a younger version of myself. As far as my age right now, I feel like Daniel Hemric and I… I see a lot of similarities between the two of us. We get along really well.
Obviously, he’s my teammate at Kaulig Racing, and we come from a very similar background, as well. We raced go-karts with each other since we were nine years old.
Editor’s Notes
Special thanks to Landon Cassill for taking the time for this latest “In the Hot Seat” interview! Also, special thanks to Carly Miktuk and Kaulig Racing for their assistance with this latest interview on The Podium Finish. You can keep track of Landon Cassill on his Facebook and Twitter accounts and of course, here on TPF.
This interview has been edited for clarity by Taylor Kitchen.
