By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
StarCom Racing, the newest full-time team in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, welcomed a new driver last week. That driver was series veteran Landon Cassill, who was tapped to fill the No. 00 Chevrolet, vacated by Jeffrey Earnhardt, for the next two races at Martinsville and Texas.
For the small team, it’s nice to have an experienced driver behind the wheel. For the sport, it’s nice to have a fan-friendly driver back on track.
It had been since Homestead last November since Cassill drove a Cup car, losing his ride at Front Row Motorsports following a two-year run. The offseason for the 28-year-old saw him take to television and NASCAR America on NBCSN, however, no ride. That has now been filled for the time being.
“I feel I made the most of my time off with my family,” Cassill told Kickin’ The Tires. “I had some good chances to really think about how I want to progress going forward. Now, it’s time to hit the road and do that.”
Indeed, the Iowa native had more time than usual to think about the next step. In fact, February’s Daytona 500 was the first missed weekend for Cassill since 2013.
“I’m not in the habit, I haven’t gone through the routines of the start of a season yet. This is the start of my season,” he said. “Once you’re in the racecar, all that goes away. It just takes you back to what you’re used to doing.”
And what Cassill is used to doing is driver-to-team relations. Joining such a fresh, young team in the early weeks of their first full season, Cassill is enjoying the engagement from StarCom.
“My team is very eager to hear my feedback,” he said. “That’s always very encouraging, it makes you feel like someone is engaged with what you’re saying. Makes me feel like my information is valuable.”
Made a lot of positive changes after our first practice at @MartinsvilleSwy, looking forward to second practice! #STP500 pic.twitter.com/Jr5km4OBjB
— StarCom Racing (@StarcomRacing) March 24, 2018
A big step toward that driver-to-team relationship is first finding the funding to make the connection roll. Cassill has balanced his driving skill with the necessary action of finding sponsors throughout the entirety of his Cup career and understands how it’s the reality of the business.”
“The sport right now, especially the bottom third of owners, they’re No. 1 priority is to have a sponsor on the car,” he said. “You’d love to say the No. 1 priority is having the driver they want but it doesn’t do them much good if there’s nothing funding the program.
“It’s hard to be a free-agent driver because you have a lot of conversations where the team is saying, ‘We would love to have you as a driver, but we have this other stuff we’re working on.’ It’s hard to see them put somebody in the car who they actually told you, ‘Eh, well, we’re not really hiring this person, he’s just bringing a sponsor.’
“That’s the reality of the business. You just have to work around it. I really want to contribute on the business side at StarCom.”
With Cassill in, Jeffrey Earnhardt was the one put on the sidelines. Earnhardt ran the opening five races of 2018 for the team and was released following the race at Auto Club Speedway.
Cassill is sympathetic for Earnhardt, however, feels the fourth-generation racer can find a new ride if he continues his ambitious sponsor search.
“I feel for him. I know what he’s going through,” he said. “Jeffrey is a survivor in this sport. He’s always been able to find a little bit of money to get himself opportunities and he needs to keep doing that. If he can keep doing that for a number of years, he will have enough starts and will have that good couple stretch of years where he can have that reputation of someone who says, ‘We need you to just come over and drive the car for a few weeks.’
“No matter what, you tend to feel like someone took your job. That’s just natural. He can definitely get there if he keeps grinding it out.”
With his mindset straight, Cassill knows what he wants to take from these two races with StarCom.
“It’s a matter of doing the right job,” he said. “What StarCom doesn’t need right now is someone out there trying to impress other people. I’m trying to impress StarCom. Not even a matter of impressing them, I want to do a good job for them. They need feedback on their cars, their car not torn up and make it through the race.”
Even with such a short period with the team thus far, Cassill is already thinking highly of the team’s upward progression from behind the scenes.
“I’m really impressed with the folks here,” he said. “They have great ambitions to build their team up. They’re brand new, only a couple months old. You have to give them a lot of credit for being here.
“I’ve been to the shop once, they have a handful of cars and more coming. They’re a growing operation.”
(Below is a video capture of our conversation with Landon Cassill)
