Cassill Aims to Continue Upward Swing at Texas

Landon Cassill heads into this weekend’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) with a near-blank slate. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native has four starts at the 1.5-mile track and is looking for his breakthrough performance this weekend.

Three of Cassill’s starts came in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) competition. Each of his finishes has gotten progressively better. He scored a 40th-place finish in his first attempt (2010) and followed it up with 28th (April, 2011) and 26th-place (November, 2011) finishes. Cassill hopes his performance in the No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota will continue the upward swing.

In NASCAR Nationwide Series competition, Cassill has one start at TMS. In 2010, Cassill started 29th and finished 18th driving for JR Motorsports.

Cassill’s No. 83 BK Racing team earned its way back into the top-35 of the NSCS owner point standings at Martinsville Speedway. The team was five points out of 35th place before Martinsville. They are now in 35th place, only 20 points outside of 30th place.

Comments from BK Racing driver Landon Cassill heading into Texas:

“I’ve only been to Texas a few times, but each time I’ve been able to top my previous race. That definitely gives me confidence going into this weekend. I know there’s a lot to learn, but anytime you leave a track and feel like you’re you’ve built on what you accomplished the last time, it has you ready for more. I think the Burger King/Dr. Pepper team is definitely capable of keeping my Texas (Motor Speedway) streak going and getting a top-25 this weekend.

“We’ll be racing under the lights this weekend. Who doesn’t love a night race? They’re so cool. The cars take on a whole new look when the lights shine down and the fans come alive when the sun goes down. It’s definitely an electric atmosphere. All of us drivers grew up racing in Friday night short track events. The lights take us back to those days. It gives the event and ‘old school’ feel.

“We made it back into the top-35 after the race at Martinsville. That gives us a little breathing room, but it’s still really close. We know that every point counts and we’re going to do everything we can to increase the margin between us and 36th place.

“The Easter off-weekend was so important for our team. We didn’t start preparing our cars until the team opened its doors in February. We barely had any time to get everything ready for the first six races. Easter gave us a chance to have a few more days in the shop and work hard to catch up on everything. I think we’re more prepared and more equipped now than ever before.”

BK Racing PR