Cassill gets SprintCup car that won’t start-and-park

Landon Cassill is getting the chance to show his stuff over entire races in NASCAR's top series.

The 21-year-old from Cedar Rapids will replace veteran Bill Elliott in Phoenix Racing's Sprint Cup car, effective this weekend in Fontana, Calif.

Cassill drove for Phoenix Racing team owner James Finch in the Nationwide Series race at Daytona last month, finishing third.

Elliott ran the first four races of the season for Finch's No. 09 Chevrolet. His best finish was 12th. Finch had planned to use Elliott in 18 races. Elliott plans to spend more time helping his 15-year-old son, who recently signed a multiyear deal to drive for Hendrick Motorsports, which has also employed Cassill.

Elliott, 55, compiled enough car-owner points to move Phoenix into 26th in the standings. The top 35 in owners' points are guaranteed spots in Sprint Cup fields each week after the fifth race, which is the Fontana event, so Finch's spot in races appears safe no matter what happens Sunday at Fontana.

“Hopefully, I can do good enough to keep the car in the top 35 (in points) and even in the top 25,” Cassill told Foxsports.com.

“To think that this is my first actual opportunity to run the same car each week and race it to the end is cool. Once again, Finch has given me the chance to resurrect my career. He expects you to run well. But that's good. That's why we all come to race.”

Cassill qualified Germain Racing's No. 60 car in all three Sprint Cup races he attempted this season but was a start-and-park in each. He qualified for the 43-car fields, then raced a small percentage of the races' laps before pulling in for the day to avoid expenses like replacement tires and engine wear and tear. Germain team owner Bob Germain Jr. agreed to free Cassill to compete for Finch.

Cassill had 16 Sprint Cup starts last year, but most were start-and-parks. In one, he led a lap at the Brickyard 400. Last weekend in the Sprint Cup event at Bristol, Tenn., he ran the fastest qualifying lap of anyone who needed to qualify that way to make the field.

He moved to the Charlotte, N.C., area after signing with Hendrick as a developmental/test driver. He was the Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year in 2008 with five top-10 finishes.