Cassill ends 2022 with confident top-5 finish, high hopes for 2023
AVONDALE, ARIZ. — Landon Cassill closed out his first NASCAR Xfinity season racing for Kaulig Racing with a confident top-5 finish Saturday night at Phoenix Raceway.
Cassill finished fourth after finishing fifth in each stage. He started the day sixth after being 20th-fastest in practice.
“It was a solid race for us, I’m really happy to finish the season like this. We really didn’t post a fast lap in practice but after looking at the data, it gave me some optimism for what we had in the car,” Cassill reflected. “Qualifying sort of indicated that for me so I started the race with some level of confidence.”
“It was probably the best that Alex and I worked together,” he added.
With nine races to go, Cassill began working with crew chief Alex Yontz, who replaced Jason Trinchere. Although Cassill and Yantz missed the playoffs, the duo kept up the mentality of a playoff team and parlayed it into success at Phoenix.
“It’s huge [running well in Phoenix]. This race is going to be circled no matter what as long as I’m running for a team like this in the Xfinity Series and this is the championship race,” Cassill said. “We’re going to treat it like a championship race, even if we’re not in the Final 4. Everything from our preparation this week to maximizing pit road and everything.
“It [the top-5 finish] gives me a lot of confidence that if we were racing for a championship, we would’ve been there,” he stated.
Cassill ended 2022 with five top-5 finishes and 12 top-10s – all career-high marks – including two top-5s and three top-10s with Yontz.
“Alex and I have been getting along well and that gives us a lot to look forward to,” Cassill said. “It’s been up and down and we’ve had our moments. We didn’t end up with a championship or a race win but I feel like we’re close and we’re going to get there.”
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com