Landon Cassill Loses Phoenix Racing Ride For Bristol, Replaced By Mike Bliss

Landon Cassill has been replaced by Mike Bliss in Phoenix Racing’s No. 51 car this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, and the 22-year-old driver is unsure when he will return.

Cassill said team officials called him this week to let him know Bliss would be in the James Finch-owned car for Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race.

“James has given me an incredible opportunity to drive his cars – an opportunity I may not have gotten from anybody else – to race at the Cup level,” Cassill said Friday, where he was spotting for Mike Skinner. “The other thing about James is he’s very clear on his expectations and what he wants, and they feel like they need to be running in about 20th place. ... This is a move on their part to try to ensure those top-20 finishes at Bristol.”

Cassill has an average finish of 27.3 in his 17 races for Phoenix Racing this year, though he had improved to a 22.5 average over his past seven events before a bad run at Michigan last week.

“They’ve always been upfront and honest with me about what they expect in performance, which is about 20th place, but it’s not easy to do that at all in the Cup series,” he said. “It’s a very, very competitive series. That’s a very high expectation that I respect and want to achieve for my race team and for any team that I’m driving for.

“Hopefully I do get an opportunity to race with them again throughout the season and continue that.”

Cassill said his difficulty in finding a stable situation in the Sprint Cup Series is another example of “how hard it is for (young) drivers like me to get into the sport.”

At Phoenix Racing, he said, “You got an owner that’s racing out of his pocket and he’s going to make quick decisions on what can perform best for that week. Right, wrong or indifferent, I need to do the best I can with what I’m given every week.”