No. 4 Flex Seal Chevy – Landon Cassill
Talladega Post-Race Report
GAFFNEY, S.C. (May 5, 2013) – Landon Cassill and the No. 4 Flex Seal team recorded a top-20 finish this weekend at the 2.66 mile Talladega Superspeedway. The team ran up front all day, but was collected in a last lap crash resulting in a 17th place finish. The finish catapulted the No. 4 car to 32nd in the Owner’s Points battle.
The race weekend started with shorter fuses and tense nerves as the NASCAR Nationwide Series made their annual visit to Talladega. The team had prepared two race winning machines for both Cassill and teammate Mike Wallace, and they planned to work together for the event. The No. 4 Flex Seal Chevy had limited practice time, but once qualifying arrived, the fresh ECR-powered machine found itself starting 22nd.
As the race began, Cassill found a comfortable spot in the draft and reported to the crew that the racecar was running great. For the first half of the event, the No. 4 machine moved around within the top-20, allowing Cassill to work on his drafting style for later in the race. After a caution at lap 41, Cassill hooked up with Mike Wallace in a tandem draft and immediately went to the front. The duo ran near the top-10, trying to find a safe spot to race on the treacherous high banks of Talladega.
After NASCAR Officials shortened the race and the field was left with one Green-White-Checkered to sort it out, the tandem immediately went to work. Moving into the top-15 with a lap to go, the duo used the back stretch to enter the top-10. With Wallace leading and Cassill pushing, the two were running 6th and 7th as the cars in front began to wreck at the finish. The No. 4 car went low and was then forced up the track, stopping before the start/finish line. Although suffering a hard hit, Cassill was able to climb out, remove the scoring transponder, and heroically walk it across the line to finish the event.
Landon Cassill Quotes: “That was a crazy and wild finish. When I started working with Mike, I could push really well without overheating, and he was able to lead us around here. We had a plan to run to the front on the last two laps, but we both knew they would end up wrecking up there. We had a great run down the back stretch and we were coming up on the lead pack out of turn 4, but through the tri-oval they started wrecking. I took a hard hit into the wall, but I am okay. I hate it to tear up a good car for Johnny, but I am proud of how well the car ran today. Hopefully we can go get them again next weekend at Darlington.”
