2014 Review & 2015 Preview: Hillman Racing/Circle Sport Racing: Landon Cassill and the No. 33 Team

In 2014, Landon Cassill returned to Hillman Racing for the second season in a row in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Although he did not declare to compete for the points in NASCAR’s top-tier division, Cassill made the attempt at a full season run.

Throughout 34 starts, Cassill continued to find growth– not only in the Cup Series, but for his career as well. At the season-opener at Daytona, he started the year on a high note. He matched his career-best finish of 12th, which he had accomplished at Michigan in 2011 with Phoenix Racing.

As the year continued in the No.40 Chevrolet, Cassill went on to miss the following two races at Phoenix and Las Vegas. He qualified for the race at Bristol, and ran each event after that.

When the Cup Series made its way to Talladega, Cassill improved his career-best finish — finishing11th in his unsponsored Chevrolet. In a return to Talladega, he improved his previous result at the track, capturing a new career-best finish of fourth-place. 

During this past season, the 25-year-old captured one top-five and one top-10 finish. He averaged a 34.9 start and a 28.8 finish. He also had five DNFs – two of which were caused by engine failures.

However, he improved his stats from the 2013 season, where he averaged a 36.1 start and a 32.3 finish in his first year driving for Joe Falk.

For David Stremme, the 2014 season was a season of change as he competed with Circle Sport after having been released by Swan Racing in 2013. Compared to having a full-time ride, Stremme competed in a mere 10 races in the No. 33 Chevrolet.

Stremme shared time in the team’s second car with Travis Kvapil, Alex Kennedy, Morgan Shepard, Bobby Labonte and Timmy Hill. In conjunction with Richard Childress Racing, the team fielded the No. 33 in a handful of events with Ty Dillon and Brian Scott.

Among that line-up of drivers, Kvapil managed to capture the best finish at Talladega, with a sixth-place finish in the Geico 500.

Stremme’s best finish of the year was at Bristol during the Summer night race, with a 31st-place finish. His performance in 2014 may have been a step back from 2013, as he had an average start of 33.1 and 29.6 finish. He also failed to qualify for the events in Texas and Indianapolis.

Meanwhile Kvapil later left the team to return to BK Racing in the No. 83 car, after Ryan Truex had left the team.

2015 Preview:

Heading into the 2015 Season, Cassill will be back with Hillman Racing as the team’s primary driver in the Cup Series in the No. 40 car. Sponsorship has not been announced, but the team is expecting to have some of their partners return for the new year. He will also be back in the Xfinity Series, as sponsor G&K Services will be returning as his primary sponsor for JD Motorsports in the No. 01 Chevrolet.

It is unknown who will drive the No. 33 car when Dillon and Scott don’t race it. Dillon is running the Daytona 500, and Scott is expected to run up to 10 events for RCR. 

Christine Valdez