(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
CONCORD, N.C. – The Coca-Cola 600 is known as NASCAR’s longest, most grueling race of the year. It’s 100 miles longer than any other race on the 36-week schedule, and drivers often speak of taking extra care of themselves in order to be fresh at the end of it.
But one driver is going to go the extra mile – 14 miles, actually – after the race.
Landon Cassill plans to drive all 600 miles on Sunday night, then get out of his car and run more than a half-marathon distance to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in uptown Charlotte.
Isn’t that a little bit crazy?
“I mean, yeah,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “It might be crazy, but people have done crazier things. I’m hoping to inspire some people. People need to know how good it feels to be fit and to be well.”
Cassill is sponsored by Snap Fitness — a chain of fitness clubs — so he has some incentive for people to get in shape. But Cassill is also a triathlete; he’s currently training for a half Ironman and believes his post-race run will be good for him.
Of course, there’s a decent chance it won’t be an easy run. His helmet hose has broken before at Charlotte, leaving him overheated. His knees have gotten “kinked up” after hitting the wall. And there are other things that can “cause discomfort that will make it challenging to transition from the race car to the run,” Cassill said.
To make sure he’s not doing anything stupid with his health, Cassill’s physical therapist will evaluate him after the race before clearing the run. And Cassill will have two police motorcycles plus a safety car escorting him to Charlotte (the run will take place entirely at night, possibly not starting until after 10:30 p.m.).
Cassill, 25, said there’s three ways his run could turn out:
— He could start out and discover he’s not feeling all that energetic, in which case he’d “go at an easy pace and just make it to the end at that pace.”
— He could feel much fresher than anticipated and decide to “descend down to my 70.3 Ironman race pace” because it would benefit his training.
— He could discover he has absolutely nothing in the tank. “If I’m trashed, it’ll be a survival death march,” he said with a laugh.
Either way, just attempting the feat should earn him some respect.
“You would have to be in really good shape and have run a ton of miles and log a lot of miles each week,” said driver Kasey Kahne, who is also a runner. “To run 14 after the 600, man — that is going to be late.
“That is cool on his part and I hope it goes well for him.”
