CHARLOTTE, N.C. – How does one break in to the racing industry from the state of Hawaii?
Just follow the blueprint that Will Rodgers has laid out and you’ll get a pretty solid idea.
Rodgers, 23, was born in The Islands of Aloha and introduced to go-karting by his mother when he was 8. Within 14 months he had won a state championship, topping all comers at the end of the 2005 season.
“I’ve been racing ever since,” Rodgers laughed.
Later moving to the West Coast and going to high school in California, Rodgers’ mark has begun to trickle nationwide. He was recently announced as one of the nine members of this year’s NASCAR Next class, an initiative designed to highlight the sport’s rising stars as they work to make their way up the racing ladder.
Asked how he got from the island of Maui – where he grew up – to the hub of the stock car racing world in Charlotte, Rodgers smiled before offering the explanation.
“The short answer is hard work,” said Rodgers. “However, it’s hard work that’s been done with a lot of really great people around me. I’ve got a great circle of people who have helped me accomplish what I have so far.
“Coming from Hawaii is definitely unique; not a lot of people come from there … at least in the racing industry, so it’s a pretty special trait to have,” Rodgers noted. “But at the same time, I’ve raced all around the country. From Hawaii to California to North Carolina, it all comes together. We’ve just been after this thing for a long time and now, all our hard work is really starting to come to fruition. That’s showcased in a big way by me standing side by side with the other NASCAR Next class members this year. It’s a really special thing.”
The track Rodgers got his start at, the Maui Go-Kart Track, is one of a select few tracks of any kind in the entire archipelago.
“Not many people can actually name a race track in Hawaii,” Rodgers joked. “There aren’t too many race tracks there, but there are a few go-kart tracks, motocross tracks, drag strips … and there’s some SCCA racing that happens as well. There’s not a lot of racing, but if you know where to look it’s definitely there and you can find it.
“That’s where I got my start, is on the island of Maui,” Rodgers added. “The go kart track there is actually located in a little cane field in the center of the island.”
From there, Rodgers slowly built his racing resume into sports cars, but he knew eventually he had to make a change if he wanted to join the ranks of the racing elite.
“My transition into stock cars really started about two and a half years ago,” explained Rodgers. “I came from sports cars, racing Mazdas in the Pirelli World Challenge, and I realized that as great as sports car racing is, there’s not as many opportunities as there are in stock car racing. I needed to look elsewhere and found some great people to get started with.
“As they say, the rest is history,” Rodgers said. “If you fast forward three years, now we’re at this juncture in my career and I couldn’t be happier about where I’ve gotten to.”
