Rodgers’ career launched into stardom last summer when he found himself racing nose-to-tail with 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick for the win in the Carneros 200 at Sonoma Raceway, one of the premier events on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West schedule.
Though Harvick ultimately came out on top, he had high praise for Rodgers in all of his media availabilities afterwards, both on how Rodgers raced him and how they worked together as teammates at Jefferson-Pitts Racing.
“Reflecting back on (Sonoma), that moment is really the limelight of what my career has been shaped into being so far,” Rodgers admitted. “It’s more or less my claim to fame.
“Being able to meet Kevin that weekend, battle against him and then to have him say some really great things about me to the media has really boosted my career. From that day to this one, it’s completely black and white,” Rodgers continued. “Nobody knew who I was before then, and once Kevin said everything he said, everyone at the race, back here in Charlotte and around the country knew my name.
“That changed everything for me, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity and to be able to prove myself to someone like Kevin, who’s a Cup champion and lighting the racing scene on fire right now with all of his wins. He may be older … the elder statesman, more or less, but he’s still kicking everybody’s tail and it’s neat to be associated with someone like that. … Having someone like him in my corner is huge.”
Rodgers’ most-recent on-track appearance came in the ARCA Racing Series opener at Daytona Int’l Speedway in February, where he drove Ken Schrader’s No. 52 and showed plenty of speed before being caught up in a multi-car crash that ended his afternoon.
“Daytona’s always a toss-up; you never really know how that’s going to go,” said Rodgers. “A lot of people had great races, and others had some horrible races like we did. You just never know.
“Since then, it’s been pretty quiet,” he added. “We’ve been working really hard to find funding that will allow us to do some further races.”
Rodgers is scheduled to compete in Friday’s ARCA event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as the pair of ARCA races at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, all driving for Schrader.
He’ll also return to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series to compete in the three scheduled road course events this season: two in the East at New Jersey Motorsports Park and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l and a return to Sonoma out West, piloting a car for Jefferson-Pitts Racing.
Rodgers was victorious at both New Jersey and Watkins Glen last year.
“After winning two out of the three (road course races) last time, I want to go back and make it a clean sweep this year,” Rodgers smiled. “Sonoma is the number one win that I want.”
Rodgers is at an interesting juncture in his career, being one of the oldest members of the current NASCAR Next class and yet only having 27 stock car starts to his name over the last three years.
“I think I’m in a unique position,” he pointed out. “A lot of my NASCAR Next classmates are either multi-generation racers or have been racing way longer than I have. For me to come in with less experience and be older … it’s a weird dynamic, but I think I can spin it in a way that will really be able to bring me some positives.”
Regardless of that, he knows he’s living his dream – or at least he’s a lot closer to doing so than he was before.
“We’re getting there, man,” Rodgers stated. “A lot of people have made a lot of sacrifices for me to get to this point, and I’m really appreciative of everyone’s hard work. I can’t wait to see how far it’s going to go.”
