William Palmer Rodgers (born October 8, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet SS for Young's Motorsports. He has also been a part-time driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (now the ARCA Menards Series East), ARCA Menards Series West and the Pirelli World Challenge.

Racing career

2016: West Series debut After racing in the Pirelli World Challenge, Rodgers began racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in 2016, driving for team owner Dave Hanson. He made his debut at Sonoma Raceway, finishing in seventeenth. He ended the season with four top-ten finishes.

2017: Breakthrough with Kevin Harvick

Rodgers returned to the series in 2017, running full-time in the K&N Pro Series West for Jefferson Pitts Racing. He opened the season with four consecutive top-five finishes. At Sonoma, Rodgers qualified on pole position, earning his first career pole in the series. While he led early, Rodgers was eventually passed by 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, finishing second. Rodgers said after the race, "For some funny reason, I had a feeling as far back as four weeks ago that it was going to be me and Kevin coming into turn 11 on the last lap. And sure enough, there we were. He ran a really good race, I learned a lot from him. We were able to lead some laps there in the beginning. It doesn't feel too bad to finish second today." Harvick, meanwhile, was impressed with Rodgers' performance, stating, "That was really what this was all about, to shine a little light on a kid like Will and race against him and give him the recognition he deserves. I want to keep supporting the series and bring that bright light on some of these kids who need the opportunity." The race became a turning point for Rodgers' career; in May 2018, Autoweek writer Matt Weaver argued that Rodgers had "gained more from his graceful defeat than if he had won the race without the participation of a Cup Series veteran." Rodgers spoke of the race as having done "wonders for my career. We got a lot of attention....I can't say enough about how helpful Kevin was. He put me on his radio show and told the world that he respected me. That was huge." Rodgers ran the rest of the season for Pitts' team, adding another second-place finish at Evergreen Speedway.

Rodgers also ran the two road course races in the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season. Rodgers earned his first career K&N Series win at Watkins Glen International, holding off Rubén García Jr. after García hit the wall attempting to overtake him. After the race, Harvick, despite not participating in the event, visited Rodgers in Victory Lane to congratulate him on the win. Rodgers also won the second road course race of the season at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

2018: Road course dominance, ARCA debut

In 2018, Rodgers returned to Jefferson Pitts Racing for the K&N West season opener at Kern County Raceway Park. After finishing a disappointing 16th, Rodgers moved to Bob Farmer's team for the doubleheader at Tucson Speedway. He finished ninth and seventh in the first and second race respectively.

On June 16, Rodgers returned to the East Series to run again at New Jersey Motorsports Park. He won the race after qualifying second and leading 49 of the 55 laps, earning his third road course victory in four such races at the K&N level and establishing himself as one of the series' road course ringers. Two days before the race, Harvick reaffirmed his support for Rodgers and argued, "When the road course stuff shows up, Will is probably capable of being in an Xfinity race or a Cup race. In the right equipment on a road course, he'd be a top-10 competitor." The next week, Rodgers returned to Sonoma for the K&N West race; while Harvick did not enter the 2018 race, a total of five Cup Series drivers (Aric Almirola, William Byron, Daniel Suárez, Erik Jones, and Alex Bowman) did participate. Rodgers beat all of them, qualifying on the pole and winning his fourth consecutive road course race at the K&N level. Rodgers later joined Levin Racing for the race at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Before the 2018 ARCA Racing Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, Rodgers was also announced as a driver for Ken Schrader Racing for select races, including Daytona. The race was Rodgers' first on an oval track longer than one mile in length. At Daytona, Rodgers was involved in an accident in turn 4 on lap 21, which led to him finishing 25 laps down in 30th place. Rodgers then rebounded to finish eighth in his next race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Later in the season, he set a new career-best finish with a sixth-place run at Michigan International Speedway.

2019: K&N return at Sonoma and Xfinity debut Rodgers began the 2019 season on the sidelines (working on the business aspect of his career by recruiting sponsors) but returned to Levin Racing for the K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma. He spent the week leading up to the event serving as a driver coach to fellow K&N Pro Series driver Hailie Deegan.

In July, Rodgers joined Brandonbilt Motorsports for his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway.

2021: Return to Xfinity Series Rodgers returned to the Xfinity Series in June 2021 with Sam Hunt Racing on a three-race schedule at Nashville Superspeedway, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

Personal life Rodgers was born in Maui, Hawaii and currently resides in Huntersville, North Carolina.

At the age of three, Rodgers was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a liver disease that resulted in numerous biopsies and colonoscopies during his youth. He runs the Will Rodgers Liver Health Foundation.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

O'Reilly Auto Parts Series NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Pts Ref 2019 Brandonbilt Motorsports 68 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN NHA IOW28 GLN 43rd 58 86 MOH12 BRI ROA DAR IND LVS RCH ROV28 DOV KAN TEX PHO HOM22 2021 Sam Hunt Racing 26 Toyota DAY DRC HOM LVS PHO ATL MAR TAL DAR DOV COA CLT MOH TEX NSH14 POC ROA ATL NHA GLN ROV29 TEX KAN MAR PHO 91st 01 24 IRC28 MCH DAY DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL 2022 Reaume Brothers Racing 33 Toyota DAY CALDNQ LVS PHO ATL 71st 2 RSS Racing 38 Toyota COA37 RCH MAR TAL DOV DAR TEX CLT PIR NSH MBM Motorsports 13 Toyota ROA38 ATL NHA POC IRC MCH GLN DAY DAR KAN BRI TEX TAL ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO 2023 66 DAY CAL LVS PHO ATL COA RCH MAR TAL DOV DAR CLT PIR SON NSH CSC ATL NHA POC ROA MCH IRCDNQ GLN DAY DAR KAN BRI TEX ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO 115th 01 2025 Cope Family Racing 70 Chevy DAY ATL COA PHO LVS HOM MAR DAR BRI CAR TAL TEX CLT NSH MXC POC ATL CSC SON16 DOV IND IOW GLN DAY PIR GTW BRI KAN ROV LVS TAL MAR PHO 57th 23 2026 Young's Motorsports 42 Chevy DAY ATL COA PHO LVS DAR MAR CAR BRI KAN TAL TEX GLN20 DOV CLT NSH POC COR SON17 CHI ATL IND IOW DAY DAR GTW BRI LVS CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -*

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2021 Cram Racing Enterprises 41 Chevy DAY DRC LVS ATL BRD RCH KAN DAR COA CLT TEX NSH POC KNX GLN39 GTW DAR BRI LVS TAL MAR 74th 15 Reaume Brothers Racing 34 Toyota PHO22 2022 33 DAY LVS ATL COA21 MAR BRD DAR KAN TEX CLT GTW SON KNX NSH MOH POC IRP RCH KAN BRI TAL HOM PHO 99th 01 2023 Young's Motorsports 02 Chevy DAY LVS ATL COA TEX BRD MAR KAN DAR NWS CLT GTW NSH MOH34 POC RCH26 IRP MLW KAN BRI TAL HOM PHO 62nd 19 2025 Young's Motorsports 20 Chevy DAY ATL LVS HOM MAR BRI CAR TEX KAN NWS CLT NSH MCH POC LRP IRP GLN RCH DAR BRI NHA ROV15 TAL MAR PHO 97th 01

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

ARCA Menards Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Menards Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Ref 2018 Ken Schrader Racing 52 Ford DAY30 NSH SLM TAL TOL POC18 MCH6 MAD GTW CHI9 IOW ELK POC8 ISF BLN DSF SLM IRP KAN 22nd 985 11 CLT8 2020 Steve McGowan Motorsports 17W Chevy DAY PHO TAL POC IRP KEN IOW KAN TOL TOL MCH DRC5 GTW I44 TOL BRI WIN MEM ISF KAN 53rd 39

K&N Pro Series East NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts Ref 2017 Jefferson Pitts Racing 7 Ford NSM GRE BRI SBO SBO MEM BLN TMP NHA IOW GLN1 LGY NJM1* DOV 22nd 95 2018 NSM BRI LGY SBO SBO MEM NJM1* TMP NHA IOW GLN2* 23rd 110 Levin Racing 10 Chevy GTW26 NHA DOV

ARCA Menards Series West ARCA Menards Series West results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts Ref 2016 DeLong Racing 84 Chevy IRW KCR TUS OSS CNSWth 16th 201 Dave Hanson 06 Chevy SON17 SLS8 IOW10 Toyota EVG14 DCS Ford MMP7 MMP7 MER AAS 2017 Jefferson Pitts Racing 7 Ford TUS5 KCR3 IRW5 IRW5 SPO19 OSS20 CNS9 SON2* EVG2 DCS4 MER3 AAS5 KCR8 5th 520 27 IOW8 2018 7 KCR16 SON1* 12th 230 REF Motorsports 4 Ford TUS9 TUS7 OSS11 CNS DCSWth IOW EVG13 Levin Racing 10 Chevy GTW26 LVS MER AAS KCR 2019 40 Ford LVS IRW TUS TUS CNS SON6 DCS IOW EVG GTW MER AAS KCR PHO 42nd 38 2020 Jefferson Racing 42 Chevy LVS MMP5 MMP8 IRW EVG DCS CNS LVS AAS KCR PHO 30th 75 2025 Naake-Klauer Motorsports 88 Ford KER PHO TUC CNS KER SON25 TRI PIR AAS MAD LVS PHO 76th 19

Pirelli World Challenge results Year Team Make Model Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 2016 Hale Motorsports Mazda Mazda2 TCB COA1DSQ COA21 MOS13 MOS21 LRP11 LRP22 ELK1 ELK2 UTA1 UTA2 LAG11 LAG21 7th 752

References

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