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  • Will Rodgers Claims the Victory in a Thrilling Carneros 200 at Sonoma

    Will Rodgers Claims the Victory in a Thrilling Carneros 200 at Sonoma

    Will Rodgers holds off five Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers and earns his first career win at Sonoma Raceway in the Carneros 200 in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.

    Rodgers led 35 laps, set the fastest lap of the race and finished ahead of Aric Almirola in dominating fashion with a margin of 4.420 seconds. Last year, Rodgers finished under a second behind teammate and Cup champion, Kevin Harvick. One year later, he masters the track and dominates the field, besting five Cup drivers including teammate William Byron who finished third. He credits much of his success in today’s race from his learning experiences last year with Harvick.

    “It was very positive for me to have that experience last year,” Rodgers said about having Harvick as a teammate throughout the weekend in 2017. “Being beat every lap out of Turn 11 and on restarts, those are the two things I went back and really looked at and prepared myself to do today. So by having that experience, it definitely helped get us to victory lane. Obviously, everything that Kevin’s [Harvick] helped us with so far has been phenomenal, and I’m very appreciative of that.

    “I can tell you we wouldn’t be racing here this weekend if it wasn’t for Kevin, so I’m really, really happy I had that experience last year and was able to seal the deal this year.”

    After the opening laps, the No. 10 car of Matt Levin crashed in Turn 10 to bring out the first caution. Hailie Deegan battled a loose racecar and lost some spots after the first restart. Alex Bowman lost his motor after 10 laps of competition. No caution was waved for this incident.

    With 18 laps in the books, Hollis Thackeray in the No. 38 Butte Auto Parts Chevrolet stalled at the top of Turn 2. This caution was determined by officials to be the first break of the day. Will Rodgers, who had led every lap thus far, came into pit road for service. Aric Almirola was the first car to elect to stay out on the track and inherited the race lead.

    Later in the run, the No. 51 Ford of Carlos Vieira spun on the exit of Turn 10 to bring out the third caution flag of the race. At this point, Daniel Suarez battled his way to the second position with Rodgers and Byron fighting their way up through the field as well.

    The caution again came out for the fourth time of the day the No. 08 Chevrolet of Travis Milburn stalled on the exit of Turn 7 on lap 46. Towards the end of the race, Todd Souza in the No. 13 Central Coast Cabinets Toyota lost his motor with 18 laps to go.

    With 14 laps to go, Will Rodgers battled his way through the field and passed Aric Almirola for the lead a lap after the final restart. He held the lead and kept it for the remainder of the event. Daniel Suarez and Ryan Partridge rounded out the top five. Hailie Deegan continues her streak of top-10 finishes with a seventh-place result and earns Rookie of the Race honors. This was Rodgers’ first career win in the K&N Pro Series West. He also holds three career wins in the East Series in the middle of his third season of racing. The K&N Pro Series West races next weekend in Oregon at Douglas County Speedway.

  • Five Cup Drivers to Make K&N West Start at Sonoma

    Five Cup Drivers to Make K&N West Start at Sonoma

    Last year, Kevin Harvick made a substantial impact for many young drivers, including NASCAR Next driver Will Rodgers. This year, five NASCAR Monster Energy Cup series drivers will start in the NASCAR K&N Pro West race in Sonoma on Saturday, June 23.

    Alex Bowman, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Eric Jones and Aric Almirola will join the 31-car entry list for Saturday’s Carneros 200.

    Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez will compete in the No. 20 and No. 54 Toyota cars owned by David Gilliland

    Alex Bowman will drive the No. 24 Chevrolet owned by Bill McAnally, and run as a teammate for Hailie Deegan. William Byron will be in the No. 27 Jerry Pitts Chevrolet, that won last year’s event with Kevin Harvick behind the wheel.

    “It kept me from sitting around and trying to find something to do on Saturday,” said Harvick about last year’s race. “I’m sitting around and there’s guys out there making laps and learning things, and I think that’s the most important thing is to never take for granted that you have to try to expand your knowledge and keep an open mind to making things better.”

    Aric Almirola, who missed last year’s Cup race due to his back injury from his crash at Kentucky Speedway, will pilot the Tony Stewart owned No. 41 Ford.

    Three drivers in the current NASCAR Next class are also scheduled in the entry list for the first K&N West road course race of the season. Among those is Will Rodgers, pole winner of last year’s race, who had a second place finish to Kevin Harvick. Derek Kraus, who won the season opener at Bakersfield, has already claimed three poles so far this year and currently sits third in the points standings. Hailie Deegan, daughter of the freestyle motocross stunt rider Brian Deegan, has finished no worse than eighth in all five K&N West races this season.

    “I think it’s going to be fun! The track is hard, though. If you make a mistake, you’re definitely going to pay,” said Deegan, who will race in the No. 19 Mobil 1/NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota for Bill McAnally Racing and have Alex Bowman as a teammate. “It’s cool they throw a couple of road course races into the NASCAR circuit. It’s just something cool and different than not everyone gets to experience.”

    The Carneros 200 will kick off the weekend with a practice session on Friday and qualifying on Saturday morning. The green flag is scheduled to wave for the 64-lap feature at 1:30 p.m. local time.