SONOMA, Calif. – On Sunday (July 13) afternoon, Will Rodgers will resume his regular weekend gig, spotting for Legacy Motor Club and NASCAR Cup Series driver Erik Jones.
But for one afternoon at Sonoma Raceway, the roles for the two were gloriously reversed.
Rodgers, in just his 10th Xfinity Series start in a seven-year span, wheeled the No. 70 Cope Family Racing Refology Sipeos Chevrolet to a very respectable 16th-place finish after taking the green flag in 36th, while his Cup driver took up primary spotting duties.
“It was a solid effort by the Cope Family Racing team,” Rodgers said in an exclusive interview with Fronstretch. “I tried to put us behind the eight ball yesterday by just absolutely blowing it in qualifying. I was a little down on myself yesterday, but today I just refocused, did some NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying with Erik Jones, and that kind of helped me just get more serious about what was happening today.
“And then I switched from spotter mode to driver mode, and I knew we would run forward. I definitely always race better than I qualify. I wish that wasn’t always the case, but I’m glad it was today. 16th is a good effort, a smooth day all day. My pit crew did a great job. Aedan [Mchugh], our crew chief, made a lot of good changes on the car, and then Erik, my spotter — he’s my Cup driver tomorrow — he did a phenomenal job as a rookie spotter.”
In a scheduled press conference earlier on Saturday morning, Rodgers and Jones had discussed the role reversal.
“He was wanting to do some racing of his own,” Jones said, “and we had no problem with it, but I told him if he put something together that I would spot for him and I kind of figured — not that he wasn’t gonna put something together, but it would never work out that I would spot for him.
“So he got to putting together this deal for the [No.] 70 car, which he spots for on a weekly basis, and, I said, ‘well, I guess, yeah, I guess we’re gonna do it.’”
Rodgers then took up the story of how the deal came to pass.
“I’m glad that Erik actually signed up to do it,” Rodgers said. “I thought it would take a little bit more convincing, but I think I remember where we were in Kansas, and I said, ‘hey, I think there’s a good chance I’m gonna race Sonoma, so we’re gonna do this thing, right?’ And he said yeah. I said ‘all right, I’m gonna hold you to it.’”
So how did Jones do as a spotter, a role he said he hadn’t performed for 12 years and never in a primary role?
“No issues at all,” Rodgers said. “We were joking on the radio, having a good time and the car remained good pretty much the whole time. The team made good adjustments like I said, so I was feeling OK.
“He was smooth, calm, cool, collected and confident on the radio. He and my buddy Colin Fern … helped a lot today, so yeah, overall it was a solid day and I appreciate everybody helping make the effort happen.”
Most importantly, Rodgers brought the car home clean, a crucial point for a small team like Cope Family Racing.
“I mean, there’s only one or two little dents and dings in it, so I’m happy about that,” he said. “It was a big focus for me today to bring this car home for CFR. We’re a small operation, only like five or six employees. I’m their spotter full-time, so I live and breathe with these guys every weekend, which is awesome. So it was neat to go from the spotter stand to the driver’s seat.”
Danny Peters has written for Frontstretch since 2006. An English transplant living in San Francisco, by way of New York City, he’s had an award-winning marketing career with some of the biggest companies sponsoring sports. Working with racers all over the country, his freelance writing has even reached outside the world of racing to include movie screenplays.