K&N's Own Steve Williams Finishes Third in Super Comp National Standing

Steve Williams was third in the final Super Comp national standings.

“It’s one of the better cars I’ve had,” said Williams, the Chief Engineering Officer for K&N Engineering. “It’s won like six national events. It’s a really, really good car.”

Williams has been drag racing for the better part of two decades. He has finished in the top 10 nationally on several occasions, “I think now I’ve finished every number but number one in the top 10," Williams said.

After a successful season, Williams is preparing for 2017. He is updating and upgrading his car and putting together his schedule.

“There’s about a thousand guys that compete in this class,” Williams said. “Actively there’s probably, guys that actually run for points, probably six or seven hundred of those. You end up having to freshen up both motors, replacing things, transmissions, servicing. So it’s more of a servicing, getting ready for next year."

“For me personally, the hardest thing is trying to figure out my schedule, because there is so much going on here, the growth of the company. A lot of times I put 17 or 18 events on the calendar, that way I can get to 12. I can cross off certain ones when there’s a board meeting or something gets in the way.”

Steve Williams opened the drag racing season winning the WInternationals.

“It kind of hurt me this year because we were pretty busy,” Williams said. “I started off really strong. The first three national events we went to, we won and runner-upped at both of them. I had almost a perfect score in national events. You can only claim three national events and you can go to six.”

Despite the hot start, he missed some events. One was practically in his hometown. But Williams found some different tracks to run at and kept his momentum going.

“Right when we were getting ready to get started division racing, we got really busy here,” Williams said. “So I ended up not being able to go to Fontana, which is 30 miles from my house. I ended up not going to Boise which I’ve won like four or five times in the last five years, 10 years maybe.”

Instead, he raced at Woodburn in Oregon and Noble, Oklahoma. He went three rounds at both tracks and secured his spot in the national standings.

“We finished up really strong,” Williams said. “We still had a shot. You had to win the last two division races. I’ve actually done that before, I’ve won two division races back to back.”

It came down to the final race of the year for Williams and he made it count

“Whenever the car does what it’s supposed to do, it makes racing a lot easier,” Williams said. “This car is just very predictable. The other side of it is I drove well. Whenever that comes together, you drive well and you have a car that’s where it’s supposed to be, that’s when you are going to go rounds and have a chance to win.”

His only national event win came at the Winternationals in Pomona. Williams was competitive all year, but he knows there is room for improvement.

“Nobody likes to lose,” Williams said. “The championship really came down to – there were three races this year, division races, where I red-lit by a couple of thousandths in which I had a bye the next run – if I don’t red light … That’s 60 points right there, and you’re asking why I won the championship. That’s the difference between losing and winning. It’s that close.”

At 60 years old, Williams has no interest in slowing down. He says he is racing drivers half his age and is still competitive.

“Anything can happen in this sport,” Williams said. “I think that’s what really draws people to it. Even as you get older, you can still do really well. You don’t see a lot of 60 year old guys driving.”

Steve Williams has a career of successes behind him and doesn't plan on stopping any time soon

“It seems like she wants to keep driving,” Williams said. “When I think about my future, it’s about my daughter racing.”

Williams wanted to thank those who supported him not only this season, but throughout his racing career.

“You always end up with a bunch of people to say thanks to,” Williams said. “First of all, K&N, not only K&N, but Tom McGann is so supportive. For me, if I didn’t have Travis Hodges, driving the truck and trailer, I just couldn’t do it. Thank yous also go out to John Reedy and Doug Whitten. Last, but definitely not least I would like to thank my wife, Janet, and my daughter, Shelby, for all their continued love and support. All my friends, all these guys, we’ve raced together for years, it’s kind of a tight family. But to be honest with you, it wouldn’t be any fun if those guys didn’t race anymore. There’s the competition part of it, there’s also that camaraderie. When one guy’s car breaks, the other guys jump in and help them fix it. It’s both the competition and the family atmosphere that keep me going.