{"id":103061,"date":"2026-02-18T19:44:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T19:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/steve-king-ready-to-defend-his-crown-at-world-series-of-pro-mod\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T19:44:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T19:44:04","slug":"steve-king-ready-to-defend-his-crown-at-world-series-of-pro-mod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/steve-king-ready-to-defend-his-crown-at-world-series-of-pro-mod\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve King Ready to Defend His Crown at World Series of Pro Mod"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Steve King rolls into Bradenton Motorsports Park for the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod presented by Red Line Oil, he\u2019ll be looking to do something nobody has ever accomplished: become a two-time winner of the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the defending WSOPM champion, King knows he\u2019ll have a target on his back during the final race of the 2025\/2026 Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service. It just comes with the territory when you win the biggest, richest Pro Mod race in the history of the known universe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the reigning champs, which is unbelievable in one aspect, but the amount of publicity that brings you as a driver and for Pilot Racing\u2026\u201d King said. \u201cWe\u2019ve won a lot of races, but to win that race really puts you on the map. We go out there and beat 80 of the best cars in the world, win the biggest race in the world, it puts you on a pedestal I can\u2019t even describe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, King came out of nowhere from the No. 30 qualifying position, making his way to the finals where he faced two-time NHRA Pro Mod world champion, \u201cStevie Fast\u201d Jackson. Although Jackson got the starting line advantage \u2013 .029 to .052 \u2013 King\u2019s 3.629 elapsed time was just enough to drive around Jackson\u2019s 3.652, a margin of victory of just .001.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The car\u2019s performance \u2013 not just in the finals, but throughout eliminations \u2013 was a testament to King\u2019s crew, led by tuner Jon Salemi, Jeff Miller, Chad Wright, and Tyler \u201cBubba\u201d King. He noted that Salemi especially turned it up in the final round, allowing King to narrowly slip by Jackson and avoid a hole shot loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident in Jon Salemi,\u201d said King. \u201cHe\u2019s won it two years in a row. He carried me. I drove okay, but did I drive great? No. The cars have gotten so tight, we\u2019re talking anything less than .030 on the tree is just not cutting it. You have to be the superior driver. This year, I think you gotta be .020 or better, probably .010 like bracket racers. You\u2019ve gotta go home, practice, and be on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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With $150,000 on the line, that pressure to perform only continues to increase. Throughout the Winter Series, fans have consistently seen red lights from drivers they least expect it from, and others that are way late on the tree. Despite already having a WSOPM championship under his belt, King\u2019s not sure that pressure goes away \u2013 it\u2019s simply something he revels in.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been driving these things for many, many years,\u201d King said. \u201cI take pride in that when it needs to happen, I need to make it happen as a driver. You just step up to the plate. It was no different in the final (last year) \u2013 you roll up there, the lights are on, the music\u2019s blaring, a thousand people on the starting line, your heart\u2019s beating\u2026you have to clear your mind when you pull up there. If you\u2019re thinking about work or anything else, you\u2019re already behind. Once the car starts up and the sea parts, you just calm down. It\u2019s another day at the office and you get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another key component to the King\u2019s success is team owner Gene Pilot. The two men have been partnered together for the last few years, and have, in essence, become \u201cbig game hunters,\u201d winning multiple big-money Pro Mod events. In addition to the $150k purse at the 2025 WSOPM, King also won $20k at the 2025 Yellowbullet Nationals, and $50k at Cecil County Dragway\u2019s Pro Mod Invitational in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Gene Pilot got involved with us, he basically told us straightforward, \u2018I don\u2019t race for second place,\u2019\u201d said King. \u201cThat\u2019s his mentality in business, life, everything. He\u2019s not happy if he doesn\u2019t win. It\u2019s a business to him, and we\u2019re going to run it accordingly. Gene put together a great squad, and I\u2019ve been living the dream with him involved. Every day I wake up it\u2019s a dream that I dreamed about sitting in English class looking at a Hot Rod Magazine inside my English book. It takes a lot of work, but you gotta chase it \u2013 and Gene\u2019s allowed me to do that.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although King hasn\u2019t been able to replicate his WSOPM success so far during this year\u2019s Winter Series \u2013 he lost to Brazilian veteran Sidnei Frigo in the second round of the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals presented by Motion Raceworks, and fell to 2023 WSOPM champion Spencer Hyde in the opening round of the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission \u2013 he\u2019s quick to point out that given the current level of competition, just making it into the field and giving himself a chance is already an impressive accomplishment.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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2023 WSOPM champion Spencer Hyde (left) and 2025 champ Steve King (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be honest \u2013 just qualifying is a feat in and of itself,\u201d King said. \u201cI don\u2019t care who you are. You\u2019re one broken part or missed run away from being behind and never catching back up in order to get in. And there\u2019s so many cars\u2026you\u2019re fighting 80 of the baddest drivers and tuners. Everyone is so close, if you\u2019re .035 on the tree or the tuner misses just one little thing, you\u2019re done. That\u2019s what you\u2019re fighting \u2013 you can make a great run and still be going to the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the grind of competing at the highest level throughout what most people would consider the \u201coffseason,\u201d King is still relishing every moment from last year\u2019s victory \u2013 whether it\u2019s at the track or hosting his new podcast with co-host, and 2025 Snowbird winner, Jason Harris \u2013 and looking forward to having the opportunity to go back-to-back.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe World Series of Pro Mod is the U.S. Nationals for what we do,\u201d said King. \u201cI think it\u2019s the perfect storm: warm weather, wintertime, and Pro Mods. Just from winning that one race, I can\u2019t even go to my local place to eat without people talking about it. My local people knew we raced, but after that race \u2013 with all the access \u2013 now when we go to these races, they put it up on the big screen.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published on February 18, 2026. \"Drag<\/p>\n

The post Steve King Ready to Defend His Crown at World Series of Pro Mod<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Steve King rolls into Bradenton Motorsports Park for the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod presented by Red Line Oil, he\u2019ll be looking to do something nobody has ever accomplished: become a two-time winner of the event.\u00a0 As the defending WSOPM champion, King knows he\u2019ll have a target on his back during the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103061\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}