![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Steve-King_WSOPM.jpg\")
A Final Round Showdown with a Titan<\/strong><\/h4>\nGoing up against Stevie Jackson in the final round was no small feat for King, who admitted<\/a> to feeling a mix of nerves and adrenaline as he strapped into his car.<\/p>\n\u201cIn the staging lanes, I was fairly calm, but once we buckled up and pulled up against Stevie\u2014who\u2019s obviously one of the pillars of the whole racing community\u2014it hit me,\u201d King said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been racing a while, but when you race someone of that stature, it\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the crowd buzzing, phone flashlights illuminating the night sky and the music blaring, the energy was electric. But once the lights on the Christmas tree came down, all of that faded away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that big monster\u2019s sitting out in front of you, and you do the burnout, back up, and pull up to the beam\u2014it\u2019s just you and the race,\u201d King said. \u201cMe and Stevie both took our time staging, inching in as tight as I could, and when I came off the button, he had a bumper on me at 60 feet. I had a few choice words in my helmet at that point, but I knew from 330 feet down, it was going to be close.\u201d<\/p>\n
The margin of victory was razor-thin\u2014just .012 seconds. The moment King got the call on the radio, everything became a blur<\/a>.<\/p>\nSurviving and Thriving in Brutal Competition<\/strong><\/h4>\nWith 80 cars fighting for a spot in the field, just making it into eliminations was a challenge. King reflected on how the sport has evolved, crediting the rising level of competition and the way racers are constantly being pushed to innovate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe technology just keeps going, and the competition has risen so much in the last few years,\u201d he explained. \u201cYears ago, you had your top ten guys, and everyone else was just there. Now, you come to the Winter Series, and you don\u2019t even know if you\u2019re going to qualify. You bring good stuff, make a solid run and still be on the outside looking in.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the second race of the series, the U.S. Street Nationals, King had a strong car but ran into a buzzsaw in Mark Micke, who laid down a record-setting 3.56-second pass to King\u2019s 3.60.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else can you expect?\u201d King said. \u201cMark\u2019s a badass, and he gave me a good ass-kicking. But we came back, went to work, and when we hit the WSOPM, the chips fell our way.\u201d<\/p>\n
From 30th to the Top<\/strong><\/h4>\nDespite qualifying at No. 30, King felt like he had a shot if he could just survive the first round.<\/p>\n
\u201cSaturday morning, I told the guys, \u2018If we can get by this first round, I feel like we have a chance to win this thing,\u2019\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe went 3.632 and weren\u2019t even sure we\u2019d get into the show on Friday night. But once we did, we knew we had a good car in the sunlight. With the sun out, I knew I could run with anyone there.\u201d<\/p>\n
With every round, the confidence in the car and team grew. But getting there wasn\u2019t easy\u2014the crew was thrashing between rounds, tearing the car apart and making crucial adjustments. The intensity was so high that King nearly missed a chip draw.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grabbed one of the chips with a handful of oil because I had the valve covers off and rocker arms off the car, and I forgot to wash my hands,\u201d King laughed. \u201cI mean, you got to hurry up, but I almost did not make the chip draw, which just builds so much excitement for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the WSOPM, there are no easy rounds. King likened every match-up to a final, racing multi-time champions from start to finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the Mount Rushmore of all races,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery round, you\u2019re racing the best of the best. And that\u2019s what makes it great\u2014if you\u2019re not running against the best, you don\u2019t really want to win, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n
This story was originally published on March 14, 2025. ![\"Drag](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/DI_flat_red-e1711481551475.png\")
<\/p>\n
The post Steve King Talks Tough Competition at World Series of Pro Mod<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Drag Illustrated WSOPM (World Series of Pro Mod) is a proving ground for the best in the business. Steve King got a front-row seat to the intensity of competition at this year\u2019s event, which was the final installment of the DI Winter Series presented by J&A Service. From battling legends like Stevie \u201cFast\u201d Jackson […]<\/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-99457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99457","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=99457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cIn the staging lanes, I was fairly calm, but once we buckled up and pulled up against Stevie\u2014who\u2019s obviously one of the pillars of the whole racing community\u2014it hit me,\u201d King said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been racing a while, but when you race someone of that stature, it\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the crowd buzzing, phone flashlights illuminating the night sky and the music blaring, the energy was electric. But once the lights on the Christmas tree came down, all of that faded away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that big monster\u2019s sitting out in front of you, and you do the burnout, back up, and pull up to the beam\u2014it\u2019s just you and the race,\u201d King said. \u201cMe and Stevie both took our time staging, inching in as tight as I could, and when I came off the button, he had a bumper on me at 60 feet. I had a few choice words in my helmet at that point, but I knew from 330 feet down, it was going to be close.\u201d<\/p>\n
The margin of victory was razor-thin\u2014just .012 seconds. The moment King got the call on the radio, everything became a blur<\/a>.<\/p>\n With 80 cars fighting for a spot in the field, just making it into eliminations was a challenge. King reflected on how the sport has evolved, crediting the rising level of competition and the way racers are constantly being pushed to innovate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe technology just keeps going, and the competition has risen so much in the last few years,\u201d he explained. \u201cYears ago, you had your top ten guys, and everyone else was just there. Now, you come to the Winter Series, and you don\u2019t even know if you\u2019re going to qualify. You bring good stuff, make a solid run and still be on the outside looking in.\u201d<\/p>\n At the second race of the series, the U.S. Street Nationals, King had a strong car but ran into a buzzsaw in Mark Micke, who laid down a record-setting 3.56-second pass to King\u2019s 3.60.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat else can you expect?\u201d King said. \u201cMark\u2019s a badass, and he gave me a good ass-kicking. But we came back, went to work, and when we hit the WSOPM, the chips fell our way.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite qualifying at No. 30, King felt like he had a shot if he could just survive the first round.<\/p>\n \u201cSaturday morning, I told the guys, \u2018If we can get by this first round, I feel like we have a chance to win this thing,\u2019\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe went 3.632 and weren\u2019t even sure we\u2019d get into the show on Friday night. But once we did, we knew we had a good car in the sunlight. With the sun out, I knew I could run with anyone there.\u201d<\/p>\n With every round, the confidence in the car and team grew. But getting there wasn\u2019t easy\u2014the crew was thrashing between rounds, tearing the car apart and making crucial adjustments. The intensity was so high that King nearly missed a chip draw.<\/p>\n \u201cI grabbed one of the chips with a handful of oil because I had the valve covers off and rocker arms off the car, and I forgot to wash my hands,\u201d King laughed. \u201cI mean, you got to hurry up, but I almost did not make the chip draw, which just builds so much excitement for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n At the WSOPM, there are no easy rounds. King likened every match-up to a final, racing multi-time champions from start to finish.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the Mount Rushmore of all races,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery round, you\u2019re racing the best of the best. And that\u2019s what makes it great\u2014if you\u2019re not running against the best, you don\u2019t really want to win, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published on March 14, 2025. The post Steve King Talks Tough Competition at World Series of Pro Mod<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Drag Illustrated WSOPM (World Series of Pro Mod) is a proving ground for the best in the business. Steve King got a front-row seat to the intensity of competition at this year\u2019s event, which was the final installment of the DI Winter Series presented by J&A Service. From battling legends like Stevie \u201cFast\u201d Jackson […]<\/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-99457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99457","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=99457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Surviving and Thriving in Brutal Competition<\/strong><\/h4>\n
From 30th to the Top<\/strong><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n