IT’ S GOOD TO BE
KING
Steve King wheels Gene Pilot’ s‘ Savage’ Corvette to $ 150,000 World Series of Pro Mod victoRy
By Craig Cook
IT’ S A WARM SPRING
day on the first weekend of April in Benson, North Carolina, and GALOT Motorsports Park is filled to capacity with racers looking to take home a win at the season-opening Summit Racing Equipment PDRA East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech. Among those drivers is 2025 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod champion Steve King— a fitting name for the man who just one month ago was crowned the baddest man in the class.
Fans walking by King’ s pits are immediately met with a remarkable sight: five giant WSOPM trophies displayed proudly next to the screw-blown“ Savage”’ 15 C7 Corvette, a not-so-subtle reminder of King’ s $ 150,000 victory at Bradenton Motorsports Park over“ Stevie Fast” Jackson. The trophies are exact replicas of the one King took home, ordered for crew members by team owner Gene Pilot as a way to acknowledge how they all had a hand in winning“ the biggest, richest Pro Mod race in the history of the known universe.”
“ Gene has preached and preached to run this team with a family atmosphere,” says King.“ He got those trophies made for everybody involved with WSOPM, and surprised everyone by having them here. He knows it takes a whole team in order to do it, so he makes sure everyone gets a piece of the pie.”
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Photographs by Luke Nieuwhof, David Hilner, Darrel Jackson Jr. Mellie Snedeker, Robert Richard and Jess Miliante
A SOFT-SPOKEN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY OWNER FROM NORTHERN VIRGINIA, STEVE KING LET HIS PERFORMANCE DO THE TALKING IN BRADENTON.
Drag Illustrated
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