 Kelly Williams
Career Highlights
1999 Sponsorship from Canadian Auction Group
Switch from Pontiac Grand Prix to Ford Taurus
1998 Best finish - 4th at Delaware Speedway Park
Fastest Lap at New Brunswick International Speedway
4 Top 8 finishes
Pace Car Driver for Toronto Molson Indy
17th in CASCAR National Series points
1997 Best finish - 8th at Delaware Speedway Park
5 Top 15 finishes
Sponsorship from Canmine Resources and Inside Track Motorsport News
28th in CASCAR National Series points
1996 Best finish - 7th at Cayuga Speedway
6 Top 12 finishes
Best Appearing Crew Award - Cayuga Speedway
17th in CASCAR Eastern Series points
1995 Best Finish - 8th at Cayuga Speedway
14th in CASCAR Eastern Series points
21st in CASCAR National Series points
1994 Rookie year in CASCAR
First female to win heat race in CASCAR
Sponsorship from GM Goodwrench and Snap-On Tools
1993 First female to win at Mosport International Speedway
4th in Goodyear Challenge Cup
7th in Mosport Street Stock points
1992 16th in Mosport International Speedway Street Stock standings
1991 13th in Flamboro Speedway Challenger standings
1990 First career win at Canadian National Exhibition
Most Improved Driver at Flamboro Speedway
1989 20th in Flamboro Challenger points
History In The Making
Driver: Kelly Anne Williams
Birthplace: Val D'Or, Quebec
Birth Date: August 19, 1971
Residence: Caledon, Ontario
On April 29, 1994, Kelly Williams put her name in the record books as she became the first female driver to capture a win in the 14-year history of CASCAR racing. In her rookie season in Canada's top stock car series, Williams was victorious in a qualifying heat race at Delaware Speedway Park.
Williams' career has been full of milestones and it didn't take the
Caledon, ON resident long to start making a name for herself. In both 1989 and 1990, she won Most Improved Driver honors in the Challenger division at Flamboro Speedway. She also earned recognition with her first career race victory, which came at the Canadian National Exhibition.
Williams switched from Flamboro to the faster Mosport International Speedway in 1992. She also made her debut in the Challenge Cup Series, a province-wide Challenger points championship.
The 1993 season saw Williams make her breakthrough as one of Ontario's top drivers. She was a winner no fewer than eight times, and finished fourth in the Goodyear Challenge Cup Series and seventh in the Mosport track championship. She was also voted Most Popular Driver in the Challenge Cup Series.
In 1994, Williams took another step up the racing ladder by competing in the CASCAR Late Model Series, the most prestigious arena for stock car racing in Canada.
The switch to the more competitive CASCAR series was not an easy one for Williams, who secured lucrative sponsorship from General Motors and Snap-On Tools. But she displayed her typical determination as she slowly came to grips with her new challenge. She won a heat race at Delaware Speedway Park on April 29, leading from start to finish.
Williams built on her CASCAR experience in 1995. She scored a top feature finish of eighth at Cayuga Speedway. She also made great strides in her qualifying performances, and by the end of the year was a regular top 15 performer in the difficult single-car time trial sessions.
In 1995 she also broadened her racing experience by taking part in two driving schools. One helped her improve her road racing skills while the other, based at the famed Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, introduced her to the challenges of high speed stock car racing.
Williams developed into a much more consistent driver in 1996 and enjoyed the best year in her short CASCAR career. She scored six top 12 finishes over the course of the CASCAR season, with a top result of seventh at Cayuga.
The 1997 season opened up superbly for Williams. She acquired sponsorship from natural resources company Canmine and Inside Track Motorsport News. She started the year with an eighth-place finish at Delaware but bad luck intervened after that and she was able to manage only one other top 10 finish. Nevertheless, she placed 15th in the CASCAR National standings.
Last year Williams continued her rise into the upper echelon of CASCAR competition. She started the year with a career high fourth place finish at Delaware Speedway Park and in the final race of the season at New Brunswick International Speedway she set the race's fastest lap. In between those performances Williams could often be found near the front of the pack, and led a CASCAR feature race for the first time in her career at Cayuga Speedway.
In August General Motors of Canada, which had supported Williams from the start of her CASCAR career, announced it was withdrawing from motor racing. She quickly bounced back from this setback, however, and completed a deal to race for Canadian Auction Group - Canada's largest auto auction - in 1999. She will race a Ford Taurus in CAG's red and black colours this season rather than the white Pontiac Grand Prix race fans have become familiar with.
While Williams has made a steady rise up the stock car racing ladder she has excelled in other areas of the motorsports field as well. She has spent four years with the PPG Pace Car Team, where her natural driving skill and congenial manner have been allowed to flourish. In her role with the squad, she travels around the world with the FedEx CART Championship Series, offering VIP tours of the various CART circuits in one of the pace car team's dynamic sports cars or acting as the official pace car driver for one of the series events.
Her position with the team takes her halfway around the world to Australia and Japan, and in 1998 she was the official pace car driver at Toronto's Molson Indy.
Williams has also kept herself extremely busy away from the racetrack. She fills her off-season with public speaking appearances, school visits and trade or consumer show participation. She is also a spokesperson for Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Canada.
She also puts her performance driving experience to use as an instructor at various ride-and-drive events. Along with fellow PPG Pace Car Driver Melanie Paterson she is a co-owner of Driving Unlimited East, a company that provides defensive driving courses for corporations.
In more ways than one, Kelly Williams is an athlete on the move.
Williams Wins Major Honour
But CASCAR star still hunting for 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
What: CASCAR Castrol Super Series Awards Banquet
Where: London Convention Centre (London, ON)
When: November 13, 1999
Synopsis: Inglewood, ON's Kelly Williams ended 1999 on a high note by winning the Midas Rhino Performance Most Popular Driver Award at the CASCAR Castrol Super Series Awards Banquet held at the London, ON Convention Centre Nov. 13.
The 28-year-old claimed the prestigious
honour, voted on by CASCAR fans, in impressive fashion, garnering over 50 per cent of the votes. Balloting was conducted by phone-in and internet.
The award capped off a strong season for the experienced stock car racer, who achieved her pre-season goals by placing 10th in the Castrol Super Series East point standings and was 14th in the National title chase. Both were improvements over her 1998 series finishes.
Despite her excellent year, however, Williams hasn't finalized sponsorship arrangements for her Williams Motorsports team for the 2000 season. Canadian Auction Group was the primary sponsor of her Ford Taurus through the 1999 CASCAR campaign, but discontinued its involvement with her program at the end of the season after having some internal management problems.
In her own words: "It's a great honour to win the Midas Rhino Performance Most Popular Driver Award and thank you to all the fans who voted for me. The dedication of the fans has helped make stock car racing the exciting and vibrant sport it is today, and it's a big thrill for me to be recognized by them in this way.
"After coming off such a strong season it's a little disappointing for me not to have all my arrangements in place for the new year. But I'm sure everything will fall into place and I look forward to building on my 1999 performance next season."
Kelly Williams and the Williams Motorsport team would like to wish everybody Happy Holidays and all the best for the New Year.
-30-
|
