They say “slow and steady wins the race,” but when it comes to car racing, the realty is that fast and steady is really what wins a season … series.

Newtown’s Steve Kopcik won Stafford Motor Speedway’s SK Lite Modified division championship, in Stafford Springs, logging just one first-place finish in 22 races this summer, but using that steady (and of course, fast) approach to finish tops in overall points.

Kopcik, 17 and in his second year racing in this division, recorded 19 top-five finishes, including 11 straight to close out the race season. Talk about consistency.

The season culminated with a two-day championship race weekend, October 2–3. Kopcik entered into the final weekend holding a 14-point lead over his closest competitor in the season standings and, by earning second in the race, locked up the overall title.

“We were going for it right up until the last lap, but just couldn’t pull it off — but still got the championship,” Kopcik said. “It’s awesome.”

His summer/fall of racing success didn’t come without a lot of hard work. “It was pretty tough,” Kopcik said.

Kopcik and his racing team overcame on average about two dozen cars in ten-mile races on the track. Hitting speeds up to around 100 miles per hour on the half-mile track straight-aways, Kopcik consistently was among the best racers.

Much of the success on the track stems from the race-day preparations that unfold in the days between competitions. The 17-year-old and his dad, Nick Kopcik, spend a minimum of three nights per week — four hours each evening — in the garage preparing the car for the next race.

Kopcik has raced since he was 8 years old and, next year, will compete in the next division, the SK Modified. Actually, he plans to have his first SK Modified race at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, in Thompton, in the World Series of Speedway Racing in mid-October.

Kopcik receives support from the following sponsors: David Smith Racing, NJK Automotive, Hocon Industrial Gas, and Newtown Pools.