About Ashley Williams
HI, I'M ASHLEY
The Lil' Beast behind the helmet
People meet me at the track and they don’t always know what to do with the contrast. Petite, blonde, big smile, pink on the car. Then the visor drops and the green flag waves, and suddenly I’m wheeling 425 horsepower around a dirt oval at 90 miles an hour. That’s the whole point. The look surprises people. The driving doesn’t.
I’m from Lake Elmo, Minnesota, and I’ve been racing since I was 7 years old.
I race because I love the sport. I race because I want to inspire the next girl who shows up at a track and gets told she’s too small, too pretty, or too young. And I race because I believe in the people who back me, and I want to put their names in front of every fan in the stands.
HOW I GOT HERE
the start
Lake Elmo, Minnesota. 2012. I was 7 years old when I climbed into my first outlaw winged go-kart, and I haven’t slowed down since. Racing wasn’t a hobby my family stumbled into. It was a calling I felt early and never let go of.
LEARNING ON KARTS
Eight years in outlaw winged go-karts, working my way up through every class to 500cc. Karts are where you learn to read a track, listen to a car, and lose with grace before you ever earn the right to win. Every lesson I rely on now started there.
BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPION
In 2018 and 2019, I won the 250cc Outlaw Kart Season Points Championship two years in a row. That was the first time the work felt visible. Two trophies, two seasons, one signal that I belonged at the front.
MICRO SPRINTS
From 2019 to 2022, I raced 600cc Micro Sprints in the Minnesota Micro Series and earned Rookie of the Year in my first season. Bigger cars, faster fields, and a steeper learning curve. I treated every race like a classroom.
THE SPRINT CAR JUMP
In 2023, I made the leap to traditional sprint cars with UMSS. Took Rookie of the Year, finished 2nd in season points, and got nominated for the Cedar Lake Speedway SheRo Award. The jump was the biggest of my career. The result said I was ready.
WHAT KEEPS ME GOING
I lean on the framily who travels with us, fixes the car at midnight, and cheers from the fence line. Racing looks like one person in a fire suit, but it’s never just that. It’s a whole community pulling in the same direction.
when the helmet comes off
This year I crossed a finish line that wasn’t on a dirt oval. I graduated from Bellin College in Green Bay, Wisconsin, completing their Radiation Therapy program. Four years of late nights, early mornings, and a schedule that didn’t care that I had a race the next day. The diploma is mine, and so is the discipline it took to earn it.
I picked Radiation Therapy for a lot of the same reasons I picked racing. It demands precision. It demands focus. And the work matters to the people on the other side of it. Whether I’m dialing in a car setup or dialing in treatment, the standard is the same. Show up. Do it right. Care about the outcome.
My family keeps me grounded. My faith keeps me steady. And the framily who follows along, comments, shares, and shows up at the track reminds me why any of this is worth it.
When I’m not in the car or in a clinic, you’ll probably find me with my crew, my family, or somewhere that involves a little adventure. I’ve been known to dive with sharks, take backroads instead of highways, and post about both. Life is short.
Race weekends are even shorter. I try to soak up all of it.