Folks Of Interest Billy the Kid?

Some of the boys in the club heard that Billy the Kid a.k.a. Bill Stepp, an earley 70's drag racer passed on last Wed. As he was a local guy from Dayton, does anyone down that way know?

 

Infamous Bill Stepp dies at 73 Gangster & Drag Racer

He was called a powerful gangster but he avoided prison and died of natural causes.

HARRISON TWP., Montgomery County — New York had its "Teflon Don" and Dayton had its well-seasoned, fiery figure of similar infamy.

William Elias "Bill" Stepp was the most famous mobster, gangster and notorious hoodlum the Miami Valley has known.

He died Nov. 27 of natural causes at his Harrison Twp. home, according to the Montgomery County Coroner's Office. Stepp was 73.

"Bill's major call to fame is that he probably lived the most charmed life of any mobster in the history of the United States," said Wes Hills, a former Dayton Daily News staff writer who covered organized crime in the Miami Valley for about 20 years.

"He succeeded in avoiding prison for his entire adult life while being the most powerful gangster in the region," Hills said Thursday, Dec. 11. "Many in law enforcement believe the reason Bill evaded prosecution was because of his long-standing cooperation with the FBI and other law enforcement."

Stepp, the son of an Appalachian lay minister in Highland County, had several siblings, including younger brother Ernest Emoliver Stepp — a member of his gang.

"As a very young boy, his father used to take Bill down to the Cincinnati riverfront docks and bet on him in fights against older adults," Hills said. "Bill was a very, very physically strong man.... He was an outstanding street fighter."

Stepp was also smart.

"Bill ... had a very special knack to ingratiate himself," Hills said. "He was a very polite person and very gracious and well spoken. He knew how to size up people and how to get close to them."

His legend was so enormous that he didn't always have to do much to impress. Many believed he was in the Mafia, Hills said.

"Stepp wasn't La Cosa Nostra — he was Appalachian. He wasn't with a large national organization at all. He was just tough as an individual. He knew his way around — drove a black Mercedes-Benz. He looked the part."

Hills, who lives in Michigan, said, "Bill was a pretty remarkable guy. Just showing how long he survived, that he died of natural causes outside of prison, demonstrates how smart he was."

In his later days, Stepp joined his wife in her Catholic faith. No relatives could be reached for comment.

Baker-Hazel-Snider Funeral Home confirmed that Stepp was cremated.

 

when they would come to Bowling Green in the early 70's i would hang around there pit , his cars were Awesome . he handed me a rag and told me to wipe the car off in the lanes one time . I thought i was one Bad Mother Fucker

 

He had many nice mopars for sure. Was connected with Ronnie Sox for awhile also...

 

I also think his cars also went to Ron Lyles, Brooklyn Heavy and Charlie Castaledo and others all part of the Brooklyn Street Racers .. seesm like they some part in S&M team

 

I had no idea he was into that lifestyle - is that for real? All I knew about him was he was southern and always had extra clean Pro Stockers. He's a lot more interesting now, sad to say.

 

some of the stories i've heard , he was a movie of the week... you know , the stuff you couldn't make up... cool cars , though...

 

Nitrofc, thanks for the downlo, and the great photos. I will never look at a colt the same way again. Bad ass little f*#ker.

 

A guy I knew in Ohio got killed in one of his cars at a Chrysler test session
at what is now Bradenton Motorsports Park in maybe 75. Not sure if it was
the Duster or Demon.

 

Bill (His Shop) built a motor for me in 74. There was always something going on around that guy. He was real life bad.

 

Yep Billy was a gangster if you ever saw him in the pits you would know.
now "Broadway Freddy" real name Fred DeName was connected with the mob.And if you got on his good side he would do anything for you but get on his bad side and you were gone. If you want to know more about Freddy read the book (Murder Machine) He is a key person in it.

 

FYI ...Billy Stepp had a long line of strong running Pro Stock Mopars in the 1970s and experienced one of his finest moments as a team owner when his driver Stuart McDade reached the final round of the 1971 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. They lost to Ronnie Sox by a mere .002.

He reached a decent level of success on the IHRA side with drivers Sox (1977) and later Bobby Yowell (1978 & 1979) reaching four IHRA Pro Stock final rounds, winning the 1979 IHRA Pro-Am Nationals in Rockingham, N.C.

 

rip

 

Rip....

 

what a life this guy had. Im kinda young, but i am sad to say this is the first i heard of him. Thanks for the story.

 

Fascinating story, thanks for posting. I saw his Duster at the Gatornationals in 72, I took a pic of him with the car. He had loooooong hair. I thought he was a hippie.

 

From right around that time...

 

Some cool shots!

Thanks!

Pete

 

The first time I remember seeing "Billy the Kid" was at the Charlotte dragstrip in about 1970. He had a first class car and a first class driver, Melvin Yow. Melvin was a great 4-speed shifter but not as good as Ronnie Sox. Nobody was. When Melvin made a run there was NO RPM increase between shifts. WTF? Ronnie couldn't even do that. I found out later I had just seen my first Pro Stocker equipped with a Lenco 4-speed. Like I say, his cars were the best.

 

One of the first cars I ever saw of Stepp's was a Modified Sports Corvette that they raced up at Sidney Ohio. I think that a fellow by the name of Dick Humbert drove the red Vette. He was a weekly winner and if he did get beat, it sometimes took two or three times to get him on the trailer. There was usually quite a few in his "pit crew" wearing suits and sunglasses. I got to know him a little, or at least enough to get some free passes to a few national events. He was a pretty cool character.

 

I believe Dick Humbert also drove Stepp's first Pro Stocker in 1970 before Don Carlton drove, who later turned over the driving chores to Stu McDade who eventually gave up the seat to Melvin Yow, who later turned it over to Bobby Yowell who eventually gave it up to Ronnie Sox. Also, Herb McCandless drove Stepp's B/MP 1968 factory Hemi 'Cuda to capture the Modified Eliminator title at the very first Gatornationals in 1970.

Talk about top-notch drivers to handle the top-notch equipment!

If memory serves me correct, didn't Stepp make a brief return to Pro Stock racing sometime in the mid-1990s?

Pete

 

Stepp's car at the old track at Sidney years ago..............

 

A really neat coverage of why the colts existed:

http://www.mymopar.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2917

 

Does anyone photos of the red corvette Stepp had in the 60s? Im trying like hell to find pictures of my dads, his was a blue twin of Stepps cars. When dad beat the red car at kilkare he was approached by his "pit crew" and was told it may be hazardous to his health to beat him again

 

Before the Corvette "Little Red Riding hood", Bill ran a Harley drag bike in 1966, it ran really strong. I know because he beat me really bad for top eliminator at Pence's one Friday night. That is when they ran on Friday nights, and Sunday afternoons.
P.S. Bill wanted my cousin and me to come and work for him, but we opted not to but were good friends with him for many years. Bill and my cousin are both gone now,I miss you both.

 

...check out the latest "Elapsed Times" issue for a story on Stepp....also has pics of his red Vetts and others...
...lots of good articles in this one, including 8 pages on Arnie Beswick and a 2 part article on the Surfers drag team.

 

Welcome aboard Nina
How are you related to Bill?
I remember one night at a club in Dayton, don't remember the name but it was in the basement of Forest Park maybe the Cave. Seems I remember hearing Bill Stepp had some interest in owning it. Not sure about that.
But that Saturday night someone was making smokey burn outs in the parking lot, lots of people piled out of the place to check it out. It was one of Stepps race cars putting on quite a show.
At that time 67 or so there was lots of street racing going on in the area. Maybe a warm up for some racing later I don't know.
Another time I was at the Big Boy in Kettering Oh. Just hanging out checking out all the hot cars trying to identify the motor and cam by the sounds comming out the exhaust.
Well next thing you know a race car on a open trailer in the adjacent parking lot. It was a Stepp race car we figured it must be looking to meet for a race.
Needless to say Bill Stepp was a real legend to the area. Ron

 

Stepps fiberglass front fenders were lettered "If you lean on me- I'll lean on you!" Just one of the coolest owners/teams in NHRA history.

 

Nina, do you know what some of the strange sayings that were lettered on your cars were about? The "Dauber" painted some weird butterflies on your cars that had little one liners in a trail as they flew across the cars paint.