"When you beat them, the remarks stop," says Kelly Williams, 27, who is something of a wunderkind on the stock car racing circuit.     She's talking about the tasteless jibes many women drivers suffer in the macho world of professional racing. Is she worried? Not really. As one of Canada's top racers on the stock circuit, she's left most of her detractors in the dust.     Williams (BA'93) began her driving career at 16 - helped along the road by her parents - and in '94 became the first woman driver to win a qualifying race in the 14-year history of the Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. "I grew up at the track," she says. "My parents have taken me since I was six."     After graduating with a BA in history and geography, Williams decided to get her education degree. She hadn't given any thought to making racing a full-time career, though, thinking at the time that she wanted to be a teacher. "But," she says, "my heart simply wasn't in it."

Williams has broken a lot of ground for other women racers. "Women on the racing scene were unheard of a generation ago," she says. "They weren't even allowed in the pits." It's only now that the notion of women in racing is becoming reluctantly accepted, she says.     She's been the pace car driver for several championship auto racing teams and races, including the Toronto Molson Indy. Ultimately, her goal is to race the Winston Cup, one of the most widely followed stock series south of the border.     With speeds of 150 mph being common, does Williams ever think about the danger aspect of the sport?     "No. I feel safer on the track than I do driving on the 401. You're surrounded by highly trained drivers. Danger isn't any more a concern here than in any other professional sport like, say, football. I wouldn't race if I thought otherwise."