Summary: Using properties of the Steinberg character, we obtain a congruence modulo \(p\) for the number of ways in which a \(p\)-regular element may be expressed as a commutator in a finite simple group \(G\) of Lie type of characteristic \(p\). This congruence shows that such an element is a commutator in \(G\). We also show that if \(K\) and \(L\) are conjugacy classes of \(G\) consisting of elements whose centralizers have order relatively prime to \(p\), then any \(p\)-regular element of \(G\) is expressible as the product of an element of \(K\) and an element of \(L\).