Ricky Weiss feels he made enough progress with his race car on Sunday night — a 12th-to-eighth plod forward — that he’ll be back in the mix competing for a win or two by the end of the Wild West Shootout.

On Saturday’s opening night, Weiss was a complete non-factor, starting 15th and finishing a lap down in 17th. Woes from the outset didn’t necessarily catch Weiss off guard, though, because he’s dealing with a new race car that needs fine-tuned.

“We knew we were going to come out here and use this as a test session,” Weiss said. “The first night, we took that and learned a lot, and made our program a lot better. The second night, we went a little harder on tires. When they farmed it, just fell back too early. We were really good, middle to the end there, keeping pace with all those guys. The car is working really good.”

During Tuesday’s practice session, Weiss “changed a bunch of stuff to try” and thinks he’s made even more positive steps forward.

“I think we’ve set our goals a little higher this week,” he said. “We learned a lot at the end of last year with Penske (Racing Shocks). It pulled the car down a little bit. I wish what we learned in November we learned in January. We went to work in the offseason and built this brand new car. Now we have to learn the car and what it needs moving forward.”

Weiss accrued three victories last year — two in the Super Late Model — with the biggest being Aug. 18’s $20,059 triumph in the Butterball Wooldridge Memorial at Richmond (Ky.) Raceway. His other Super Late Model win came shortly after in Sept. 3’s Earl Baltes Classic at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.

This year Weiss said “we’re going to be doing more of a hit-and-miss schedule like we did in the pass, but be more of a contender.”

Faith in running up front and getting back to the days of winning anywhere between seven and 13 features, his respective win totals from 2018 and ’19, extends from retaining a core road crew.

Shawn Gage, who used to work for Weiss in 2018-19, is back with Weiss this year. Travis Wiesner returns from years past and Corey Lawson is Weiss’s latest addition to the road crew.

“That’s what it takes. It takes a good group of guys that can gel,” Weiss said. “That’s where we’re headed. We’re going to finish this deal off strong and hopefully get a couple top-five finishes and then head on over to Arizona (for next week’s Early Thaw miniseries).”

Odds and ends

Garrett Alberson of Las Cruces, N.M., is looking to hire a new crew chief for the 2024 season after disclosing that Justin Tharp left for Ricky Thornton Jr.’s SSI Motorsports in the days before the Wild West Shootout: “He helped me get ready and prep for the Wild West Shootout, which is good,” Alberson said. “We need a tire guy and a crew chief. That’s our biggest deal right now, trying to get that situated before we hit it hard for (the) Lucas (Oil Late Model Dirt Series).” … Chase Junghans of Manhattan, Kan., has finishes of eighth and 16th in two races with his new MB Customs Race Car, which he purchased only two weeks ago. Junghans ended 2023 using Longhorn Chassis. … Mikey Kile of West Lake, La., announced on Tuesday an alliance with Longhorn and Bilstein Shocks consultant Vinny Guliani of VG Performance. The announcement comes shortly after the Mikey Kile Motorsports team became an official Longhorn Chassis dealer on Dec. 12, meaning the operation is now a go-to supplier of anything entailing the Longhorn brand in the south-central region of the United States. … Saturday night’s winner Cade Dillard of Robeline, La., shook down a brand-new Longhorn Chassis during Tuesday’s practice session that he’ll employ for the Jan. 18-20’s DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals at Volusia Speedweek Park in Barberville, Fla., the start of the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series season. … Tyler Stevens of Searcy, Ark., is off to a decent start this Wild West Shootout, posting back-to-back ninth-place finishes. “I just have to find a little more balance and consistency, and I think we’ll be good,” he said. “We’re not too far off. We’re sitting here and deciphering what change we’re going to make, and try not to make too many because you’ll be out in left field.”