Ricky Weiss first broke onto the World of Outlaws Late Model Series scene in 2019, a year that saw him win Rookie of the Year without making a trip to victory lane.
In 2020, he won in just the second race of the season, and then backed it up with a runner-up finish in the points standings to the guy who’s about to win his fourth series title.
Weiss was set to be a big threat to Brandon Sheppard – one that had serious chances of stopping his championship streak.
But coming into the year, Weiss made the decision to undertake a major project.
“We’re still trying a lot of things,” Weiss said. “But if there’s anybody out there trying to take on what we took on this year, and run a series (while doing it)… it’s a pretty big undertaking. The leaps and bounds, though, that we’ve made have been great. We’re running with the best of them and we’re right there with them.”
Over the off-season, Weiss went to work building his own chassis – Sniper Chassis.
In the late model world, the type of chassis a driver races can be as impactful as what team a Formula 1 driver runs for.
And when you’re doing it yourself for the first time – again, while running a series and being competitive week in & week out – there’s going to be some challenges.
“There’s a lot of things that we wanted to try and it’s tough when you’re just one team kind of trying things,” Weiss said. “The schedule they’ve got us running now is about every weekend and it (takes) everything we can do to maintenance the car and get back going again by the time you travel and get to the next track.”
Nonetheless, Weiss has performed at a top tier level despite the adversity him and his team are facing.
He’s raced his way to fifth in the standings this season with the World of Outlaws and brought home his best finish of the year with the series at Bristol Motor Speedway during the Bristol Bash.
“I think next year, we’re going to try and build on these cars and get a few more out there,” Weiss said. “It’s only going to help everything. It’s tough to be one guy running. You don’t have anyone to bounce ideas off or talk to a driver here and there. If you get behind early, it’s tough to break out from that.”
But there’s more work to be done.
Weiss wants to get back into contention to win a title – where he was during the 2020 season when he finished second in series points. His fifth-place standing right now would be the lowest he’s finished on his three years with the series.
He wants to be competing for wins every week, like he did when he stood on the podium at the Knoxville Late Model Nationals a week ago.
“Oh definitely,” Weiss said of his third-place run. “To come out here with these boys – I mean we had a great week. I’m just proud of our guys. We had a real good piece. This is just such a big confidence booster for us and everyone involved. I’m just proud of where we’re at and where we’re going.”
In his transition from his first year to the series over to the second, Weiss broke out in his second full season.
In 2022, he’ll look to do it again, with the Sniper Chassis name following him to the top.
“Once we fill our notebook and get our baseline, which we’re getting there, I think we have a real good piece. We just need to give (the car) what it wants.”
