Shannon Babb hasn’t raced before the month of March since 2013.

That’s right, the Moweaqua, Ill., stalwart was 39 years old the last time he’d been this ambitious to get a move on a new racing season at this week’s Wild West Shootout at Vado Speedway Park. So, what’s prompted the 50-year-old to make the long trip?

Being organized is a good place to start.

“Through the last couple years, we’ve been bouncing around car-wise,” said Babb, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Christmas Eve. “That takes a lot out of you mentally. We’ve been with these Longhorns now for a solid year now, where we now have our ducks in a row and it’s easier to go racing. It’s a long winter and we needed to learn as much as we can out here.

“It’s a big advantage for us to get on the track and get ourselves comfortable and learn a few things.”

Vado’s increasingly growing reputation as one of dirt racing’s sportiest facilities — both on the level of amenities and on-track product — is intriguing enough for Babb. Promoter Chris Kearns, who owns the Macon (Ill.) Speedway located just miles from Babb’s home, brings in a track-prep team from Illinois led by Chad Bauman for the event, something Babb is appreciative of.

“It’s a beautiful place. It’s an awesome racetrack,” Babb said. “That’s one of the reasons I’m out here. It has very good racing here. A guy has to support something like this. As far as being on the racetrack, it definitely took a few laps to get my mind programmed. … but anyhow, it’s really nice, races really good. I can see why it puts the racing on it does. There’s multiple lanes. You can move all over the whole place.”

While Babb is still feeling his way around the 3/8-mile oval that’s unlike anything he’s ever seen, he’s making headway with his efforts. On Saturday he started 18th and finished 13th, and in Sunday’s 40-lap feature he started eighth and finished seventh.

“I can’t think of anything it reminds me of,” Babb said of Vado. “It looks like racetracks around home. But when you’re out there racing on it, it’s kind of its unique, own self.”

Top-10 finishes the rest of the week should be the standard for Babb, who could very well compete for a win or two if everything’s clicking. The primary goal for the veteran over the final four nights of action, though, is “to get way more comfortable with my car.

“I’ve had a lot of things on my mind I’ve wanted to try, adjustment wise,” Babb said. “The way that I adjust my car through the night, I wanted to maybe try a couple different avenues doing that and see if they work. You can sit in the shop all winter and talk about it, but you don’t know how it’s going to do until you get on the racetrack and do it.”

Say if Babb outperforms expectations this week, could we see him any at Georgia-Florida Speedweeks? He laughed at that unlikely happening.

“I don’t think so,” said Babb, whose last pre-March competition in 2013 came at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. (he last ran the Wild West Shootout in 2012 at USA Raceway in Tucson, Ariz.). “I don’t believe so.

“Emalie (Babb’s wife), I was trying to get her to come out here with me. She was like, ‘Meh, if you’re going to Florida, I’ll go.’ Anyhow, she must be looking at the Weather Channel or something. I wouldn’t mind going down there racing, but it’s a lot of racing.”