Justin Duty tempered his excitement following Wednesday’s sixth-place finish in the 30-lap feature as part of the Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts at Vado Speedway Park.

While it’s his career-best run at Vado Speedway Park and certainly a respectable outing versus many recognizable names, circumstances played into his favor more than anything.

“Track prep played into our hands there for sure,” Duty said. “We got the bottom and stayed there on the restart. Definitely our best run here. As the week goes along, we seem to be getting more balanced with the car anyway. The driver is starting to make some right decisions.

“It’s been a good week so far. Had a couple odd deals and s— luck last Saturday that hindered us from making the race. (Wednesday) was a good night. We can build off that for sure.”

The Molalla, Ore., driver had a best finish of 16th at last year’s Wild West Shootout. This time around he has a relatively new Longhorn Chassis with approximately 15 races registered on the race machine.

“We’re still acclimating to that and that’s been a really good change,” Duty said. “(Longhorn Chassis owner Steve) Arpin and the guys at Longhorn have been really, really cool. And taking really good care of me. When I need something, they’re more than happy to get it from me. That’s nice and helps out. It’s one less thing that you need to think about. This car seems to fit me a little bit more than what I was in before. It’s been a good deal.”

Duty’s one of seven Oregon drivers participating in the miniseries this week. Though it’s roughly a 30-hour haul from the Beaver State to the Land of Enchantment, it’s well worth it for a guy like Duty, who doesn’t get to race the likes of Bobby Pierce and Mike Marlar, among others, very often.

“If it wasn’t six days of racing, you’d see a lot fewer of us,” Duty said. “It’s a good way to get out of the cold weather and rain, and race. Six days of racing and the two practice nights makes it a good reason to get out and get away. And honestly, it’s the best option for us to race against this caliber of race cars close to home.

“Besides when XR did their Vegas deal, this is the closest it gets. For me, I’m fortunate I get to race back east a lot and race with these guys a lot. It’s just another race weekend for me. But for some guys around home, it’s a big opportunity to come down here and race against really good cars.”

The Oregonian doesn’t have any concrete plans for the 2024 season. His schedule is quite fluid at the moment after mostly traveling with the Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association, qualifying for nine of the tour’s 16 total features. Duty is hesitant to commit to the MLRA this year, not because it wouldn’t suit him, but the slew of rainouts — eight to be exact — are too costly on his team’s traveling budget.

“I think we’re going to wait and see until spring falls, and see what makes the most sense,” And make sure we don’t kill ourselves weather wise. As far as goals for the year, we just need to be more consistent. Like (Wednesday) shows. We qualified decent, made it in through the heat race.

“As I said, don’t get me wrong, the racetrack played into our hands before we started, but I still feel like we had a good enough car to run in the top 10. I think our goal is to consistently qualify a little better and make the shows through the heat races. It allows you to think about what you need to do to your race car so you can run inside the top 10.”

Odds & Ends

Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., is expected to make his season debut aboard the Longhorn Factory Team in Friday’s 30-lap, $11,000-to-win program at Vado Speedway Park. … Kyle Larson of Elk Grove, Calif., arrives back at Vado on Friday a night after his spontaneous Chili Bowl Nationals appearance went awry. Failing to qualifying as an outright lock-in for Saturday’s Chili Bowl means Larson, who flipped twice on Thursday’s prelim night (once in his heat race and the other in the feature running 12th), is staying put the rest of the weekend at Vado. … 2023 DirtonDirt.com Driver of the Year, Ricky Thornton Jr., finished seventh in Thursday’s Chili Bowl prelim after running as high as second, a would-be automatic lock-in for Saturday’s championship feature. Instead Thornton’s slated to start midpack in the B main, which isn’t too bad considering it’s the only midget event he races annually. … Only two drivers remain eligible for the Penske Racing Shocks Paydirt Jackpot bonus: Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., ($100,000 should he win the last three features; $25,000 if he wins two of the last three) and Cade Dillard of Robeline, La., ($25,000 should he win the last three features). … Dillard is also undefeated in modified action this week, and if he wins two of the remaining three features in the discipline, he’ll claim a $15,000 bonus from Wehrs Machine & Racing Products. … Friday’s program at the 3/8-mile oval operates on the same itinerary as Wednesday’s program, with on-track activity at 4:30 p.m. local time.