Just like that, a new Dirt Late Model season begins on Saturday with yet another installment of the Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout, which has earned quite the reputation for itself since moving to Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park in 2022.

The six-race miniseries that’s produced DirtonDirt.com's Race of the Year each of the last two seasons figures to ring in the new year with more excitement.

Although 50 drivers and teams have registered for the 18th running of the event formerly known as Early Thaw and Winter Extreme, we’ve identified 10 competitors who are worth keeping tabs on throughout the duration miniseries that concludes on Jan. 14.

Bobby Pierce

Billy Moyer. Terry Phillips. Jonathan Davenport. Those are the only drivers with more Wild West Shootout wins than Pierce, who boasts eight career victories at the event. With two of his 34 wins coming at last year’s WWS, will the Oakwood, Ill., superstar hit the over on a would-be betting line opening at 2.5 wins? Moreover, is this kind of dominance, as shown in past years at the WWS and last season on the whole, the start of Pierce only solidifying himself among the all-time greats of the sport? At Vado, he can keep up that trajectory.

WATCH: Looking back on Bobby Pierce's 34-win campaign in 2023, which earned him runner-up in DirtonDirt.com's Driver of the Year race.

Brandon Sheppard

Perhaps no driver has more going for them heading into the 2024 season than B-Shepp, who’s supported by crew chief Randall Edwards and Kevin Rumley as the new driver of the Longhorn Factory Team, a venture that’s hit the ground running with wins at the Dirt Track World Championship last October and Gateway Dirt Nationals three short weeks ago. His six wins at the Wild West Shootout are third-most among those entered (the New Berlin, Ill., driver is scheduled to start his WWS on Jan. 10, forgoing the first weekend), with two of those at the Vado oval in 2022. And though he didn’t win at the WWS last year (due in part to breaking in his new Longhorn), he had four top fives in six races.

WATCH: Brandon Sheppard after he won December's Castrol Gateway Dirt Nationals in St. Louis, Mo.

Cade Dillard

Finishing off last season with 15 top-10 finishes over his last 18 races, the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series traveler is trending in the right direction heading into 2024. At the Wild West Shootout last year, the Robeline, La., driver logged three top 10s in six events, with a best finish of fourth on opening night. He’s one of seven drivers to have a WWS victory on his resume, too, picking up a win at the event when it was at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway in 2019. Continued assistance from Longhorn Chassis and Bilstein Shocks consultant Vinny Guliani, the former race engineer on Jonathan Davenport’s Double L Motorsports team, should only add to Dillard’s stock.

Drake Troutman

Though he’s unofficially the youngest driver at this week’s Wild West Shootout field in his event debut, the Hyndman, Pa., youngster has the credentials to make some noise in the Land of Enchantment. One of DirtonDirt.com's five breakout drivers from last year, Troutman collected six Super Late Model feature wins and capped the year with an impressive victory in the Modified portion of the Gateway Dirt Nationals over discipline ace Mike Harrison. Now racing for Chris Bragg, the Texas native and father of Tyler Bragg — a crewman on Jonathan Davenport’s Double L Motorsports team — the third-generation racer has the goods to take the next step on his fast-rising journey.

WATCH: Drake Troutman breaks down his Gateway Dirt Nationals victory in St. Louis, Mo., aboard the Modified.

Garrett Alberson

It’s a home game for the Las Cruces, N.M., native, who always takes the Wild West Shootout to heart being not even 20 minutes away from his hometown. He’s one of six drivers to have won at Vado Speedway Park in the 12 contested races at the picturesque facility, a win that came on the third night in 2022. Last year, Alberson didn’t finish outside the top 10 and carries a 6.9 average finish in 12 races at Vado.

WATCH: Garrett Alberson after a podium finish in last year's Wild West Shootout.

Kyle Larson

No racer in recent memory is positioned for a more dynamic year than the 2021 NASCAR Cup champion. The Indianapolis 500, a High Limit Racing title defense (the midweek series, that is), another Championship Four push in the Cup Series, and whatever Dirt Late Model events he can squeeze in along the way account for Larson’s ridiculously busy racing schedule. And it all begins this week at the Wild West Shootout, the miniseries where Larson posted an average finish of 3.2 last season. He hasn’t raced the Kevin Rumley’s No. 6 since last June — the six-month hiatus his longest since exploding onto the discipline in August 2020 — but is that at all relevant this week? Likely not.

WATCH: FloRacing's Ben Shelton catches up with Kyle Larson before Friday's practice night at Vado.

Mike Marlar

The Winfield Warrior gives Bobby Pierce a run for his money as the driver to beat this week at the Wild West Shootout. A strong track record at the miniseries and a strong foundation already laid with his new Skyline Motorsports team (a win, runner-up, and sixth-place finish at the World Finals last November in his first three races with the team) are the reasons for such optimism. Marlar’s average finish of 3.8 is the best among any driver in the 12 miniseries races at Vado — and his trio of wins and 2022 event title further legitimizes that sterling resume in the Land of Enchantment.

WATCH: Looking back on Mike Marlar's 2023 season and which he finished fifth in the DirtonDirt.com Driver of the Year race.

Ricky Weiss

The proprietor of Sniper Chassis is on his A game when it comes racing in the southwest region of the states. His four Wild West Shootout victories (all at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway) are tied for third most in miniseries history. And an average finish of 5.2 at last year’s WWS hints that he’s knocking on the door of that first win at Vado Speedway Park — a victory that could come to fruition these next 10 days.

WATCH: Ricky Weiss after a podium finish during last year's Wild West Shootout.

Shannon Babb

The Moweaqua Missile racing in January? That hasn’t happened since the 2012 Wild West Shootout when it was at (the then-called) USA Raceway in Tucson, Ariz. It was a sporadic six-race miniseries for Babb back then — finishes of third, 10th, a DNS, fifth, 24th and another DNS, in that order — so he’s likely hoping for more stability this time at Vado Speedway Park. If there’s anyone that’ll be consistent, it’s Babb — the newly turned 51-year-old who’ll be among a field largely comprised of the sport’s younger drivers trying to find their way in the wide world of Dirt Late Model racing.

WATCH: FloRacing's Derek Kessinger interviews Shannon Babb in July 2022.

Tyler Erb

Does a driver have more to gain this week than Tyler Erb? This much is obvious: Terbo is more focused than ever before to find victory lane at a higher clip this season, especially off the heels of an unsatisfactory three-win campaign. Vado Speedway Park’s blazing pace and knack for rewarding the gung-ho racer plays right into the New Waverly, Texas, native’s wheelhouse. Erb clicked off a Wild West Shootout victory in 2022, a miniseries that saw him fall 12 points short of Mike Marlar’s title. Last year, Erb started strong — finishing seventh and eighth — but three-straight finishes of 20th or worse did him in. A successful week could very well be the springboard he needs for an important 2024 season.

WATCH: Tyler Erb, Brandon Sheppard, Garrett Alberson, and Mike Marlar explain what makes Vado entertaining.