The sprintcar racer, who signed on to race with Indy Race Parts Australia and Domain Ramsay for the 2018-19 season, has aspirations to lift his game and match it with some of the best drivers.

The 2018 Grand Annual Classic champion said his off-season had been filled with “study and fine-tuning of his cars”.

“I have been watching videos of not only myself racing but how others do it,” the 28-year-old said.

“I’m just trying to find out why they are better than me in certain ways and then just trying to work on it. I like to study photos and videos and tell what is going and then nut it out.

“Because it is such a tough sport and everyone has different opinions on how to go fast, you have to be smarter about it and make the right calls.”

The delivery truck driver, who started his Victorian sprintcar series with a third-place finish at Avalon on Saturday night and suits up for round two at Moama this weekend, said his new deal gave him more car time.

“The more laps you can do the better,” McCullagh said. “I feel like we are only getting better and better as the years go. We are basically doing two seasons (28 meetings) in one this year and I am interested to see how we progress.”

McCullagh is eager to add more Grand Annual and World Sprintcar Series success to his resume as he strives to match it with the best in his sport.

“I love the Classic. You pretty much know where you are after it,” he said. 

“You should be able to leave that weekend knowing exactly where you are at and what you need to do to improve and if you compete against the best it only makes yourself better.

“That is what I strive to be, I strive to be the best one day.”