The 22-year-old has secured the services of Mel Rankin to lead his team and will tackle the club's showcase event on Friday and Saturday.

Cooley said Rankin's poise and experience was a welcome addition. "It makes my life a whole lot easier. He's calm and collected and knows what he's doing," he said. "He worked with his son, Terry, who is now in formula 500s. We found he was available for a few sprintcar meetings and hired him. He's teaching us a lot.

"I'm just learning how to drive his set-up compared to the guy we had before but it's all been positive."

Cooley, a former Emmanuel College student from Kirkstall, said he enjoyed speed at Premier Speedway's New Year's Day meeting but suffered from bad luck and rust. The apprentice mechanic told The Standard he was focused on "being more aggressive" and spending more time behind the wheel in a bid to improve his driving.

"It's just about being aggressive enough to pass a car or two," Cooley said.

"I obviously don't want to take anyone out but I think that's what can help me go to that next level and race with those (big names).

"It takes time and doesn't happen overnight but we'll just keep chipping away and hopefully find a bit more consistency with results too.

"Hopefully we can get some of that on Friday and Saturday night."

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.