Yes Sir.
Once a car is loafy and fluffy light, the weight could/should be reintroduced to where it serves it best.
In Thumper's case, it sounds like it was as simple as two battery cases instead of one placed in the right area. That's probably 70 Lbs between both batteries right there, but the car recognizes the ballast and bites.

Some cars just simply need a weight bar or ballast box to push the car over the tipping point to where it bites on ice.
Not to give away the ending here, but some cars in some incredibly unbelievable classes are biting with the smallest tires using weight management as the basis to the black art of bite.