Riggs Motorsports will continue fielding a Dirt Late Model program for Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., in 2026 but not under the Longhorn Factory Team banner, team owner Scott Riggs confirmed Tuesday night to DirtonDirt.

After news broke Tuesday on the DirtTrackr Daily podcast that Riggs Motorsports and Overton will no longer campaign as Longhorn’s in-house flagship team, the 62-year-old Riggs said the amicable decision was in the works for several months.

“Let me start up by saying (Longhorn’s) Steve (Arpin) and I are still good friends, so nothing happened there,” Riggs said. “It’s not a blow up. It’s simply that they want to go a different route on their (chassis) development program instead of using a team that goes on the road and tries to win races, which is probably the right way to do it and I totally get it. 

“And for us, we’re racers, we’re going to race, and we’re going to keep our Riggs Motorsports brand going. We’re going to continue to buy their (Longhorn) product and race their stuff and hopefully get help from them, which they said, ‘No problem.’ But we kind of want to be on our own.”

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Riggs Motorsports first partnered with Longhorn Chassis to back the Factory Team in 2024 with Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., piloting the house car to that season’s World of Outlaws Real American Late Model Series championship. Overton took over driving duties in 2025 but struggled through a frustrating year, winning just four times and finishing seventh in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points standings.

According to Riggs, the team will shift its base from Longhorn’s headquarters in China Grove, N.C., to a shop near Overton’s home in Georgia. Overton, 34, will take an active day-to-day role in the team’s operation after largely concentrating on driving in ’25 as veteran crew chief Anthony Burroughs oversaw preparation of the Riggs equipment.

Riggs said Burroughs and fellow crew member Jason Tharp “tendered their resignations last week,” but the team’s third crewman, Ryder Cantillo, will relocate to Georgia and continue working with Overton. Two new full-timers will join Cantillo with Overton likely calling the shots for the team, Riggs said.

“We’re all disappointed with the year we had, and I just think that, you know, sometimes, it just doesn’t work out for whatever reason,” Riggs said. “But I think Brandon’s ready to dig in, and we’re as excited as we were last year when they all came in. We’ve got great motors, we’ve got great cars, everything we have is really good stuff. We’re looking forward to a new direction.”

Riggs said a decision has yet to be made on whether Overton will follow the Lucas Oil Series or WoO tour in ’26.

Overton, Burroughs and Arpin didn't immediately respond to inquiries for comment. The DirtTrackr report said Burroughs and Tharp will be reuniting with Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz. — they previously worked with RTJ at SSI Motorsports — but the Koehler Motorsports driver didn’t confirm those details responding to a message from DirtonDirt.