Brandon Overton details Ford and Chevy engine differences in dirt track racing

Brandon Overton also explains why he and his new team dropped off the World of Outlaws Tour despite winning the season opener

At the start of the 2019 racing season, Brandon Overton teamed with Rum Runner Racing.

Joey Coulter and his wife recently made the move to Texas. As a result, the logistics of racing full-time no longer made sense. Instead, he hired Overton to pilot his North Carolina based race team.

At the start of the season, Overton and the team didn’t know what their plans were. The ventured to Speedweeks and ran the first part of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series tour.

The team jumped over to the World of Outlaws side shortly after. Overton picked up the win in the very first race of the year at Screven Motor Speedway. They decided to stay with the tour for a few months.

After Duck River Raceway Park on March 22nd, Overton dropped off the tour. Shortly after, he landed in the pit area of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at North Georgia Speedway.

Brandon Overton explains the drop from the World of Outlaws tour

I’m surprised to see you here though?

“Yeah, kinda sorta. We’re just trying to get our shit together,” Brandon Overton told RacingNews.co .

“We kinda took off yesterday just to make sure we got all our stuff together and had all our ducks in a row. We ran pretty good at Tazewell.”

I was under the impression that you were rolling with the World of Outlaws tour. No?

“We were. It’s hard to get going and get everything back in a rhythm.”

“If everything would have been going fine and we were winning, we probably would have. When you’re struggling, it’s just hard for us to just keep going with it.”

“We needed to stay around home a little bit. We’re still not there yet. But, we’ve steadily been changing things.”

“We’re not ready to run a series yet. It’s kinda pointless. You’re never going to get better just running up and down the road.”

“It’s hard to test and race against the best guys there is.”

I guess, running locally saves you money, one. But, it sends you to tracks that you’re familiar with and you know what you’re suppose to feel in the car. Is that the thinking?

“Yeah, that’s my thing. Go to places that I’m familiar with, where I’ve had success in these cars. Get what I’ve felt in the past there.”

“Once we get that going we’re going to get back going again. Right now, I haven’t been feeling what I’m used to feeling.”

“We got different motors, different shocks, different brakes, different carburetors. Everything I have, is different.”

“I have to build another notebook to get more comfortable. So, when we do go back out on the road, I know what I’m suppose to be doing. Instead of just going out on the road and hoping we hit it alright.”

Ford vs Chevy
Dirt Racing Engines

You’re the second driver to tell me that the engine changes the way the car drives. But, I don’t really understand why that would be?

“I’ve notoriously run Chevy’s a lot. Between Randy Cleary Engines and Clements Racing Engines, that’s really the only two motors that I’ve run,” Overton explained.

Overton previously ran Randy Cleary Engines. With the new team, he’s made the switch to Clements Racing Engines as well as to a Ford block.

“So, everything that I’ve built… Notebook and information, has been from Chevy motors.”

“I came over here, they have Fords. We figured out that stuff I ran good with at Tazewell — We go back over there and it’s not that good. We had to change all that stuff.”

But, I don’t understand why exactly? Is it torque?

“A lot of it is torque. The Fords drive really soft. You use a lot of gas.”

“They don’t have as much power in the down low. They tend to not be as hard to hook up. But, in return of that, it drives totally different,” Overton concluded.

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Harold Holly
#2 crew chief

“The driver’s throttle position has to be in a much different location from Chevrolet to Ford,”
Harold Holly, crew chief for Brandon Overton explained.

When you first pick up the throttle?

“Well, yes. Basically.”

“I don’t want to give away the numbers. But, it’s got a lot to do with when you initiate the throttle, how the car moves. Up versus forward.”

“The Ford package, basically what he’s telling you is that when he first picks up the throttle, it doesn’t move the car as hard.”

Lift it up on the bars you mean?

“Yup. It doesn’t move the car initially like that. So, it changes every piece of setup that you have. Every load number, everything.”

More

Brandon Overton talks the 2019 season with his new race team

Joey Coulter explains the link to Brandon Overton

Brandon Overton to Rum Runner Racing

2019 national dirt late model drivers list

Links

Brandon Overton | Harold Holly | Joey Coulter Racing | Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series | World of Outlaws Late Model Series