Shelby Township, Mich.—September 21, 2012 — For open wheel drivers that compete on the dirt, Eldora Speedway in Ohio is hallowed ground. Taylor Ferns, while still just 16 years-old, knows the mystique of the famed half-mile very well. She has watched numerous races from Eldora online, and caught a few on television as well. This week she’ll get to experience the legendary venue in person, as she makes her Eldora debut during the 4-Crown Nationals.
Ferns will compete in the USAC Mopar National Midget Series portion of the 4-Crown Nationals on Saturday, Sept. 22 aboard her family-owned Dea Eyewear Spike. The event will begin with time trials, followed by heat races, and the night will culminate with a 25-lap A-Feature.
“Eldora is such a well-known track and has so much prestige and history,” said Ferns. “As a race car driver you try not to think about those things though and just treat it like another race and another track. That’s the mindset you have to have going into every race, whether it’s a big, prestigious race or just a local show. You have to treat them all the same. I’m excited to go there for the first time and it should be a fun weekend.”
The reigning USAC Mopar D1 Midget Series champion will be making her first start on a half-mile dirt track, though she has raced on four paved half-miles this year, as well as the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis and the seventh-eighths-mile Iowa Speedway. Ferns earned her best-career USAC Mopar National Midget Series finish on the half-mile Plymouth Speedway in Indiana in July. The native of Shelby Township, Mich., also scored a Top-10 in her USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series debut at Iowa Speedway in June, which was the largest track that she has competed on in her young career.
“On the bigger tracks you carry so much speed, so having laps on bigger tracks on the pavement will definitely help heading to Eldora this weekend, even though it is dirt,” she explained. “Hot laps are always important, and will be even more so this weekend. That will give me a chance to learn the track and get a feel for it and see what I have to do for the rest of the race night. I’ll be focused every time I hit the track and try to learn as much as I can.”
Ferns raced last weekend in the Herb Barlow Memorial at Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series, which marked her first visit to that high-banked quarter-mile. Each of her last four midget starts and 12 overall on the season have come on the dirt, all of which have been on tracks three-eighths-of-a-mile or smaller.
“It’s always a different going from smaller tracks to a bigger, more open track,” noted the high-school junior. “The way you run is a lot more spaced out on bigger tracks and you have to pass people a little different. Having a lot of seat time on the dirt lately should help heading to Eldora.”
The winningest female in USAC history has raced in a variety of midget races this season on both the dirt and asphalt, with the USAC Mopar National Midget Series, as well as POWRi and the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association. She also made three starts in a Silver Crown car, all on pavement, qualifying 13th or better and finishing 15th or better in all three of those races, as well as making four appearances in an asphalt late model, picking up a Top-10 finish in her first-ever start in a full-bodied stock car.
“My main goal right now is to keep learning and improving every time I am on the track, especially at a place like Eldora that is new for me,” said Ferns. “I haven’t raced as much this year as I have in the past, so continuing to get seat time is important and that helps my confidence for me and our whole team’s confidence as well.”
Taylor Ferns and Ferns Racing would like to thank their valued partners: Dea Eyewear, eBay Motors, FK Rod Ends, Frameworks Marketing Group, Lucas Oil, K&N Filters, Lansing Sanitary Supply (LSS), Simpson Race Products, Indy Race Parts, ButlerBuilt, Allstar Performance, Stanton Mopar, Lyn St. James Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation, Race4Girls and Racing2Cure.
Keep up to date
For the latest news, results and information on Taylor Ferns and Ferns Racing and to view a full 2012 schedule, visitwww.TaylorFerns.com. Follow Taylor on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TaylorFerns or @TaylorFerns and on Facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Taylor-Ferns/116543998373.
