SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich.—Dec. 5, 2013 — Taylor Ferns has acquired quite a few skills over the last few years competing in midgets and was able to apply these items, such as car control and throttle control this year, as she branched out and raced in some ARCA and Silver Crown events. She also continued to compete in a midget on both the dirt and pavement.
In just a handful of starts with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series, the 17-year-old recorded four top-10 finishes, with two of those being top-five performances. Ferns came home fifth on the mile at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in Illinois on Labor Day weekend, which at the time marked her career-best finish. She would better that in the very next race at the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio.
At Eldora, Ferns finished fourth in the Silver Crown portion of the 4-Crown Nationals. That event marked her first start in a Silver Crown car at the high-banked half-mile. She also raced in the Honda USAC National Midget Series event at Eldora that night and began the day by competing in the ARCA race at the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway in the afternoon.
Ferns made a pair of Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series appearances on the pavement in 2013. She finished 10th at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis in July as part of a doubleheader with the Honda USAC National Midget Series. Ferns also pulled double duty at Pike Peak International Raceway in Colorado at the end of June. The Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series served as the nightcap of that twinbill and Ferns was running as high as third in the Silver Crown race, before running out of fuel in the late going, which relegated her to an 11th-place showing. Ferns ended up eighth in the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series championship standings, even though she did not take part in all of the races.
The native of Shelby Township, Mich., made her ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards debut in March at Mobile International Speedway in Alabama. She qualified an impressive fifth against a very solid field of cars, piloting the National Auto Placement Toyota for Venturini Motorsports. Ferns ran among the top-five for most of the race, before being spun by another car in the late going. She would rebound to finish ninth.
Ferns would finish ninth again in an ARCA race on the dirt at the Springfield Mile in Illinois in August. She qualified fifth for that event, but had to start at the rear of the field after getting into the wall following her qualifying run, which led to her crew having to make repairs to the car prior to the green flag. Ferns would finish 10th in the next ARCA race, which again was on the dirt, this time at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. She worked her way through the field after starting 18th.
The winningest female in USAC history made her superspeedway debut in August at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania in an ARCA event. Limited to just one practice session due to rain, which washed out qualifying, she finished a respectable 15th. Ferns made another superspeedway start at Kentucky Speedway in September, finished 12th. She made a total of eight ARCA starts in 2013 and finished among the top-15 in seven of those races.
Ferns recorded a career-best fifth-place finish with the Honda USAC National Midget Series on the pavement at Pikes Peak. She qualified ninth for that race and steadily worked her way forward in the 30-lap A-Feature aboard her family-owned Motor City Transport Inc. Spike.
The 2011 USAC D1 Midget Series champion earned another top-five finish at Columbus Speedway in Ohio, in October, which wrapped up the pavement portion of the schedule. Prior to that event, she finished seventh at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. Ferns finished ninth in points with the Honda USAC National Midget Series Pavement Championship, despite not contesting the full schedule, due to her ARCA commitments.
On the dirt with the Honda USAC National Midget Series, Ferns raced at 11 different tracks in six states. She competed in Indiana Midget Week for the second straight year, which consisted of five nights of racing at five different tracks in the Hoosier State.
Ferns recently wrapped up the season by racing in the Turkey Night Grand Prix for the Honda USAC National Midget Series at Perris Auto Speedway in California on Thanksgiving night. She qualified fourth-fastest among the nearly 50 cars in attendance to earn a spot in the 98-lap main event. Ferns will open her 2014 campaign at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Okla., in January.
Taylor Ferns and Ferns Racing would like to thank their valued partners: Motor City Auto Transport Inc., National Auto Placement, FK Rod Ends, Lucas Oil, K&N Filters, Lansing Sanitary Supply (LSS), Simpson Race Products, Indy Race Parts, ButlerBuilt, Allstar Performance, Stanton Racing Engines, Hoosier Tire Midwest, Lyn St. James Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation, Race4Girls andRacing2Cure.
