SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. — April 10, 2014 — The inaugural Kokomo Grand Prix for the Honda USAC National Midget Series was shaping up to be one of the biggest events of the season last year, until Mother Nature interrupted and pushed it back to this year. The debut of the two-day midget event at the always racy Indiana quarter-mile is scheduled for this weekend, and just as she was set to race in the event last year, Taylor Ferns will return to Kokomo in her family-owned Motor City Auto Transport Inc. Stealth.
The Kokomo Grand Prix, co-sanctioned by the Honda USAC National Midget Series and Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget Series, will hit the track on Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12. The two-night event will serve at the opener for the 2014 Honda USAC National Midget Series Dirt Championship, as separate titles will be awarded for the dirt and pavements portion of the schedule again this season.
Ferns raced once at Kokomo Speedway in 2013, with that coming during Indiana Midget Week with the Honda USAC National Midget Series. She qualified 15th for that event with a stout 38-car field in attendance. She finished sixth in the third heat race, coming up just two spot short of transferring to the main event, and ended her night in the B-main.
“Kokomo is a great track for midget racing and is wider than a lot of the smaller tracks we race at,” said Ferns. “I grew up racing on short tracks, so I am usually able to adapt pretty quick to tracks like that. We’ve always had pretty good luck at Kokomo and it’s definitely a place I enjoy racing at.”
The high school senior made her first start at Kokomo in 2009, which also marked her first appearance in a full-sized midget. Ferns finished fourth in her heat race that night, while contact from another car caused too much damage in the feature to continue. In 2010, she made a pair of starts at the quarter-mile, coming home fifth in the Bob Darland Memorial. Ferns finished fourth and eighth at Kokomo in 2011, en route to claiming the USAC D1 Midget Series championship. In 2012, the now 18-year-old made a pair of starts at the track, including an eighth-place showing in the Kokomo Klash.
“When we race with POWRi there are always a lot of cars and that will be the case again this weekend,” she noted. “The first main goal is to make the feature and then we can focus on having a good run. It’s always very competitive racing at Kokomo and you have to be on your game.”
Ferns opened the outdoor portion of her 2014 season last weekend in the Sumar Classic at the Terre Haute Action Track in Indiana, with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series. She was caught up in an early race accident, which ended her night.
“Even though the Silver Crown car is so much different than the midget, it helped being in the seat and getting some laps last weekend,” said Ferns. “We didn’t have the best of luck and obviously did not get the finish we wanted, but it was good to be back in the car. The more I seat time you can get, the better.”
Along with the Kokomo Grand Prix this weekend, Ferns will run select Honda USAC National Midget Series races in 2014. She will contest the full Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series and run an aggressive schedule of winged 410-sprint car races in the Midwest.
Taylor Ferns and Ferns Racing would like to thank their valued partners: Motor City Auto Transport Inc., National Auto Placement, Project Podium, Women’s Sports Foundation, Lyn St. James Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation, 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, Race4Girls and Racing2Cure.
