SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. — August 21, 2014 — It’s been a while since Taylor Ferns has been able to get a full two-race weekend in. Mother Nature has interrupted the last couple of scheduled doubleheader weekends that she tentatively had on her calendar. Ferns will look to compete twice this weekend in two states, with two different series in her Jimmy’s Towing/Indy Race Parts Maxim.
Ferns will race in the inaugural Renegade Sprint Series event at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio on Saturday, August 23. She will then head northeast to Western Pennsylvania to compete with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions at Mercer Raceway Park on Sunday, August 24.
The 18-year-old has made four visits to Atomic Speedway in 2014. She finished a season-best sixth on May 4 at the track in south central Ohio. Competing with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions on June 25 at the high-banked three-eighths-mile during Ohio Sprint Speedweek, Ferns timed in sixth-fastest of the 62 entries and raced her way into the dash. She wound up 16th in the A-Feature that night. The native of Shelby Township, Michigan, who now resides in the Indianapolis area, finished 13th in her most recent start at the track on July 3, which was also an event sanctioned by the All Stars.
“Atomic is a fast track and you can drive it really hard,” said Ferns. “Every time we’ve been there this year, we’ve qualified consistently. As long as we get a good pill draw and can transfer out of the heat race we should be in a good position for the feature. We’ve been having a lot of bad luck lately, so we really need a good finish at Atomic.”
Mercer Raceway Park is a banked three-eighths-mile, located about an hour north of Pittsburgh. The race will mark Ferns’ first start in the state of Pennsylvania in a 410-winged sprint car and her fifth appearance with the All Stars this season. She has qualified for the main event twice with the series in 2014, both times at Atomic Speedway.
“We’ve been going to a lot of new tracks this year and seem to adapt to them pretty quickly, so hopefully Mercer is no different,” she noted. “Racing with the All Stars is always very competitive and I really enjoy racing with them. You learn a lot racing against competition like that and that’s what makes you a better driver.”
Last weekend at Attica Raceway Park in Ohio, Ferns finished sixth in the third heat race, coming up just one spot short of transferring into the main event, which put her in the B-main. She finished fourth in the B-main to earn a spot in the feature, but had a valve break on the engine, which prevented her from being able to take the green flag in the A-feature.
Ferns, who returned to 410-winged sprint car racing this year after competing in a variety of racing machines over the last four seasons, will race in a number of events in the Midwest over the next couple of months as the 2014 season winds down. She was victorious with the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association (OVSCA) on June 6, after opening the night by setting a new track record in qualifying. The winningest female driver in USAC history has seven top-10 finishes this season in a winged sprint car.
Taylor Ferns and Ferns Racing would like to thank their valued partners: Jimmy’s Towing Recovery & Transport, Indy Race Parts, 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, ButlerBuilt, Allstar Performance, Stanton Racing Engines, Hoosier Tire Midwest, 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 2014 schedule, visit TaylorFerns.com. Follow Taylor on Twitter at @TaylorFerns and like her on Facebook.
