SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. — July 10, 2014 — Taylor Ferns has gotten to know quite a few tracks in Ohio, thus far in 2014, racing a 410-winged sprint car. She will expand her horizons this weekend, competing in a pair of races in West Virginia with the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association.
Ferns will open the weekend aboard the Jimmy’s Towing/Indy Race Parts Maxim on Friday, July 11, as she makes her debut at I-77 Motorsports Park in Ripley, West Virginia. She’ll then head to Ohio Valley Speedway in Washington, West Virginia, on Saturday, July 12, for another full night of racing.
“We have a raced at a number of new tracks this season, and that goes along with our theme of learning in the winged car this year,” said Ferns. “We’ve been learning and growing as a team this year and that is important, especially since we are new to winged racing. Being more consistent is what we are after right now. We know we have a fast car, it’s just putting a whole night together and making the right adjustments and decisions.”
Ferns has raced once in a 410-winged sprint car in her career at Ohio Valley Speedway, with that coming in 2010. She finished fourth in a heat race that night and also was fourth in the B-main, just missing qualifying for the main event.
“It rained all day at Ohio Valley Speedway the one time I was there, and that made the track very heavy,” she shared. “Lately most of the tracks we have been going to have been pretty dry, so we’ll see what happens there. You can never predict the weather and track conditions are dictated very heavily by the weather.”
The native of Shelby Township, Michigan, who returned to 410-winged sprint car racing this season, after nearly four years of racing other types of machines, has visited a number of tracks for the first time this season. She led laps in her debut at Ohio Valley Speedway, where she won, along with pacing the field for a number of laps at Attica Raceway Park in Ohio, and Butler Speedway in Michigan, in her maiden trips to those venues as well.
Last week, Ferns set fast time with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio. She just missed transferring from her heat race into the feature and had to run the B-main, where she finished fourth to earn a spot in the main event. She would take the green flag 20th and worked her way up to 13th by the completion of the race. She also raced at Attica Raceway Park, where she finished 16th in the main event and at Fremont Speedway, where she just missed qualifying for the A-Feature in her debut at the third-mile.
“Normally, qualifying is not my strong suit, so it was great to set fast time with the All Stars,” said Ferns. “I grew up watching a lot of those drivers like Jac Haudenschild and Dale Blaney, so to be able to race against them is pretty special. When you are in the pit area and Dale Blaney walks by and says, ‘You have to slow that thing down,’ that is pretty cool to get some pointers from a driver like that.”
Along with her win at Southern Ohio Speedway, Ferns has a total of four top-10 finishes in 410-winged sprint car competition this season in a limited number of starts.
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.
