SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. — July 24, 2014 — One of the plusses of running a “true outlaw” schedule is that if inclement weather is forecasted, a change in plans can quickly be made and a track with a more favorable forecast can usually be found. That is the approach that Taylor Ferns and her team took last weekend as rain was called for and fell for a large portion of the day at Fremont Speedway in Ohio, where they had planned to race. They headed north instead and hit the track at Butler Motor Speedway in Michigan. Ferns will return to Fremont this weekend and looks to compete in her second event of the season at the historic quarter-mile at the Sandusky County Fairgrounds.
Ferns will be in action on Saturday, July 26 at Fremont Speedway for a F.A.S.T. (Fremont Attica Sprint Title) event. Hot laps will open the night, followed by time trials, heat races and a 30-lap A-Feature.
Ferns has made one appearance at Fremont Speedway in 2014 in the Jimmy’s Towing/Indy Race Parts Maxim, with that coming on July 5. In her debut at the track, the 18-year-old just missed qualifying for the main event, finishing seventh in the B-main, with the top-five finishers transferring.
“Fremont (Speedway) and Attica (Raceway Park) are similar in the way they are laid out, with not a lot of banking, and it helps having raced at each this year,” said Ferns. “It takes a similar driving style at both tracks. We’ve kind of struggled at both this year and those are two tracks that if you can run good at, you can run well then just about anywhere. I think we learned quite a bit last time we were at Fremont that should help this weekend and we have some extra motivation as well to do good.”
At Butler Motor Speedway in Michigan last weekend, Ferns was caught up in an incident and got upside down in her heat race and had to start near back the of the field for the main event. She lined up 17th and charged through the field to cross the line sixth, which was her second top-10 finish of the season at the three-eighths-mile. Also last weekend, the native of Shelby Township, Michigan, raced at Attica Raceway Park in Ohio, where she qualified eighth with a solid 28-car field in attendance and wound up finishing 13th in the A-Feature.
“We had a good car all night at Butler (Motor Speedway),” Ferns said. “We just got caught up in some misfortune in the heat race. That put us near the back to start the feature and I had to really be patient working my way through. I was able to make some moves and gain quite a few spots. I think if the race had not been cut short a few laps, we could have contended for a top-three finish or even the win.”
Ferns, who returned to 410-winged sprint car racing this season after spending the last four seasons in various open wheel series and stock cars, has one victory thus far in 2014. She took the checkered flag first at Southern Ohio Speedway on June 6 with the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association, which marked her first-career 410-sprint car win. Ferns has picked up seven top-10 finishes at a variety of tracks in Ohio, West Virginia, and Michigan. She also set fast time with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio, earlier this month.
The 2011 USAC D1 Midget Series champion will continue to compete in 410-winged sprint car races across the Ohio/Michigan/Indiana area for the remainder of the season.
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.