Indiana is the place to be for open wheel racing in the days leading up to and including Memorial Day. Taylor Ferns will hit the track on Hoosier soil twice in the coming days as she races at a pair of Indiana ovals in winged sprint car events. She will compete with both the All Stars and World of Outlaws in a four-day period aboard the Eco-Mend/Jimmy’s Towing Maxim.
Ferns will open the holiday weekend with the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) All Star Circuit of Champions at Plymouth Speedway in Indiana on Friday, May 22. She will wrap things up on Memorial Day with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series at Lawrenceburg Speedway on Monday, May 25.
The Michigan native, who now calls the Indianapolis area home, will be making her second start of the season at Plymouth Speedway in Northern Indiana. She raced at the three-eighths-mile last weekend with a 360-cubic-inch engine under the hood in a Sprints on Dirt event. Ferns finished third in the first heat race at Plymouth on May 16 and was eighth in the main event, with a solid field in attendance. That race marked the first time that the 2011 USAC D1 Midget Series champion had raced at Plymouth since it became a dirt track. She had previously raced on the former half-mile paved configuration in both a midget and a late model.
“We had a really good car and a strong run at Plymouth (Speedway) last weekend,” said Ferns. “I was up to about fourth at the start and a red flag came out and I restarted eighth and kind of ended up riding around in that position. We had a lot stronger car than where we finished. Even though it was one of our stronger runs this year, we still have some progress to make, especially on my end, adjusting and getting back in the seat. It gives us some momentum, though, going into a couple of tough races this weekend.”
The last time that Ferns raced at Lawrenceburg Speedway was in 2013, during Indiana Midget Week for the Honda USAC National Midget Series. She also raced at the high-banked, three-eighths-mile during the 2012 edition of Indiana Midget Week. The World of Outlaws event on Memorial Day will mark her first sprint car start at the track.
“Lawrenceburg has a lot of banking and is fast,” she explained. “You get up to speed there really quick. The surface there seems to hold moisture pretty well. When I have run there in the past in the midget, it definitely had a lot of character and got a little rough. I’ve heard that it slicks over when the Outlaws run there. Every time you go to a race track it’s a different experience, especially with a dirt track. The track will never be the same twice.”
In 2015, Ferns has raced with the All Stars four times, including in the season opening Bubba Army Winternationals at Bubba Raceway Park in Florida in February. She finished eighth on opening night and was 11th in the next two features for the series.
Ferns has made one appearance with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series this year, with that coming on Mother’s Day weekend in the “Mother of All Sprint Car Weekends” at the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio. In the opener of that event, she finished ninth in a heat race and ended the night in the B-main. The follow evening, she had engine trouble in time trials and was forced to scratch for the remainder of the night. Last year, she competed with the World of Outlaws at both Eldora and Bloomington Speedway in the fall.
Thus far in 2015, Ferns has raced with four different series in four different states as she continues a “True Outlaw” schedule. With the weather warming up, she looks to turn around some bad luck that has followed her early this season.
“Having two solid runs, avoiding wrecks and being smart will make it a solid weekend,” said Ferns in regards to racing at Plymouth and Lawrenceburg. “We want to be aggressive, but also smart at the same time. We’ve had a lot going on the last few months and it has taken away from our full concentration at the race track. We are completely focused now and looking to have a couple of good runs.”
Taylor Ferns and Ferns Racing would like to thank their valued partners: Eco-Mend, 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.
- administrator on May 22, 2015
- Article Date: 5/22/2015