INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — September 25, 2014 — One of the goals Taylor Ferns and her team set before the season was to make their World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series debut. She patiently waited most of the season and was able to check that off her list last week at the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio. The 2011 USAC D1 Midget Series champion won’t have to wait very long to race with the series again, as she’ll compete with the “Greatest Show on Dirt” this week at Bloomington Speedway in Indiana. Ferns will then head to Fremont Speedway in Ohio, the following night, aboard the Jimmy’s Towing/Indy Race Parts Maxim.
Indy Race Parts Presents the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series at Bloomington Speedway on Friday, September 26. A full race program will take to the track beginning with hot laps, followed by time trials, heat races, a dash, Last Chance Showdown and a 40-lap A-Feature event. Championship Night at Fremont Speedway is set for Saturday, September 27, and also will consist of a full night of racing.
“Racing with the Outlaws last weekend at Eldora, I learned that there are no slouches in their field,” said Ferns. “Everyone is a top-of-the-line driver and you are racing against the best of the best and you had better be on your ‘A-Game.’ Racing against competition like that I learned something new every time I was on the track. We didn’t get the results we were hoping for last week, but in the long run I think it will pay off. Getting seat time and racing tough competition is what are focusing on right now.”
Ferns has raced twice at the quarter-mile Bloomington Speedway, with both of those appearances coming with the Honda USAC National Midget Series during Indiana Midget Week. She made her first trip to Bloomington as a competitor in 2012 and returned to the track again in 2013. This week’s race will mark her first 410-winged sprint car start the Indiana oval.
“Bloomington has a lot of banking and it’s fast in a midget, so with all of the extra down force of a winged car, we’ll be hauling the mail all the way around,” shared Ferns. “It’s going to be a lot of experience all at once, making my first winged start there, and it being with the Outlaws. I am really looking forward to it and having laps there should help as well.”
At Fremont Speedway this season, Ferns has made four appearances. She has raced her way into the A-Feature event at the quarter-mile on a pair of occasions. In her most recent visit to Fremont for the Jim Ford Classic with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions, Ferns qualified eighth in the finale of that two-night event.
“The transition from Bloomington to Fremont should not be too difficult, because they are both bullrings,” said Ferns. “We’ve struggled at Fremont in the past and that’s one of the reasons we chose to go there this weekend. We want to get better at the tracks we have had trouble at this year. We are going to try a few different things than the last couple times we have been there, so hopefully that helps us get to better at Fremont.”
Last weekend, Ferns competed at Eldora Speedway in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series portion of the Four-Crown Nationals. She timed in 29th-fastest in a stout 35-car field at the half-mile. The 18-year-old started eighth in the first heat race and finished in that same position. That heat race featured current points point leader and five-time champion Donny Schatz, as well as 20-time series titlist Steve Kinser and Rico Abreu, who set fast time at Eldora. Ferns finished her night in the 10th spot in the B-main.
Ferns, who returned to 410 sprint car racing this season, after spending the last few years in a variety of different racing machines, will compete through October at tracks in Midwest, before wrapping her season up at the World Finals at the Dirt Track at Charlotte in November with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series.
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.
