INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — October 23, 2014 — Late season events usually draw some of the largest and strongest fields of the year. With the checkered flag having flown for most tracks and series in the Midwest this year, a stout field is expected this weekend at Atomic Speedway in Ohio for the inaugural Open Wheel Championships. Taylor Ferns has raced against a wide variety of competition this season in a 410-winged sprint car in her No. 55F Eco-Mend machine and looks forward to the challenge that awaits her at the Open Wheel Championships, which are sanctioned by the start-up Renegade Sprint Series.
The Open Wheel Championships are set for Friday, October 24, and Saturday, October 25 at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio. The finale of the two-night event will pay $15,000 to the winner. A field of 70-plus cars is expected from across the Midwest.
“We are treating it like every other race we’ve gone to at Atomic this year,” said Ferns. “We’ve been fast there all year and hopefully will be quick again this weekend. The pill draw is going to be very important this weekend with the field of cars on-hand, so hopefully we get a good pill draw. The goal is to pass cars and finish up front in the heat race to make the show, and not have to worry about the B or C mains. We only have a couple races left this year and want to finish the season on a good note.”
Fern has made six appearances at Atomic Speedway this season, including in the inaugural Renegade Sprint Series event on August 23, in which she finished 16th, after running as high as third late in the race, before getting collected in an accident. The native of Shelby Township, Michigan, who now calls the Indianapolis area home, recorded a best finish of sixth at the high-banked three-eighths-mile on May 3. She also set quick time at Atomic Speedway with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions on July 3. During the Ohio Sprint Speedweek event, Ferns clocked in sixth-fastest of the 62 entries on hand and raced her way into the dash.
“We raced at Atomic a lot in the early spring when it was colder out, so those conditions are similar to what we will see this time of the year,” she explained when asked about the late season conditions. “The weather at Atomic definitely plays a lot into the track conditions throughout the night. During the summer, the corners really seemed to dry out due to the sun. It’s been cooler and rainy recently, so that will play a factor in how the surface is this week, and there will be a lot of cars on the track as well in all of the divisions that are racing. We’ll keep an eye on the track as the weekend goes on and adapt and adjust for the changes.”
In the Renegades first-ever event at Atomic in August, Ferns was fourth-fastest in time trials, with a very strong 37-car field in attendance. The 18-year-old finished fourth in the fourth heat race to earn a spot in the dash, where she finished fifth. Ferns lined up on the inside of the third row for the A-Feature and was running as high as third in the second half of the race, before being caught up an incident with six laps remaining, which caused too much damage to continue. She was credited with a 16th-place finish in that attrition-filled race.
“Knowing that Atomic is a track we have run strong at gives me confidence going back,” said Ferns. “We ran pretty well there during the Ohio Sprint Speedweek show and there were a lot of cars at that race. I feel good and I know my team is feeling good, and that always helps when you pull into the track.”
Ferns made her most recent start in the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions season-ending Sprintacular at the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio, finishing 19th on October 11. The night before she made her first-career 360-winged sprint car start at Waynesfield Raceway Park in Ohio. She won her heat race and started eighth in the main event, before another car made contact with her on the second lap, leading to a violent flip that ended her night.
The winningest female driver in USAC history was victorious earlier this season with the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association at Southern Ohio Speedway to earn her first-career 410-winged sprint car win. Ferns has picked up eight top-10 finishes this season in events across the Midwest. In addition to racing with the Renegade Sprint Series and UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions, she made her World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series debut at Bloomington Speedway in Indiana last month and also raced with the series at the legendary Eldora Speedway in Ohio.
Following this weekend’s Open Wheel Championships, Ferns will wrap up the season 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: 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 andRacing2Cure.
