Mother Nature just has not been a race fan at the tracks that Taylor Ferns has been scheduled to compete at thus far in 2015. Hoping to get a pair of shows in last week in home state of Michigan, Ferns was rained out on two consecutive nights. The first night at Hartford Speedway with the Sprints on Dirt, a heat race was started and then cut short due to rain, with the feature getting rained out, while her second scheduled race with the World of Outlaws at I-96 Speedway was postponed by inclement weather early in the day. She will return to action this week, looking to beat Mother Nature and get a few races in.
Ferns will hit the track first Wednesday, June 3 with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series at Kokomo Speedway in Indiana aboard the Eco-Mend/Jimmy’s Towing Maxim. She will also race this weekend, with several different options currently being weighed as to where.
“With the level of cars and drivers that race with the World of Outlaws, you always learn racing with them, even if you are not quite to their level yet,” said Ferns. “You become a better racer by racing with the Outlaws and the All Stars. They are the best of the best and the competition is great. I always try to apply what I learn in those races to all of our other races.”
Last season, Ferns visited Kokomo Speedway for the two-night Kokomo Grand Prix for the Honda USAC National Midget Series at the beginning of the season. She raced her way into the main event on the first night and was in a transfer spot in a heat race on the second night, when she had a mechanical problem. In 2013, Ferns also raced at Kokomo during Indiana Midget Week. She made her debut at the quarter-mile in a midget in 2012, again during Indiana Midget Week and returned in the fall of that year to race in the Kokomo Klash, where she finished eighth.
“Even though Kokomo is a smaller track, it is still really fast,” she explained. “This will be my first time in a winged sprint car at Kokomo, so it will be a learning experience. I think you have to patient and on the ball, because everything happens so fast there. You have to be on toes and ready for anything.”
Ferns has made a dozen starts this season with a variety of series at seven different tracks in four states. She finished a season-best eighth in her first race of the year at Bubba Raceway Park in Florida with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions in February. She also finished eighth a few weeks ago at Plymouth Speedway in Indiana in an event for the Sprints on Dirt.
The 2011 USAC D1 Midget Series champion has a busy schedule planned this summer that will see her race in winged sprint car events across the Midwest.
“Racing a few nights a week, especially in a row is what I enjoy the most,” said Ferns. “I like going to the car wash after the race and multi-race weeks are what I live for. Now that I’ve lived in Indiana, I’ve gotten to be around racing even more and see so many different aspects of it and it’s pretty cool. We are hoping to shake some of the bad luck we’ve had this year and get on track as we start to race more.”
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.