Taylor Ferns Gears up for the Gold Crown Midget Nationals at Tri-City Speedway
By Ferns Racing PR
SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich.—Oct. 2, 2013 — After competing in three races on the same day on Sept. 21, Taylor Ferns is anxious to get back to the track. She has another three-race stretch lined up this week, but this set of races will be spread over three nights, as she heads to Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill., for the running of the fifth edition of the DuPont Gold Crown Midget Nationals.
The DuPont Gold Crown Midget Nationals will be co-sanctioned by the Honda USAC National Midget Series and the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series. A pair of preliminary nights are set for Thursday, Oct. 3 and Friday, Oct. 4, with a full racing program contested each of those evenings. The finale of the Gold Crown Midget Nationals will take place on for Saturday, Oct. 5.
“What I always remember about Tri-City (Speedway) is that it goes dry/slick really quick,” said Ferns, who pilots the Motor City Transport Inc. Spike. “You have to either run way up at the top or be right on the bottom. It will definitely be a transition from the last race at Eldora (Speedway) where you are up on the cushion the whole race. I’ve raced the heavier cars quite a bit this year, so going back to the midget for the last few races this year will be a transition as well, with how light the midget is.”
The native of Shelby Township, Mich., made her first-career Honda USAC National Midget Series start at Tri-City Speedway in 2011, during the third running of the Gold Crown Midget Nationals, winning a heat race to earn a spot in the preliminary feature, and finishing16th in that contest. She also raced in the event last year, which was shortened to a two-night contest due to rain.
Ferns made her most recent start with the Honda USAC National Midget Series at the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio, during the 4-Crown Nationals. She finished 11th in that race and followed that up with a career-best fourth-place performance with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series. Ferns has made nine starts with the Honda USAC National Midget Series Dirt Championship this season at eight different tracks. She also has made five starts on the pavement in a midget, finishing fifth at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado in June and seventh at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis in July.
“To race the same track and the same car three straight nights will be helpful,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed getting to race so many different cars this year, especially the day we ran three cars in one day, but to run the same one like this week, will help me improve in the midget for sure. I haven’t had the best of luck at Granite City (Tri-City Speedway) the last couple years, so having three straight nights in the midget should be a benefit and a good learning experience as well.”
Along with competing in Midget and Silver Crown races, Ferns also has made eight starts with the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards in 2013, finishing among the top-15 in seven of those races, including earning three top-10 finishes. In the two ARCA races on the dirt this year, she finished ninth at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield and was 10th at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. Ferns ran ninth in her ARCA debut in March at Mobile International Speedway in Alabama.
“It was a lot of fun racing the ARCA car and the Silver Crown car this year,” Ferns said. “We had some good results and I learned new things at every track and that was the main goal we had going into the season. Finishing up the year in the midget, we just want to go out and improve each time we are on the track.”
Ferns was scheduled to race at Tri-City Speedway in the Hut Hundred earlier this season, but that event was postponed by race twice.