Taylor Ferns Caps Three-Race Day with Fourth-Place Run at Eldora
By Ferns Racing PR 

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich.—Sept. 22, 2013 — Taylor Ferns has had some busy days at the racetrack, but none quite like the one she had on Saturday, Sept. 21. She began the day at Kentucky Speedway by finishing 12th in an afternoon race with the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards at the 1.5-mile superspeedway. Ferns then headed 150 miles north to the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio, for the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series and Honda USAC National Midget Series portions of the 4-Crown Nationals. She finished 11th in the Midget, and then capped the night with a career-best fourth-place finish in the 50-lap Silver Crown event.

“Overall it was a pretty good day,” said Ferns. “To race all three cars was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed it. It definitely took a toll on me today (Sunday), and I slept a lot of the day, but it was a great experience. Kentucky (Speedway) and Eldora (Speedway) are so different and so are each of the three cars I raced. To be able to have consistent runs in each and very a strong showing in the Silver Crown car was definitely a confidence booster.”

In her first Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series race at Eldora, Ferns lined up on the inside of the seventh row for the 50-lap A-Feature at the high-banked, half-mile. She worked her way into the top-10 by just the second lap and continued her march forward, in what turned out to be a caution-filled race. Ferns powered her way up to seventh by the eighth circuit and was into the top-five by lap-22.

Just one lap prior to the halfway point of the 50-lapper, the 2011 USAC D1 Midget Series found herself in fourth. For the final 15 laps of the race, Ferns had a spirited battle with Matt Westfall for the fourth spot. The pair traded the position no less than five times officially at the line and several more unofficially, lap after lap. Ferns would take the checkered flag fourth, which marked the best finish of her career with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series. It was also her second straight top-five finish and fourth consecutive top-10, piloting the No. 35 Toyota-powered Beast.

“To finish fourth in my first start in a Silver Crown car at Eldora was great,” Ferns shared. “Originally, I wasn’t even going to race the Silver Crown car at Eldora, so it was a last minute decision last week. Our main goal was to go and learn for next year. The car was fast all race long and it was a fun race. We didn’t qualify where we were hoping to, but were able to make up quite a bit of ground in the feature. Racing at Eldora is great, and you learn every time you are on the track.”

In the Honda USAC National Midget Series portion of the 4-Crown Nationals, Ferns finished 11th in her family-owned No. 55 Motor City Transport Inc. Spike. She lined up 15th for the 25-lap A-Feature and ran a steady race, picking up spots where she could. The native of Shelby Township, Mich., opened the night by recording the 16th-fastest lap in time trials and followed that up with a fifth-place effort in the third heat race.

“In the midget, I struggled a bit transitioning from the heavier stock car in the afternoon to a 900-pound car,” she explained. “We moved up during the race, from where we started, so that was a positive to take away. I can’t say I’m disappointed, I just wish we could have had a little better of a finish. We’ll keep working hard with the midget the rest of the season.”

At Kentucky Speedway with the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards, Ferns completed all 100 laps of the race, which was postponed by rain on Friday, Sept. 20, and thus completed in the afternoon on Saturday, Sept. 21. The starting field was lined up by owner points, which put Ferns seventh on the grid in the No. 55 National Auto Placement Toyota for Venturini Motorsports. She ran just outside of the top-10 during the first 25 laps of the race. Following a round of pit stops just prior to the halfway point, she was up to eighth. During the second half of the 100-lapper, Ferns ran as high as seventh, before finishing 12th. In eight ARCA starts this season, she finished among the top-15 in seven of those races.

“Our main goal going into Kentucky was to learn about the mile-and-half racetrack,” Ferns said. “It’s been a challenge adapting to the bigger racetracks and I just have to learn what my limits are at the speedways. I learned a ton during the race and was very satisfied with that and we finished on the lead lap, so that was good. The car just got a little too tight at the end and that allowed a few cars to pass me.”

Ferns ended up eighth in the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series championship standings, despite not competing in all of the races. She recorded four top-10 finishes in six starts. The No. 55 Venturini Motorsports team, for which she has raced in the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards, is seventh in owner points as the season winds down.