Taylor Ferns had never raced a full-bodied stock car on a one-mile dirt oval prior to last  weekend, In fact, she had raced only once on dirt in any kind of race vehicle, in a Silver Crown machine back in May.

That did not seem to bother the 17-year-old for Shelby Township, who earned a pair of top-10 finishes at the one-mile dirt oval at the Illinois State Fairgrounds last weekend. Ferns finished ninth with the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards in the Allen Crowe 100 and came home 10th in the Tony Bettenhausen 100 with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series.
“The Springfield Mile is a pretty unique track and I really enjoyed racing there,” Ferns said in a release from her race team. “It was a lot of fun and I think our results showed that. We feel like we are finally getting our luck turned around this year and have had some solid finishes lately. Racing twice definitely helped and both races were just about at the same time each day, so we kind of knew what to expect weather-wise and track condition-wise.”
Ferns took to the mile oval for the Allen Crowe 100 for the ARCA Series on Sunday, Aug. 18, beginning the day with a practice session in the morning, followed by qualifying. She turned the fifth-fastest lap in time trials of the 33 entrants, but had to start the rear of the field following an accident after her qualifying lap, with the team making quick repairs before the drop of the green flag.Starting at the rear of the 33-car field, Ferns quickly began her march forward in the No. 55 Motor City Transport Inc./National Auto Placement Toyota for Venturini Motorsports. She worked her way into the top-20 in the first half of the 100-lap event and found herself among the top 15 as the race wore on. She made a trio of pit stops, with her crew continually making adjustments on her car. Ferns crossed the finish line 11th; following a late race restart that extended the race to 104 laps, and gained two more positions after a couple of drivers were penalized for jumping the final restart. The ninth-place finish matched her best ARCA finish of the season.
Ferns  has a pair of ARCA top-10 finishes this year in a limited number of starts. She is scheduled to compete in three more races with the series this season, including on another one-mile dirt oval, as well as on the pavement at Iowa and Kentucky speedways.
In the Tony Bettenhausen 100 for the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series on Saturday, Ferns lined up 16th and worked her way forward, finishing 10th, earning her second straight top-10 finish with the series.