Taylor Ferns plans to drive a winged sprint car at a pair of race tracks this weekend. She is to compete in the Renegade Sprint Series at Atomic Speedway in Chillocothe, Ohio, on Saturday, and in the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions at Mercer Raceway Park in western Pennsylvania on Sunday.
Last weekend at Attica Raceway Park in Ohio, Ferns finished sixth in the third heat race, coming up one spot short of transferring into the main event, which put her in the B-main. The Shelby Township resident finished fourth in the B-main to earn a spot in the feature, but had a valve break on the engine, which prevented her from being able to take the green flag in the A-feature.

Taylor Ferns is scheduled to race a winged sprint car at I-77 Raceway Park and Ohio Valley Speedway this weekend. The Shelby Township resident is to drive the Jimmy's Towing/Indy Race Parts Maxim on Friday at I-77 Raceway Park in Ripley, West Virginia. The 18-year-old then plans to wrap up the weekend at Ohio Valley Speedway.
“After having last weekend off and rain the weekend before, I am pretty anxious to get back to the track this week,” Ferns told Ferns Racing PR. “It’s kind of like riding a bike and you pick it up pretty quickly when you climb back in the car after a couple of weeks break."
In her debut at I-77 Raceway Park last month, Ferns qualified second-fastest. In the main event, she inherited the top spot, after the two leaders were involved in an incident. Ferns led for a number of laps, before being passed by eventual winner Chris Myers with five laps remaining. She crossed the line second.
At Ohio Valley Speedway, Ferns took the checkered flag sixth on July 12. She was fourth-quickest in time trials and ran second in the second heat race at the three-eighths-mile.
Ferns has competed exclusively in 410-winged sprint cars this season, after opening the season with a couple of midget and U.S. Auto Club Silver Crown races. She has earned seven top-10 finishes, with three of those being top-five performances.

Taylor Ferns of Shelby Township is scheduled to compete in three winged sprint car racing events in Ohio during the Fourth of July weekend.
She will open the trio of races aboard the Jimmy’s Towing/Indy Race Parts Maxim on Thursday, July 3, at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, for the “Night the Stars Come Out” with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions.
She will then visit Attica Raceway Park on the Fourth of July, and will wrap up the weekend on Saturday at Fremont Speedway. Both of those races will be Fremont/Attica Sprint Title (F.A.S.T.) events.
“Racing with the All Stars (Circuit of Champions) you really have to be on your game, because you are racing against some of the best like Dale Blaney and Randy Hannagan,”  Ferns told Ferns Racing PR. “I’ve raced with them a couple times this year and have learned a ton every time I’ve been on the track, whether it’s been for hot laps a heat race or a feature. As a driver you always want to keep getting better, and racing against tough competition is a good way to do that.”

The more laps Taylor Ferns turns in a 410-winged sprint car, the faster she seems to get. The Shelby Township resident has improved on her finish in each of her first two starts this season in the high-horsepower machines, highlighted by a sixth-place run last weekend at Atomic Speedway in Ohio, according to Ferns Racing PR. Ferns looks to get twice as many laps in this weekend as she makes her debut at Attica Raceway Park and Brushcreek Motorsports Complex, both in Ohio.

Ferns will make her first start at Attica Raceway Park on Friday in the Jimmy’s Towing/Indy Race Parts Maxim. She will follow that with her first appearance of the season with the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association (OVSCA) at Brushcreek Motorsports Complex in Peebles on Saturday.

Attica Raceway Park, located in northwestern Ohio, is a high-banked third-mile. Brushcreek Motorsports Complex is a high-banked three-tenths-mile in southern Ohio.

“I’ve been to Attica (Raceway Park) a few times when I was younger to watch some races, but that was a long time ago,” said Ferns. “Since I’ve never been Brushcreek (Motorsports Complex), I was getting some pointers from Cole Duncan last weekend about the track, since he has raced there before. I’ve watched a few videos online this week to see both the tracks and what they are like and that should help a bit as well.”

Last weekend, after a last-minute decision to switch venues and race at Atomic Speedway in Ohio, Ferns qualified third-fastest among 21 entries. She finished second in the third heat race at the high-banked three-eighths-mile, after lining up fourth. In the main event, the 18-year-old started on the outside of the third row and ran as high as fourth, before crossing the line in sixth to record her best finish of the season.

“It seems like every time I get in the car I am getting more comfortable and have the confidence to try new things,” she said. “Going back to Atomic (Speedway) for the second week in a row last weekend really helped and I had a good idea of the tack. It’s hard to put into words how much fun I am having in the winged car right now. It’s been a blast.”

After nearly four full years between starts in a 410-winged sprint car, Taylor Ferns looked like a veteran last weekend at Atomic Speedway in Ohio, aboard one of the nearly 900-hp machines. She was leading her heat race until a mechanical problem forced her to the pit area, and then blasted through the field during the main event, passing 11 cars, according to Ferns Racing.
The high school senior looks to build on that foundation this weekend, as she makes her second winged start of the season in the Jimmy's Towing/Indy Race Parts Maxim. Ferns will visit Skyline (Ohio) Speedway for an event with the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association on Saturday, May 3.
“It feels great to be back in a winged sprint car,” said Ferns. “I kind of had forgotten what it felt like to be in a winged car, especially with other cars around, since it had been so long since I’d raced one. I had been wanting to race a winged sprint car for a while and it is great to be back in the seat.”
The native of Shelby Township  made three appearances at Skyline Speedway in a 410-winged sprint car in 2010, with a best feature event finish of 13th. Skyline is a high-banked three-eighths-mile, located in Stewart, Ohio.
“The one thing I really remember about Skyline (Speedway) is that it gets dry/slick pretty fast and stays that way all night long,” she said. “The key is to be prepared to race on a slick race track. I’ll have to be patient and get used to passing cars and getting through traffic. It kind of worked out starting at the back last week, because I was able to be in traffic quite a bit and get re-acclimated to it. The closing rate in winged cars is so fast, due to the horsepower, so that definitely took a little getting used to again.”
Last weekend at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio, Ferns was 10th-fastest in time trials of the 24 entries at the high-banked, third-mile. She was leading the second heat race when the crank trigger on the engine broke, leading to some repairs prior to the main event. She lined up on the inside of the 11th row for the A-Feature and steadily worked her way through a solid field of cars to finish 11th.
 

Here is the schedule for the 2014 USAC Silver Crown Series for sprint cars. Taylor Ferns of Shelby Township plans to run the entire schedule.

April 6, Terre Haute, IN/Terre Haute Action Track (Kody Swanson winner)

May 17, Indianapolis, IN/Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis

May 22, Indianapolis, IN/Indiana State Fairgrounds

June 14, Madison, IL/Gateway Motorsports Park

June 29, Millington, TN/Memphis International Raceway

July 24, Indianapolis, IN/Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis

August 1, Belleville, KS/Belleville High Banks

August 16, Springfield, IL/Illinois State Fairgrounds

August 31, DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin State Fairgrounds

September 20, Rossburg, OH/Eldora Speedway

October 11, Syracuse, NY/New York State Fairgrounds

Kody Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif., won the Sumar Classic, a USAC Silver Crown Series presented by Traxxas race at Terre Haute Action Track in Indiana on April 6.

Taylor Ferns of Shelby Township qualified 18^th and finished 19^th in the 100-lap sprint car feature on the half-mile dirt track.

Fastest qualifier Tracy Hines finished second and Jerry Coons Jr. third.

Ferns plans to run the full Silver Crown schedule this season in the No. 35 Motor City Transport Inc. Beast that features a Toyota engine.