By Ferns Racing PR
SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI | Nov. 13, 2013 - It’s been over a month since Taylor Ferns last raced, and she is chomping at the bit to return to the track. That wait will come to an end this week as she travels to the desert of the southwest to compete in the famed Western World Championships at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz., with the Honda USAC National Midget Series Dirt Championship.
The midget portion of the Western World Championships for the Honda USAC National Midget Series Dirt Championship is set for Thursday, Nov. 14, Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16 at Canyon Speedway Park. Points earned on each of the two preliminary nights will set the feature lineups for the finale on Saturday.
“Racing at Canyon last year was a ton of fun,” said Ferns, who pilots the Motor City Transport Inc. Spike. “It rained the first few days we were there last year, so the surface was slimy, but as the track came in there was some grip. It was a pretty fast track last year.”
In her debut at Canyon Speedway Park in 2012, Ferns qualified 15th among the 29 entrants for the Honda USAC National Midget Series event, which was shortened to a one-night event due to rain. She finished second in the third heat race to eventual race winner Kyle Larson. The native of Shelby Township, Mich., lined up 15th for the 30-lap main event and was forced to the pit area with mechanical problems during the race, ending her night in the 22nd position.
Ferns made her most recent midget start on the pavement at Columbus Motor Speedway in Ohio, last month, finishing fifth with the Honda USAC National Midget Series Pavement Championship. She earned three top-10 finishes in a limited number of midget starts on the asphalt this season, including a pair of top-fives.
Ferns last raced on the dirt in a midget in early October at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill. She qualified for the preliminary feature on each of the first two nights of that three-day event, winning a heat race on the second night to earn a spot in the dash. Ferns had engine trouble in her primary car in the finale, as well as a struck throttle on her backup machine, that led to contact with the wall that ended her night.
“It always helps having a few ‘practice nights,’ I guess you could say to get ready for Saturday,” she noted of the three-night format at Canyon Speedway Park. “Especially being off for the past month or so, I may have to get some of that rust off. As a racer whenever you go on the track you always want to go out and win and it's been a long time since we've been in Victory Lane so hopefully we can have some solid finishes at Canyon this weekend.”
The 2011 USAC D1 Midget Series champion has competed in 12 events with the Honda USAC Midget Series Dirt Championship this season. She took part in all five of the races that comprised Indiana Midget Week, and also has made starts in Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin in a dirt midget. Ferns has raced on a wide range of tracks from the one-fifth-mile Belle-Claire Speedway to the blazing fast half-mile at the famed Eldora Speedway.
In addition to competing with the Honda USAC National Midget Series in 2013, Ferns also competed in six Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series events, earning four top-10 finishes. She earned a career-best fourth-place finish in September during the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora. The high school senior also made eight starts with the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards, earning three top-10 finishes, including in both of the events on the one-mile dirt ovals in Springfield, Ill., and DuQuoin, Ill.
“We just put a new car together for the races out west,” said Ferns. “Kevin (Besecker-crew chief) has been working so hard in the shop to get it ready, so hopefully we can get it running to where we want it, or do even better then what we did at Columbus a few weeks ago, and come home with some good finishes.”
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