By Dick Jordan
Taylor Ferns of Shelby Township, Mich. continues her quest to join Sondi Eden as USAC’s only female driving champions in history this week as the USAC Mopar D1 Midget Series visits Plymouth (IN) Motor Speedway Friday and Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill Saturday. Eden won USAC’s 2004 Speedrome Midget title.
Ferns nearly won Sunday night’s race at Kokomo (IN) Speedway until a spin on the white-flag lap allowed Dave Darland to pick up the win. Ferns had led 17 of the laps until her misfortune. She recovered to finish fourth and enters this week’s races with a 67-point lead over Jake Blackhurst in the new standings.
Darland, of Lincoln, Ind., wheeled Chris Gurley’s Midget to victory in Sunday night’s Kokomo 25-lapper. He had to fight off challenges from Ferns and led the final two laps for the victory. Shane Hollingsworth was second ahead of Tim Buckwalter, Ferns and Tyler Roahrig.
Friday’s Plymouth events also include the USAC Midwest/East Ford Focus and Midwest Focus Young Guns.
USAC MOPAR D1 MIDGET SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1-Taylor Ferns-505; 2-Jake Blackhurst-438; 3-Bryan Nuckles-394; 4-Kyle O’Gara-370; 5-Mario Marietta-352; 6-Ali Jackson-246; 7-Morgan Nelson-323; 8-Kyle Hamilton-304; 9-Davey Ray-255; 10-Dave Fuhrman-233.