Ferns Racing PR
Shelby Township, Mich.—Dec. 27, 2011— The 2011 season began for Taylor Ferns in Fort Wayne on New Year’s Day, and it will come to an end in the exact same place on New Year’s Eve as she takes to the track in the 14th Annual Rumble in Fort Wayne.The Rumble in Fort Wayne is set for Friday, Dec. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 31 at the Memorial Coliseum Expo Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. Ferns, the reigning USAC Mopar D1 Midget Series champion, will be making her third consecutive appearance in Fort Wayne. She opened the event last season by finishing sixth in the second heat race, and came up just one spot short of transferring from the second B-main into the main event. In the finale last year, the native of Shelby Township, Mich. finished fifth in a very strong first heat race that included past Rumble winners Dave Darland and Rich Corson. Ferns wrapped up the night with a third-place showing in the third B-main, again just one spot shy of transferring into the main event. “Racing at Fort Wayne is great,” said Ferns. “I always have fun there and it’s a challenge racing on a track that small. We run a Volkswagen-powered Beast for Mike Lang and it’s the only time of the year I get to run that car, so I always look forward to it.” In her debut at Fort Wayne in 2009, Ferns qualified 22nd in the opener and was fifth in the first heat race, before competing in the first B-main. She placed sixth in the third heat race in the finale and was third in the first B-main. “You have to try and pace yourself and be patient at Fort Wayne, but at the same time, you have to be aggressive,” explained the high school sophomore. “If you make a mistake at Fort Wayne, it takes a few laps to make it back up and usually you don’t have much time to do that. You have to try and be really smooth and focused.” The racing surface at Fort Wayne is 1/6-mile in length and is laid out on the floor of the arena inside the Memorial Coliseum Expo Center. Ferns made 12 starts on paved tracks this season with the USAC Mopar D1 Midget Series, winning once and finishing in the Top-10 in all of those races en route to claiming the series title. She made her most recent start on pavement with the USAC Mopar National Midget Series on Thanksgiving in the annual Turkey Night Grand Prix at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway, finishing 16th. “We only race at Fort Wayne once a year, which can be challenging, but we have learned a lot there over the last few years and I think we’ll be good right off the bat,” shared Ferns. On smaller tracks this year, Ferns has had a great deal of success, including winning at the Indianapolis Speedrome, which is a 1/5-mile paved oval. In eight starts in 2011 on 1/5-mile tracks, she finished ninth or better all eight times. “The biggest key at Fort Wayne is making precise laps,” noted the 16-year old. “It’s always good to be fast there, but you also have to be smart, so that you don’t make too many mistakes and lose too much ground. We’ve been close to making the feature there each of the last two years and that’s certainly our goal this year.” # # # Keep up with all the action: For the latest news and results, visit Taylor Ferns and Ferns Racing online at http://www.taylorferns.com.