Never Satisfied a Taylor Ferns Story
Never Satisfied a Taylor Ferns Story
On Saturday, September 7th as the Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial returned to Salem Speedway, history was made and weight was lifted off of heavy shoulders. Taylor Ferns, in a year that saw her take full control over her racing career, dominated the high banks of Salem Speedway en route to becoming the first female competitor to win the historic sprint car race. Emotion was evident as Ferns climbed from her racing machine in victory lane after years of hard work and determination led her to the top step of the podium for the first time in a non wing pavement sprint car.
Taylor Ferns leads Kody Swanson (#33) and Davey Hamilton Jr. (#14) at Salem Speedway. - Jack Kessler Photo
“I am not an emotional person,” explained Taylor Ferns. “This win was just a longtime coming. A lot went into this win for me. I was feeling the pressure of owning the team, and producing the results. The biggest thing for me was that I have never worked so hard, and fought to make something work, more than I have with my race team the past couple years.”
The 2023 500 Sprint Car Tour season was a trying year for Ferns and her team. Whether it was getting caught up in an accident or having mechanical failures while running up front, things never seemed to go right. After maintaining her own equipment for many years, 2023 was a year of firsts as she moved her equipment from Michigan to Indiana to be maintained by Kevin Besecker. Since then, the two have worked hand in hand to make the car better week in and week out. That work has come with its trials and tribulations, but everything came together for that special night when she won the Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial at Salem Speedway.
“Up until recently, everything in my life came “easy” for me. School, my job at the law firm, creative endeavors etc. I had to really dig deep for that win, especially during the race with losing brakes and my hood coming loose. So winning in that way was just the validation that I am capable of what my family and I always knew.”
The 2024 racing season came with great excitement for Ferns as she announced she would be competing on a limited schedule in the INDY NXT series. Driving for Abel Motorsports in the final step of the INDYCAR racing ladder, Ferns was slated to run all of the oval events for the team. Her debut came when the series headed to Iowa Speedway. Competing in a new style of racing against some of the best drivers in the world at that respective discipline, ferns showed signs of struggle early on. In her first race, Ferns finished 16th out of 18 competitors and completed 48 laps of the scheduled 55 before retiring the car. She went on to finish 15th at World Wide Technology Raceway, 18th at Milwaukee, and closed the season out with an 18th place finish at Nashville Superspeedway.
Taylor Ferns in victory lane with her crew after winning the Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial - Jack Kessler Photo
“This season has been an uphill climb. Negative thoughts began to enter my mind about if I could actually win a race. When I crossed the finish line, the emotion was a sense of relief.”
After her win in the Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial, Ferns will be coming into the 9th Annual Ascension St. Vincent Tony Elliott Classic presented by CB Fabricating with a sense of excitement and expectation. Ferns has performed exceptionally well at Anderson Speedway in recent trips. She began her 2024 racing season with a third place finish in the Glen Niebel Classic at Anderson Speedway. She had two top three finishes in three races at Anderson Speedway in 2023 along with three top ten’s and one top five in three races at Anderson in 2022. With only two races left in the 2024 season, both at tracks Ferns historically runs well at, her only expectation is to show up and win now that she fully knows that she is capable enough to do so.
