FERNS LEADS WIRE-TO-WIRE TO CAPTURE JAMES / O’CONNOR MEMORIAL

Salem, Indiana – September 7, 2024 - Taylor Ferns picked up a popular victory in Saturday night’s 65th running of the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers Joe James / Pat O’Connor Memorial at Salem Speedway. Ferns led wire-to-wire for her first career 500 Sprint Car Tour victory.

It was the first time non-winged sprint cars had competed at Salem Speedway since 2010. It was also the first time the Joe James / Pat O’Connor Memorial had been contested at Salem Speedway since 2020. Indianapolis Raceway Park had played host to the event the past two seasons.

Ferns got the jump at the start of the 50-lap feature from her pole starting position. Ferns was trailed closely by Kody Swanson and Davey Hamilton Jr. for most of the race. The duo ran nose-to-tail for the first 40 laps. Swanson was able to get alongside Ferns on numerous occasions but was unable to make a pass. Ferns pulled away the final ten laps and built a 0.964 cushion over Swanson at the checkered flag.

Following Swanson was Hamilton Jr., Bobby Santos III, and Jackson Macenko rounding out the top five. Swanson was the night’s Fast Qualifier (15.734).

Ferns becomes the first woman to score a Joe James / Pat O’Connor Memorial victory and is the fourth different winner in six 500 Sprint Car Tour events in 2024. She now cements her name alongside former race winners of the likes of AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, and Tony Stewart

“I knew tire wear was gonna come into play at some point, so I didn’t wanna use up my stuff early in the race” explained Ferns in victory lane. “My game plan was to try to maintain pace. I lost my brakes, but here you can get away with. I was using them a little to settle down the car. It got a little hairy there when I came up on lapped traffic. I was determined that I wasn’t gonna lose this race.

“I know at the end of the day hard work pays off it did tonight. I still feel like we have a lot more to prove and a lot more races to win. Hopefully this is the turning of the tide.”

Feature (50 laps): 1. 55-Taylor Ferns; 2. 33-Kody Swanson; 3. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr.; 4. 22-Bobby Santos III; 5. 24-Jackson Macenko; 6. 80-Billy Wease; 7. 1-Dakoda Armstrong; 8. 67-Kyle O’Gara; 9. 53-Justin Harper; 10. 19-Joe Liguori; 11. 31-Tim Creech; 12. 4-Donnie Adams Jr.; 13. 74-Tony Main; 14. 18-Shane Butler; DNS 40-Natan Byrd