Courtesy of the Shelby-Utica Patch

Taylor Ferns, 15, snagged the 2011 USAC Regional Midget Champion title Oct. 15 to continue as the winningest female feature driver in United States Auto Club history.

She won’t get her driver’s license for another three months, but last weekend, Taylor Ferns proved you don’t need a piece of plastic to know how to drive.

At 15 years old, Ferns is the 2011 USAC Regional Midget Champion and the winningest female feature driver in United States Auto Club history.

“I’m really, really, excited about (the RMC championship),” Ferns said. “My team has worked so hard for this. We started off with good luck, then got a string of bad luck, but we were able to turn around and come back in our favor. I’m really excited we could pull it off.”

A Shelby Township resident, Ferns is a sophomore at Lutheran High School North who, when she is not studying to maintain her straight-A average, eats, sleeps and breathes racing.

“Racing is my No. 1 top priority,” Ferns said. “I’m very, very determined and competitive. I love all the competitive energy around me. Buckling in, and putting on the helmet I feel at home. That’s what I love about racing the most.”

Ferns had a 143-point lead heading into the final weekend of the USAC Mopar D1 Midget Series season, and a fifth-place finish in the Alex Pruett Memorial series finale at the Toledo Speedway Oct. 15 wrapped up the series and crowned Ferns the 2011 USAC Regional Midget Champion.

But this title is only the beginning for Ferns.

“My next big goal is moving up to the national level,” she said. “It’s a lot more difficult than the regional level and the competition is a lot different. I’m going to have to work on my consistency and will try to pull off Rookie of the Year.”

Although the racing season slows down in the winter months, it never stops and Ferns only pushes herself harder to train her mind and body for the track.

“My next race is Nov. 19 in California and then I race on Thanksgiving again in California. That’s a big race, and I’m working up to that,” Ferns said.

“Working up” primarily includes working out, with Ferns using the treadmill, elliptical, weights and other muscle toning machines every day after school to stay physically fit.

“Everybody thinks racing is the easiest thing, you sit in car and hit the throttle, but you have to have a lot of upper body strength,” she said. “You have to have your abs in shape and have a lot of stamina.  It’s not as easy as people think. It takes a lot of strength and stamina.”

While Ferns’ ultimate goal is to make it to NASCAR, she’s taking it one race at a time and counting down the days to her 16^th birthday when she’ll be able to move onto the larger tracks and, though it’s not quite as exciting, earn her driver’s license.

And the hardest part about learning to drive a regular car?

“I’m just not used to how slow they go,” Ferns said.