USAC standout Ferns joins Abel Motorsports for oval Indy NXT races

Abel Motorsports will welcome USAC midget, sprint car and Silver Crown talent Taylor Ferns to its Indy NXT team for a four-race oval program. She joins the three full-time drivers led by Jacob Abel, Yuven Sundaramoorthy and John Mason.

Ferns will make her debut at Iowa Speedway and return for the races at World Wide Technology Raceway, the Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Speedway.

“I’m so grateful to Abel Motorsports and everyone who helped put this together,” Ferns said. “Excited is an understatement. Indy NXT has been on my radar for several years and I’m so happy to have it come to fruition, especially with partners like Bradford Allen believing in me and giving me the resources to fulfill a life-long dream. I know the team has been strong on ovals, with Jacob (Abel) taking pole at Iowa last year, so I know we will have a strong effort.”

Team owner Bill Abel has seen his single-car team undergo meaningful expansion during the offseason to add rising stars from all forms of racing.

“Taylor is a true racer,” he said. “She understands what’s involved in transitioning from Silver Crown and sprint cars to the Indy NXT car, and I’m confident that she’ll do well.

"It would be great if her experience re-opens the pipeline from USAC to this form of racing -- we’ve seen drivers be successful in the very recent past. I know we’ll be able to transfer a good deal of knowledge about the car to her, but I’m sure we’ll learn a lot from her as well. We’re looking forward to getting her started on a testing program and see how things turn out -- I’m sure she’ll do really well.”