| Patrick “Mr. Showtime” Sheltra Prepared
To Battle In Menards 200
“Florida Native Not Concerned By Deep Start; Focused
On Winning War”
TOLEDO, Ohio (May 22, 2010) - - Despite qualifying 18th
for Sunday’s Menards 200 presented by Federated Car
Care at the Toledo (Oh.) Speedway, Indiantown, Florida native
Patrick Sheltra is confident in the ability of his No. 60
Recycling Services-Buffalo Wings & Rings Dodge Charger
that will propel the Sheltra Motorsports team to their sixth
top-10 finish of the year in as many starts.
During the short hour and a half practice on Saturday afternoon,
Sheltra and crew chief Jon Wolfe focused on the handling
of the Grace Sheltra owned automobile. With the rising talent
reporting a twitchy loose condition, the team made several
adjustments which immensely improved the performance of
the team’s Chrysler nameplate. – Still struggling
with the rotation of his automobile from the center of the
corner the team made additional changes with Sheltra reporting
the changes were definitely a step in the right direction.
Sheltra though finished the lone practice session in the
18th position maneuvering around the half-mile oval in 16.930
seconds at 106.320 miles per hour. Preparing to make his
seventh start at the ARCA owned facility, Sheltra turned
59 laps during the caution-free session.
Unable to put new Hoosier rubber on their machine before
the conclusion of practice, the team would prepare their
pilot for qualifications with a full tank of Sunoco Racing
fuel, a few more minor tweaks on their chassis and four
brand new sticker tires.
In Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell, Sheltra
was the 25th car to make a qualifying attempt. Sheltra laid
down a time of 16.774 seconds in his first lap and picked
up the pace even more on his second lap by posting a run
of 16.629 seconds at 108.245 miles per hour, ironically
landing the team 18th on the starting grid.
Even though Sheltra picked a little over three-tenths of
a second, he will still be forced to start the sixth race
of the season marred mid-pack also known as the “Eye
of the storm” in the 32-car starting field.
“Our No. 60 Recycling Services-Ferguson Pipe-Buffalo
Wings & Rings Dodge Charger is pretty good believe it
or not,” sounded Sheltra. “The guys made some
aggressive changes from practice to qualifying and even
though we picked it up we still found ourselves 18th. I’ll
admit, the field here is incredibly tight this weekend,
which should put on a good show for the fans. However, for
whatever reason, I’ve never been able to qualify real
good here but once the green flag drops for the race –
we’re in the mix and in contention for the win. We’re
looking to prove that once again tomorrow.”
Statically speaking, Sheltra was on target with his comment.
In his three top-10 finishes at Toledo Speedway, Sheltra
has started worse than his 18th place qualifying effort
today. Sheltra started 21st in the fall 2007 before finishing
eighth. A year later Sheltra qualified even deeper in 24th
but muscled his Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS to a stout fourth
place finish. For Sheltra at least, starting in the back
hasn’t always been a downside at Toledo.
One of ARCA’s most popular drivers added, “We
may have lost the battle (in qualifying) but we are not
prepared to lose the war (the race). If there’s any
light with our qualifying run today, Justin (Marks) and
Steve (Arpin) were unable to gain any additional bonus points
for qualifying inside the top-three, so that’s one
less thing we’ll have to worry about going into the
race tomorrow. We’re going to have to use patience
and race the track and be around in the end when it counts
the most.”
All About Flowers, American Concrete, Buffalo Wings &
Rings, CAM 2 Blue Blood Racing Oil, Ferguson Pipe Enterprises
and Sheltra & Son Construction, Inc. will join Recycling
Services as the team’s marketing partners in Sunday’s
anticipated thriller.
Entering Toledo, Sheltra has 72 ARCA Racing Series presented
by RE/MAX and Menards starts to his credit with one career
victory at Salem (Ind.) Speedway (April 2009). During his
ARCA tenure, Sheltra has accumulated 13 top-fives and posted
27 top-10 finishes. A third place qualifying effort at Rockingham
(N.C.) Speedway (April 2009) is Sheltra’s best time
trials efforts to date. He has controlled the ARCA field
six times for 148 laps.
The Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care (200 laps
/ 100 miles) is the sixth of 20 events on the 2010 ARCA
Racing Series schedule. The 67th ARCA race at Toledo Speedway
is a two-day show. An hour and 15 minute on-track autograph
session has been etched in from 12:00 p.m. – 1:15
p.m. on race day. The contest will take the green flag shortly
after 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 23. The race will not be
televised but weekend coverage including live timing and
scoring and a radio broadcast will be available through
the BAS Racing Network in conjunction with the ARCA Racing
Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.
For the latest on Patrick Sheltra, Sheltra Motorsports
and marketing partnership opportunities please visit PatrickSheltra.com.
Join the official Patrick Sheltra fan page on Facebook
by clicking here.
About Sheltra Motorsports:
Sheltra Motorsports (sheltramotorsports.com) is a three-tier
Motorsports operation consisting of dirt and asphalt competition.
Patrick Sheltra, a 24-year old native of Indiantown, Florida
competes in the UMP and WoO (Dirt) Series; while also running
a full schedule in the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX
and Menards (No. 60) and a limited schedule in the NASCAR
Nationwide Series. Sheltra Motorsports ownership is combined
of Richard, Grace and Patrick Sheltra. The team is headquartered
in Indiantown, Florida with additional operations in Richmond,
Indiana and Mooresville, North Carolina.
TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:
Chris Knight, Sheltra Motorsports
P: 239.834.9797
E: chris@patricksheltra.com
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