| Patrick Sheltra Scores Podium Finish At Pocono
Raceway
“Mr. Showtime Climbs To Fifth In Points”
LONG POND, Pennsylvania (June 8, 2009) - - Veteran ARCA
RE/MAX Series (ARS) driver Patrick Sheltra stated he wanted
to have a stellar performance in the Pocono ARCA 200 at
Pocono Raceway. A stellar performance is exactly what he
delivered with a third place finish in Saturday’s
seventh ARCA race of the season.
Prior to Saturday, Sheltra had only been able to muster
a best finish of 11th but coming off a bad race at Toledo
Speedway a few weeks prior Sheltra was bound and determined
to end the bad luck streak and return his Sheltra Motorsports
team to form.
Bringing back the same No. 60 Buffalo Wings & Rings
Dodge Charger the team competed with last year at Pocono
Raceway, Sheltra and his Sheltra Motorsports bunch led by
former ARCA driver John Hayden had high hopes for the first
of two Pocono Raceway events this season.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature would take it’s toll
on the series yet again as constant rainfall would drench
the Long Pond track Friday and force the postponement of
practice until Saturday morning and completely wash out
qualifying which subsequently would lock Sheltra eighth
on the starting grid based on the team’s 2009 car
owner standings.
Saturday morning brought better weather conditions allowing
the teams to tackle the 2.5-mile speedway for a brief practice
session. Sheltra quickly moved into the top-10 before reporting
to the team that he needed a gear change on his No. 60 machine.
Despite falling out of the top-10 during the switch, Sheltra
propelled himself back into the top-10 and eventually finished
practice in the ninth position.
“The car is good,” said Sheltra. “The
short practice hurt us a little I think but we’ll
continue to get the car better and hope for a good race.”
At the start of the Pocono ARCA 200, Sheltra wasted no
time picking off positions and had clocked into the fifth
position when the yellow flag flew on lap one.
On the restart, Sheltra began powering towards the front
again and found himself in the fourth position before a
tight condition would settle in. The handling woes would
slip Sheltra in the running order. When the first set of
pit stops began approaching half-way, Sheltra was tucked
in the sixth position.
A chassis adjustment, four tires and fuel were the norm
for the Sheltra Motorsports gang with the pit crew performing
an awesome pit stop which allowed Sheltra to gain three
positions on the track.
Back to racing, Sheltra continued to flirt with a position
inside the top-five before handling problems would yet again
settle in. Still, Sheltra would not go down without a fight
and continued a strong presence inside the top-six when
the final set of pit stops occurred inside the final 30
markers of the event.
Another solid performance on pit road gained Sheltra positions
on the track with the Indiantown, Florida native holding
fourth in the running order.
On the restart, Sheltra put on a great battle with the
No. 16 of Joey Coulter with the two Floridians swapping
positions back and forth for several laps before Coulter
succumbed to Sheltra’s Buffalo Wings & Rings Racing
machine. Sheltra would pull away from Coulter on the final
lap to cross the start finish line third, locking his first
Pocono podium finish and the team’s best result since
finishing second at Rockingham Speedway in April.
“It wasn’t an easy race,” said Sheltra,
who moved to fifth in points with his performance. “I
had to fight for that one. It was a lot of fun though. We
had a good car, just had a tight condition that we had to
battle over and over again all day long. The guys did a
phenomenal job on pit road. I was real proud of them. I’m
happy for Buffalo Wings & Rings and everyone associated
with this race team. I think we’re back on track.”
The 23-year old phenom added, “I had a great time
racing with Joey Coulter. We raced hard together for a lot
of laps and we never touched. I have a lot of respect for
him and I appreciate that he raced me cleanly."
Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is a trip to Michigan
International Speedway (MIS) for the running of the Racing
for Wildlife 200 on Friday, June 12. The event will be broadcasted
live on SPEED.
Exiting Pocono, Sheltra has 53 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts
to his credit with one career victory at Salem Speedway
(April 2009). Sheltra also holds second place efforts at
Rockingham Speedway (April 2009), Toledo Speedway (May 2008)
and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (September 2008) with
five additional top-five finishes, (third) at Pocono Raceway
(June 2009), (fourth) at Toledo Speedway (October 2008),
(fifth) at Talladega Superspeedway (October 2008), (third)
at Illinois State Fairgrounds (August 2007) and (fourth)
at Berlin Raceway (July 2007) while holding additional top-10s
at Kentucky Speedway (May 2009), Nashville Superspeedway
(August 2008), Michigan International Speedway (June 2008),
Kentucky Speedway (May 2008), Kansas Speedway (April 2008),
Iowa Speedway (April 2008), Kentucky Speedway (June 2007),
DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (September 2007) and Toledo Speedway
(October 2007). A third place qualifying effort at Rockingham
Speedway (April 2009) is Sheltra’s best time trials
efforts to date. He has controlled the ARCA field five times
for 109 laps.
For more on Patrick Sheltra, please visit PatrickSheltra.com.
For additional input on Buffalo Wings & Rings, please
connect to Buffalowingsandrings.com or call 513.831.WING.
About Sheltra Motorsports:
Sheltra Motorsports (sheltramotorsports.com) is a three-tier
Motorsports operation consisting of dirt and asphalt competition.
Patrick Sheltra, a 23-year old native of Indiantown, Florida
competes in the UMP and WoO (Dirt) Series; while also running
a full schedule in the ARCA RE/MAX Series (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 Whitesville, Kentucky.
About Buffalo Wings &
Rings:
Buffalo Wings & Rings is the fastest-growing privately
owned franchised chain of restaurants in the nation serving
Buffalo-style chicken wings, onion rings, burgers, chicken
and salads. Founded in 1988 in Cincinnati, OH, Buffalo Wings
& Rings operates 44 franchised restaurants in the United
States. Buffalo Wings & Rings was ranked the #1 fastest
growing restaurant chain nationwide in the July 2008 issue
of Restaurant Business, and ranked in the top 500 franchises
in the January 2009 issue of Entrepreneur. For more information,
visit www.buffalowingsandrings.com or call 513-831-WING.
TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:
Chris Knight, Sheltra Motorsports
P: 239.834.9797
E: chris@patricksheltra.com
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