| ARCA Point’s Leader Patrick
Sheltra Rockets To Third In Qualifying At MIS
“Sheltra Ties Career-Best Qualifying Position;
Nabs Speedway Best Run”
BROOKLYN, Michigan (June 10, 2010) - - ARCA Racing Series
(ARS) presented by RE/MAX and Menards point’s leader
Patrick Sheltra qualified third for tomorrow’s Racing
for Wildlife 200 at Michigan International Speedway (MIS).
The qualification run also awarded Sheltra five bonus points
based on ARCA’s qualifying procedure.
Sheltra was also one of only four drivers to break into
the 38-second bracket and the Indiantown, Florida native
was able to better his practice run from earlier in the
day.
The 24-year old rising star elected to only run one of
two allotted laps in Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying after
negotiating his No. 60 Recycling Services / Ferguson Pipe
Toyota Camry to a time of 38.691 seconds at 186.090 miles
per hour. At the time, Sheltra went to second on the overall
qualifying board only to be bumped by eventual pole sitter
Craig Goess.
The lap in the Grace Sheltra owned automobile was over
three and a half tenths faster than the organization’s
second fastest time in practice Thursday morning.
Sheltra, the only driver to finish in the top-10 in all
seven ARCA Racing Series events this season shattered his
previous best non-rained out qualifying run at Michigan
International Speedway of 19th back in 2008. Last year,
the Mooresville, North Carolina-based operation started
seventh after time trials were rained out due to inclement
weather.
“We would have liked to have been on the pole, but
we’ll take third and look at the bigger picture tomorrow,
winning the race,” offered Sheltra, who will make
his fifth start at MIS Friday evening. “That was the
fastest lap we have turned at Michigan this year, so we
really can’t complain. I want to thank my guys, Triad
and our marketing partners for their support and assistance
this weekend.”
Sheltra continued, “One of the big keys to Michigan
is clean air and starting in third, we should have plenty
of that. I’m real happy with our Toyota program this
year and it’s all Toyotas in the first three spots,
so it’s bound to be a good show. We here to win but
we’re also keeping the bigger picture in mind. We
want to leave here with another good finish that keeps our
team in the spotlight.”
The Racing for Wildlife 200 marks the fifth time in Sheltra’s
career where he will pilot a Toyota Camry in an ARCA event.
The team has run two races thus far in 2010 with the Japanese
nameplate at Texas Motor Speedway and most recently last
weekend at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The team rebounded from
being collected in an early race altercation at Texas to
finish seventh and posted their fourth top-five run of the
year last Saturday at Pocono by crossing the line fourth.
Justin Marks who is now 30 points behind Sheltra in the
ARCA Racing Series championship chase netted the 12th fastest
time in qualifying, with Venturini Motorsports’ Mikey
Kile who is third in the overall championship rundown grabbed
the outside pole for tomorrow’s contest. With Kile’s
effort, he chopped five points off his deficit to Sheltra
in the point standings now sitting 90 markers behind the
ARCA pro. Sheltra now has 1670 points overall, compared
to 1665 markers earned entering the garage area this morning.
Cost-effective marketing partnerships are still available
for Michigan International Speedway this weekend and for
the remainder of the 2010 ARCA Racing Series season. For
additional information, please contact marketing@patricksheltra.com.
Sheltra has 74 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 14 top-fives and posted 29 top-10
finishes. A third place qualifying effort at Rockingham
(N.C.) Speedway (April 2009) and Michigan International
Speedway (June 2010) is Sheltra’s best time trials
effort to date. He has controlled the ARCA field six times
for 148 laps.
The Racing for Wildlife 200 (100 laps / 200 miles) is the
eighth of 20 events on the 2010 ARCA Racing Series schedule.
The 29th ARCA race at Michigan International Speedway is
a two-day show. The event will take the green flag on Friday,
June 11 shortly after 5:00 p.m. The event will air live
on SPEED. Additional race coverage including live timing
and scoring throughout the week 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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