| Patrick Sheltra Turns Away From New Jersey With
Top-10 Finish
MILLVILLE, New Jersey (September 15, 2009) - - A couple
of minor off-course excursions may have cost Patrick Sheltra
a lead lap finish in Sunday’s The South Jersey Building
Trades 150 but it wasn’t enough to keep Sheltra from
capturing a solid seventh place finish in just his second
career road course race at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
After qualifying a noteworthy eighth on Saturday afternoon,
the Sheltra team buckled down on strategy entering Sunday’s
event.
From the drop of the green flag, Sheltra quickly throttled
forward through the competitive field and had moved into
the top-five inside the first five laps complete.
Setting safely in the top-five, Sheltra had moved into
the second position when the first full-course caution waived
approaching lap 30. A trip to pit road for four tires and
fuel saw the Sheltra Motorsports gang bolt off a brilliant
pit stop which put Sheltra back solidly in the top-10 with
the urge to move back to the front.
On the restart, Sheltra quickly began mowing down his competition
but a daring move on the track would cost Sheltra several
positions as the No. 60 Buffalo Wings & Rings Chevrolet
Monte Carlo SS went for a quick spin.
Quickly refiring his machine, Sheltra would fall to the
last car of the lead lap. Obviously discouraged with his
move, Sheltra was driving extra hard to try and catch the
competition ahead of him before another slip would send
Sheltra off-course but quickly escape the dirt and rejoin
the field.
Many laps later, the leaders would catch Sheltra and the
Indiantown, Florida native would do an excellent job but
his in-experience at road course racing would prove to be
no match for the pros and the leaders would out-brake the
Buffalo Wings & Rings Racing machine and erase Sheltra
from the lead lap. Vying for the lucky dog, the avid hunter
would find himself battling with nine-time ARCA RE/MAX Series
champion Frank Kimmel for the Lucky Dog award.
Despite a gallant effort to catch Kimmel, just the second
yellow flag of the day would come out inside 10 laps remaining
meaning that Kimmel was ineligible for the Lucky Dog putting
the duo on the same lap.
A call by Hayden brought the car down pit road for four
tires and a splash of gas proved to be the right one as
on the restart, Sheltra was easily able to overtake the
No. 44 Ford Fusion and move into the seventh position. Over
the final four laps, the No. 81 of Craig Goess tried to
overtake the third-year ARCA competitor but Sheltra was
able to fend off the challenge and collect his eighth top-10
finish of the year.
“I messed up, I was just trying to hard,” said
Sheltra after the race. “I apologized to my guys but
the bright side is we were still able to walk away with
a top-10 finish. Realistically, we had a fifth to seventh
place car, so I’m pretty happy to take away a good
effort on a road course. A little redemption from last year’s
race at NJMP too.”
With his run on Sunday, Sheltra was able to move up into
the seventh position in the ARCA RE/MAX Series standings
and now sits just 135 markers from entering the top-five.
“It’s without a doubt realistic that we can
finish inside the top-five. We just need these next three
races to go our way.”
Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is a return trip to
Salem Speedway. Sheltra is the most recent race winner at
the half-mile oval. In April, Sheltra answered his return
to ARCA RE/MAX Series competition after a vicious incident
in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway with
his first career victory in his 48th career ARCA start.
Exiting New Jersey, Sheltra has 64 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts
to his credit with one career victory at Salem Speedway
(April 2009). During his ARCA tenure, Sheltra has accumulated
10 top-fives and posted 22 top-10 finishes. 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, the Sheltra Motorsports team
and marketing partnership opportunities 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 52 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 |
