Rain Puts Patrick Sheltra On Front Row At Toledo Speedway

Topics:  Patrick Sheltra, Northwest Ohio Ford Dealers 200

Chris Knight
Sheltra Motorsports
September 11, 2010

“Team’s Season Of Hard Work And Endless Efforts Allows Sheltra To Be Credited As Pole Sitter”

TOLEDO, Ohio (September 11, 2010) - - For the first time in his ARCA Racing Series (ARS) presented by RE/MAX and Menards career, Patrick Sheltra will lead the field to the green flag in tomorrow’s Northwest Ohio Ford Dealers 200 after Mother Nature washed out Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell.

Sheltra, driving the No. 60 PatrickSheltra.com / Ferguson Pipe Dodge Charger for Sheltra Motorsports will be credited as the pole sitter for the 1,310 race held for the 57-year tour as he currently sits atop of the ARCA Racing Series championship owners standings tied with fellow Cunningham Motorsports owner Briggs Cunningham and their pilot Tom Hessert.

However, with the 24-year old’s back-to-back wins at the Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield) and Chicagoland Speedway compared to Hessert’s lone win at Iowa Speedway allows the Indiantown, Florida native to win the tie-breaker as to being crowned the number one starter of the 17th race of the season.

Earlier Saturday, Sheltra and the rest of the ARCA Racing Series teams participated in a rain-shortened practice session with the No. 60 Dodge Charger mounting the 12th fastest time overall. Despite the lack of practice, the team led by veteran crew chief Jon Wolfe is confident about the ability to attract their third win of the season Sunday.

“Starting at the front definitely helps us out in a lot of ways,” said Sheltra, who will start on the front-row for the second time in his ARCA career tomorrow. “We were improving the car tremendously in practice. We made a series of adjustments and were on our way back out to the track when the rain began to fall and unfortunately Mother Nature decided to stick around for the rest of the day. The car is good. We are a lot better this weekend than we were in May. Our goal tomorrow though will be to lead the first lap and gain five bonus points in the championship race. From there it will be keeping our nose clean and our No. 60 up front and hopefully win our third race of the year!”

Overall, Toledo Speedway has been a decent track for the fan-favorite Sheltra. In his prior seven starts, Sheltra has thundered to two top-fives and four top-10 finishes including dueling with friend Matt Carter in 2008 for their shot at their first career ARCA victory. Sheltra would come up short, just by a nose.

In the bid to being called the 2010 ARCA Racing Series champion, Sheltra and Hessert are tied for first with Craig Goess Jr., just five markers behind in third. Nine-time ARCA Racing Series champion Frank Kimmel is 50 points in the arrears in fourth with Mikey Kile trailing by 140 credits in fifth.

Before turning his attention to the 1,310 race held for the 57-year tour, Sheltra will be a guest on Inside ARCA beginning at 11:30 a.m. live on ARCARacing.com. He will also sign autographs for the race fans on Sunday, September 12th from 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. along the Toledo Speedway frontstretch

Multiple cost-effective marketing partnership packages are still available for Toledo Speedway and the remainder of the 2010 ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR seasons for Patrick Sheltra. Let Sheltra Motorsports show you how to find victory lane in more ways than one! For additional information on how to be apart of our winning organization, please contact Brandon Hinson (brandon@patricksheltra.com) or email marketing@patricksheltra.com.

Entering Toledo, Sheltra has 82 ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards starts to his credit with three career victories at Salem (Ind.) Speedway (April 2009), the Illinois State Fairgrounds (August 2010) and Chicagoland Speedway (August 2010). During his ARCA tenure, Sheltra has accumulated 18 top-fives and posted 34 top-10 finishes. A second place qualifying effort at Chicagoland Speedway (August 2010) is Sheltra’s best time trials effort to date. He has controlled the ARCA field nine times for 273 laps.

The Northwest Ohio Ford Dealers 200 (200 laps / 100 miles) is the 17th of 20 events on the 2010 ARCA Racing Series schedule. The 68th 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, September 12. The race will not be televised nationally but event coverage including live timing and scoring throughout the weekend will be available through the BAS Racing Network in conjunction with the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com presented by ARCANation.com. For the first time at Toledo Speedway, the anticipated thriller will be available locally on television through the Buckeye CableSystem Sports Network (BCSN). All times are local.

Local radio outlets airing BAS’s exclusive coverage of the Northwest Ohio Ford Dealers 200 include: Eagle 99.1 (WFRO-FM, Fremont, Ohio); Eagle 93.7 (WQIO-FM, Mount Vernon, Ohio) and FM100 Talks 100.1 (WNUY-FM, Fort Wayne, Ind.), WIZE 1340 AM (WIZE-AM, Springfield, Ohio); and 980 WONE (WONE-AM, Dayton, Ohio).

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.

Tweet with Patrick Sheltra on Twitter (@patricksheltra) at twitter.com/patricksheltra.com.

About Sheltra Motorsports:

Sheltra Motorsports (sheltramotorsports.com) is a three-tier professional Motorsports organization 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 Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards (No. 60) and a limited schedule in the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The team is headquartered in Indiantown, Florida with additional operations in Richmond, Indiana and Mooresville, North Carolina.

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TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:
NAME: Chris Knight, Sheltra Motorsports
PHONE: 239.834.9797 or 239.214.1083
EMAIL: chris@patricksheltra.com