Patrick Sheltra, No. 12 Racegear.com Chevrolet Silverado EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 Fast Facts

Topics:  Patrick Sheltra, EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200, Andy Belmont Racing

Chris Knight
Sheltra Motorsports
October 24, 2007

Patrick Sheltra, Andy Belmont Racing,
No. 12 Racegear.com Chevrolet Silverado

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race No. 22,
EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200,
Atlanta Motor Speedway , Hampton , Georgia

Race Information: Event: EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 Saturday, October 27 at 1:00 p.m. Local Time Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) Qualifying: Saturday, October 27 at 9:45 a.m. Local Time Track Length: 1.5-mile paved-oval.

Welcome To NASCAR: Fresh off a successful rookie campaign in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, 21-year old Patrick Sheltra will make the next major move in his Motorsports career by competing in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway in a truck prepared by well-known and respected ARCA owner Andy Belmont.

How Did Your Season Go?: Indiantown, Florida’s Patrick Sheltra invades the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with impressive credentials from the ARCA RE/MAX Series tour in 2007. Hailing from the dirt, Sheltra earned the nickname “Mr. Consistency” with his very consistent finishes in ARCA which awarded Sheltra with two top-five finishes and five top-10 finishes en route to a seventh place finish in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Championship Awards standings.

Welcome Aboard: Andy Belmont Racing (ABR) and Patrick Sheltra welcome Racegear.com on board as the title sponsor of the team’s No. 12 Chevrolet Silverado for Saturday’s event. Racegear.com is a full-service NASCAR news site that includes original news stories, opinion columns and comments from readers on each story. Racegear.com also runs a NASCAR merchandise web site, store.racegear.com, which features more than 2,000 unique NASCAR items.

Thanks For Coming!: In addition to Racegear.com, ABR and Sheltra welcome CP Concrete Products, US Construction, Indiantown Marina, Palm Beach Grading (PBG) and Continental Fire & Safety on board as associate sponsors for the 22nd NCTS event of the season.

The Qualifying Pressure Is Off: With 36 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams pre-entered for the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200, Sheltra and ABR are guaranteed a starting position for the race. The team will focus on Sheltra adapting to the track during the first practice session before turning all concentration on race setup.

Surrounded By Friends: Patrick Sheltra won’t be heading into this weekend’s activities without any friends as he is one of five drivers entered for Saturday’s race that have competed in at least one ARCA RE/MAX Series race this season. Sheltra joins Josh Wise (No. 00), Justin Marks (No. 03), Chad McCumbee (No. 8) and Brian Scott (No. 16) who have all advanced their resume to NASCAR. Both Sheltra and Marks who are close friends will make their inaugural NCTS debut at the extremely fast 1.5-mile oval this weekend.

Did You Know?: Despite his many years as a driver and owner in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series and ARCA RE/MAX Series, Saturday’s race from AMS will mark the first time that ABR and Andy Belmont has competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Looking Ahead To ‘08: Patrick Sheltra plans to return to the ARCA RE/MAX Series for a full sophomore season with the intent to run a limited NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule consisting of seven races which would allow the promising driver to retain his rookie status as the organization hopes to soar ahead to a full NCTS schedule in 2009.

Andy Belmont Racing, Atlanta Motor Speedway Pre-Race Quotes:
Patrick Sheltra, driver of the No. 12 Racegear.com Chevrolet:

On Atlanta : “I am very excited about the opportunity that has been given to me this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. I’m still in a little bit of shock that this is happening, but I’m very excited about making my transition to NASCAR. Atlanta is a very fast place so I plan to take it easy and let our truck come to us before we make any drastic moves to the front.”

On Andy Belmont: “I cannot say enough about Andy and his wife Jennifer. I never will be able to thank them enough for the opportunity they have given me. Andy had a very successful season in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and I just want to make them both proud as they expand their organization to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.”

On His Sponsors: “We have some terrific sponsors onboard with us for Atlanta this weekend. I’m very appreciative for all of them supporting me and the entire Andy Belmont Racing team as we plan to make our 2007 NASCAR debut together this weekend. Our primary goal is to go out there and run good in the race, but I just want to make sure we continue to give our sponsors the exposure they are looking for both on and off the track. Without them this weekend’s race would not be possible and for that I am forever grateful.”

On His Goals: “As a team we have not really set any goals for ourselves. We know we are in the show, so it’s just about making the truck go fast during the race. If we are in a position to run in the top-15 then we are going to do that. If we are in a position to finish in the top-25, we’ll take it. It’s about completing all 200 miles on Saturday and I plan to do just that.”

Andy Belmont Racing, Atlanta Motor Speedway Pre-Race Quotes:
Andy Belmont, owner of the No. 12 Racegear.com Chevrolet:

On Joining The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: “We’re very excited about our newest challenge in NASCAR and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. I’ve stepped out of the driver’s seat with the intent to grow this organization to the top. We had a very successful ARCA season with Dominick Casola driving and now the opportunity has been presented to us here in the NCTS. We plan on making the best of it, there is no question we have a big learning curve ahead of us.”

On Patrick Sheltra: “I’ve watched Patrick all year in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and he impressed me. He reminds me of myself when I first started out racing, he stands in the gas and I know that Patrick has the talent and ability to become a successful NASCAR driver. We are very delighted to have him represent our team and sponsors this weekend at AMS. This is a building block for our future.”

The EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 (130 laps/200.2 miles) is the 22nd of 25 races on the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule. Practice begins Friday, October 25 with an hour and fifteen (12:00pm-1:15pm) practice session planned. A half-hour (1:30pm-2:00pm) rookie practice session has also been set in the schedule. A final “Happy Hour” (2:20pm-3:20pm) practice session is also set for Friday afternoon. Bud pole qualifying is set for Saturday, October 26 set to commence at 9:45am. The race will be broadcasted live on the SPEED channel on Saturday beginning with the pre-race show at 12:30pm with the main event immediately following beginning at 1:00pm. MRN will handle the airwaves starting at 12:30pm. The race will also be available via Sirius satellite radio channel 128 also launching at 12:30pm. All times are local. TruckSeries.com will also provide extensive at track coverage beginning Friday.

Fast Links:

Driver: Patrick Sheltra on the web: PatrickSheltra.com.

Team: Andy Belmont Racing on the web: AndyBelmont.com.

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MEDIA CONTACT:

NAME: Chris Knight, Andy Belmont Racing, Sheltra Motorsports

PHONE: 239.834.9797

EMAIL: knight849@aol.com