Patrick Sheltra Expecting Powerful Run In Springfield

Topics:  Patrick Sheltra, Allen Crowe 100

Chris Knight
Sheltra Motorsports
August 16, 2007

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Thursday, August 16, 2007) - - Welcome to my turf!

Patrick Sheltra is no stranger to the dirt, but he is a stranger to the dirt in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. But as the sanction heads to Illinois State Fairgrounds this weekend, Sheltra is being considered a sleeper and many would not be surprised if Sheltra rolled his machine into victory lane Sunday.

Over the past two months, Sheltra has showed sheer consistency. Propelled with a career best finish of fourth at Berlin Raceway in July, Sheltra has scored four straight top-20 finishes including three of them in the top-15. With his respectable runs, Sheltra has moved to sixth in the championship standings and he’s looking for more.

“I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about going to the dirt this weekend, said Sheltra. “Finally, we’re heading to a track that I know I can race on and be competitive. My Sheltra Motorsports team has prepared me an awesome racecar for this weekend and we hope to turn some heads with our performance on Sunday.”

With the season slowly beginning to wind down, Sheltra knows that Springfield and DuQuoin, the two dirt races this season provide an excellent chance for his season to further come to life with hopes of positioning himself in contention not only for the top-five but a substantial gain in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Rookie-of-the-Year standings.

“Michael (McDowell) is having a great season and he is in contention for the championship. Under ARCA rules, you cannot win both titles in the same season, and with us making strides in the rookie division, we have to take every position we can get and be in the hunt should Michael pull off the championship. We took home ARCA rookie-of-the-race honors for the first time last weekend and that was a great feeling for our entire team.”

Speaking of his team, Sheltra’s endless boasts have kept the team pumped and ready for this weekend. “After the last couple of runs, the team has really connected. They are feeling good about running competitively. The dirt races provides us the best chance this season to win races and believe me, we’re planning on leaving our mark.”

Before turning all of his concentration towards ARCA, Sheltra will run on the dirt on Friday and Saturday night at Brownstown Speedway in Brownstown , Indiana . The Indiantown, Florida native looks to the quarter-mile, semi-banked dirt oval to score back-to-back wins. Friday night's program will be highlighted by a $2,500 to win unsanctioned event.

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will then invade Brownstown on Saturday night, August 18 for the 28th Annual running of the Jackson 100. The 100-lap feature event will pay $15,000 to the winner on Saturday and the cameras of SPEED will be on hand to tape all of the exciting, wheel-to-wheel action for broadcasting later this year.

“It’s going to be a very busy weekend, sounded Sheltra. “I’m used to it though. It keeps me thinking of racing all the time and I think it will prepare me even more for Sunday’s race. Three wins in three days would mean a lot to me and that’s a goal I am trying to achieve.”

Continuing their sponsorship of Sheltra's No. 60 entry this weekend is CP Concrete Products, US Construction, SawHorse Outfitters, Brady Ranch and FloraGanics.

The Allen Crowe 100 (100 laps/100 miles) is the 16 of 23 races on the 2007 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The 25th ARCA race held at Illinois State Fairgrounds is a one day show. Practice begins Sunday, August 19 with an hour practice (9:00am-10:00am) session planned. ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying is set for later in the morning at 11:00am Local Time. The event will take the green flag shortly after 1:00pm Local Time. The race will not be televised but additional race coverage can be found online at arcaracing.com

For more on Patrick Sheltra, please visit PatrickSheltra.com

Patrick Sheltra, Sheltra Motorsports , Illinois State Fairgrounds, Notes of Interest:

· Sheltra sits sixth in the ARCA championship standings and third in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Rookie-of-the-Year standings despite missing the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in February.

· Patrick Sheltra will make his 17th career ARCA RE/MAX Series start on Saturday. In his previous 16 starts, Sheltra has collected one top-five at Berlin Raceway (July 2007), while holding an additional top-10 at Kentucky Speedway in June.

· Patrick Sheltra is a native of Indiantown , Florida

· In last week’s TOYOTA ARCA 150, Patrick Sheltra carried the honors of ARCA Rookie-of-the-Race for the first time this season.

MEDIA CONTACT:
NAME: Chris Knight, Sheltra Motorsports
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: Knight849@aol.com