Kentucky Speedway Equals Important Race For Patrick Sheltra

Kentucky Speedway Equals Important Race For Patrick Sheltra

Topics: Patrick Sheltra, Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150

Kentucky Speedway Equals Important Race For Patrick Sheltra

Chris Knight
Sheltra Motorsports
May 6, 2009

““Buffalo Wings & Rings Onboard For Remainder Of 2009”

SPARTA, Kentucky (May 6, 2009) - - Kentucky Speedway is the site of the next venue on the 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series (ARS) schedule and for junior year driver Patrick Sheltra, he is well aware that Saturday’s Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 is one of the most crucial races of the year.

The Sparta, Kentucky track also signifies the location where Sheltra in 2007 recorded his first career ARCA top-10 finish. Since then, Sheltra has competed in three more races and captured one more additional top-10 finish in last year’s spring event but Sheltra is approaching Saturday’s race looking to score his second victory of the season in his team’s backyard.

Sheltra Motorsports, based in Western, Kentucky considers the 1.5-mile speed plant as it’s hometown track and Sheltra, the Indiantown, Florida native wants to deliver in more ways than one for his team under the lights Saturday night.

“I enjoy racing at Kentucky Speedway,” said Sheltra, who finished seventh in last year’s Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150. “The mile-and-a-half tracks should be one of our strengths this year so I’m looking forward to getting on the track Saturday.”

The track is also the home-base for Sheltra’s newest marketing partner Buffalo Wings & Rings whose headquarters sits just 45 minutes from the famed Bluegrass track.

“We’ll have a lot of support this weekend, and that’s just an extra boost for any driver,” sounded Sheltra, who spent his off-weekend vacationing in the Bahamas. “We’re proud and excited to have Buffalo Wings & Rings on-board for the rest of the year. Their support and belief in this race team is unbelievable. We took them to victory lane in their first appearance with us at Salem; I want to do it again.”

The 22-year old rising star also looks to the fifth race of the season to get his impressive season back on track. In the most recent race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sheltra qualified a stout 11th but battled overheating issues throughout the ARCA RE/MAX 250. After battling back from 35th, Sheltra charged to fourth before falling out of the event. The 33rd place finish dropped Sheltra from first to fourth in points. Sheltra however knows it’s early in the game and his team can recover from the misfortune.

“I’ve been preaching all along, I’m not really concerned about points right now,” added Sheltra. “It’s still real early in the game and we will bounce back. We’re going to have some trouble just like everyone else. We just have to recover better than everyone else and hopefully we’ll be the champions come October.”

Crew Chief John Hayden has elected to use Sheltra Motorsports Chassis No. 13 this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. This is the same piece the team raced with at Michigan International Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway and Chicagoland Speedway last season. The former Penske Racing ride has two top-10 finishes including a best of sixth at Michigan in three starts. It will be run for just the fourth time in Sheltra’s career. Chassis number 11 will serve as the team’s back-up automobile. That former Penske Racing entry is the same automobile that Sheltra competed with at both Pocono Raceway events and in practice at Nashville Superspeedway last year.

Entering Kentucky, Sheltra has 50 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts to his credit with one career victory at Salem Speedway (April 2009). Sheltra also holds second place efforts at Rockingham Speedway (April 2009), Toledo Speedway (May 2008) and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (September 2008) with four additional top-five finishes, (fourth) at Toledo Speedway (October 2008), (fifth) at Talladega Superspeedway (October 2008), (third) at Illinois State Fairgrounds (August 2007) and (fourth) at Berlin Raceway (July 2007) while holding additional top-10s at Nashville Superspeedway (August 2008), Michigan International Speedway (June 2008), Kentucky Speedway (May 2008), Kansas Speedway (April 2008), Iowa Speedway (April 2008), Kentucky Speedway (June 2007), DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (September 2007) and Toledo Speedway (October 2007). 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.

In addition to running a full ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule this year, Sheltra will also run a limited dirt schedule and also plans to run selected NASCAR Nationwide Series events with his Whitesville, Kentucky based Sheltra Motorsports team.

The Drive Smart! Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 (100 laps / 150 miles) is the fifth of 22 events on the 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The 18th ever ARCA race at Kentucky Speedway is a one-day show. Practice begins Saturday, May 9 with a two hour practice session planned from 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is set for later in the day slated to begin at 4:00 p.m. The event will take the green flag that evening shortly after 8:00 p.m. The event will not be televised but the race will be broadcasted live through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.

For more on Patrick Sheltra, 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 22-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 .

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TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:

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