Sheltra Motorsports; Patrick Sheltra Return To Toledo Looking To Seal The Deal

Sheltra Motorsports; Patrick Sheltra Return To Toledo Looking To Seal The Deal

Topics: Patrick Sheltra, Hantz Group 200

Sheltra Motorsports; Patrick Sheltra Return To Toledo Looking To Seal The Deal

Chris Knight
Sheltra Motorsports
October 9, 2008

TOLEDO, Ohio (October 9, 2008) - - Feeling refreshed off his thrilling top-five finish in last week’s ARCA RE/MAX Series event at Talladega Superspeedway, sophomore driver Patrick Sheltra returns to Toledo Speedway looking to seal the deal in the final race of the season in Sunday’s Hantz Group 200 by Belle Tire & Federated Car Care.

In May, Sheltra blossomed into the spotlight by taking his family-owned team to the front and was in contention for win number one before having to settle for second in his only third attempt at the tricky Toledo Speedway. With two top-10s in three starts at the Northern Ohio race course, Sheltra looks to cap off his second season of competition with a win highlighted by a positive end to a record-setting season.

Entering this weekend’s race, Sheltra has been noted as a sleeper and with two runner up finishes already tallied on his resume this season, the Indiantown, Florida native is ready to celebrate in victory lane.

“Toledo Speedway is a magical place,” said Sheltra, who enters the race with eight top-10 finishes under his belt this season. “I really didn’t care for the track after my first race here last May but we really found something here last October and after our awesome run here a couple months ago, I’ve been counting down the days to come back.”

Sheltra added, “Not only am I excited, but the entire team is feeling really good about the weekend. We all think that this is our weekend. It won’t be easy though. There is some stout cars entered and we’ll have to race smart and do what we did in May, if we’re even going to have a shot at the win. We’re bringing the same car back, so I’m feeling really good.”

Earlier this week, the team announced a new marketing partner who has leaped aboard the Grace Sheltra owned team for season finale. Environmental Protection Services and Engineering Concepts (EPSEC Corp.) will adorn the hood and the deck lid of the team’s No. 60 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS for Sunday’s festivities.

Environmental Protection Services and Engineering Concepts (EPSEC Corp.) is a full service contracting company with skills and experience to manage, build and support a wide variety of project disciplines. EPSEC Corp. strives to perform beyond excellent services that excels in craftsmanship, remains in budget, delivers on time, and stays current and competitive within the industry; always working with the customers’ best interest in mind.

“We’re excited about this new partnership with Environmental Protection Services and Engineering Concepts,” sounded Sheltra, who also hosted a second place finish on the dirt at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in September. “We’re looking at ending the season on a high note and how awesome it would be to take Environmental Protection Services and Engineering Concepts to victory lane in their very first race.”

Crew Chief John Hayden has elected to bring Sheltra chassis number 4156 to Toledo Speedway this weekend. The primary machine will be the same Chevrolet that Sheltra maneuvered to the second position in May and a ninth place finish earlier this year at Iowa Speedway. It also collected an eighth place finish at Toledo Speedway last October.

“We acquired this car from Richard Childress Racing and it has been a good addition to our stable,” noted Sheltra. “Other than Cayuga where we got taken out and a motor failure at Berlin Raceway, this piece has finished in the top-10. We were running in the top-10 when both incidents occurred at Cayuga and Berlin , so we know that this car has kept its remarkable track record. Hopefully, if all the cards fall our way, we can take it to victory circle for our first time Sunday afternoon.”

With his impressive restrictor plate performance last weekend, Sheltra propelled himself to sixth in the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship standings sitting 30 points ahead of his closest competitor. Knowing that a win would be a nice way to cap off the season, Sheltra admits he’ll probably be point racing too.

“Believe me if we can win the thing, we’re not going to hold anything back, but if we can’t, we’re going to try to finish strong. We’ve had an uphill climb in the standings here lately and really need to finish sixth. Whatever happens though, I’m extremely proud of the Sheltra Motorsports team for all their hard work this season and even more appreciative to all of our marketing partners for their commitment to our team this season. We didn’t win the championship, but we had a good year and we’ll have another shot at the title next year!”

Entering Toledo, Sheltra has 45 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts to his credit with a career best finish of second at Toledo Speedway (May 2008) and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (September 2008) with three additional top-five finishes (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). An eighth place qualifying effort at Kansas Speedway (April 2008) is Sheltra’s best time trials efforts to date. He has controlled the ARCA field three times for 17 laps.

The Hantz Group 200 Belle Tire & Federated Auto Care (100 miles/200 laps) is the 21st of 21 events on the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The 64th trip to Toledo Speedway is a two-day show. Practice begins Saturday, October 11 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m. ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. The field will take the green flag for the final time in 2008 on Sunday, October 12 shortly after 2:00 p.m. The race will air live on SPEED beginning at 2:00 p.m. Additional race coverage including live timing and scoring will be available online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.

For further input on Environmental Protection Services and Engineering Concepts, please logon to Epsec.org

For more on Patrick Sheltra, please visit PatrickSheltra.com.

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 NASCAR. 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