Patrick Sheltra, No. 60 Ferguson Pipe Dodge ARCA Nashville Fast Facts

Topics:  Patrick Sheltra, Toyota ARCA 150

Chris Knight
Sheltra Motorsports
August 7, 2008

Patrick Sheltra, No. 60 Ferguson Pipe Enterprises-FloraGanics Dodge Charger; TOYOTA ARCA 150 Fast Facts

ARCA RE/MAX Series Race No. 14, TOYOTA ARCA 150 Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon , Tennessee

Race Information: Event: TOYOTA ARCA 150, Saturday, August 9, at 3:30 p.m. Local Time Track: Nashville Superspeedway Qualifying: Saturday, August 9, at 10:30 a.m. Local Time; Track Length: 1.33-mile concrete oval.

Pocono Raceway Recap: Sheltra Motorsports returned to Pocono Raceway last weekend eager to improve on their 33rd place finish in June. Driver Patrick Sheltra qualified 13th but quickly raced his way to the front where the Indiantown, Florida native found himself running third. While running in the top-three, the No. 60 suffered a flat tire which forced Sheltra to make a stop on pit road. Two speeding penalties later, Sheltra overcame a one lap deficit and a faulty brake line on the last lap to record a solid 12th place finish.

Welcome Back To The Music City : For the third time in his ARCA RE/MAX Series career, Patrick Sheltra will visit Nashville Superspeedway. In his previous two efforts, the 22-year old hot shoe has a best finish of 13th coming in last year’s TOYOTA ARCA 150 after starting 16th. Sheltra’s average start in two races is 13th.

Preparing To Get Dirty: Indiantown, Florida native Patrick Sheltra spent this past week in his Richmond , Indiana dirt shop preparing for several upcoming dirt races in the No. 23 Sheltra Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Back at the team’s ARCA shop in Whitesville , Kentucky , Sheltra’s bunch has been also preparing two Dodge Chargers for the next two ARCA RE/MAX Series events at the Illinois State Fairgrounds ( Springfield ) and DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (DuQuoin) following Nashville .

Testing, Testing, 1.2.3.: Late last month, Sheltra Motorsports participated in the ARCA RE/MAX Series open-test session at Nashville Superspeedway mounting the ninth fastest lap. The team made changes to their former Penske-owned Dodge Charger hoping for a better performance in Saturday’s TOYOTA ARCA 150. However, crew chief John Hayden threw a Hail Mary pass Monday morning opting to bring the same piece the team participated with last Saturday at Pocono Raceway.

Grabbing Life By The Horns: For the seventh time this season, Sheltra and his Whitesville, Kentucky based Sheltra Motorsports operation will bring a Dodge Charger to the track. With three top-10s already in the books under the Dodge banner, the team is hoping to record their first top-five under the Chrysler nameplate. The team answered their inaugural debut with Dodge with a respectable eighth place finish at Kansas Speedway. A week later the team proved that the finish was no fluke as Sheltra steered through late race carnage and confusion at Kentucky Speedway to record an seventh place finish. In June, Sheltra mounted his best finish in a Charger after recording a sixth place finish at the two-mile oval of Michigan International Speedway. The new manufacturer also catapulted Sheltra to record a career best qualifying effort ( Kansas ) while also leading the field for four laps at the 1.5-mile race track of Kansas Speedway.

Get Your Program: For the second time this season, Patrick Sheltra will be featured in the official race program highlighting the TOYOTA ARCA 150 at Nashville Superspeedway. In the feature, Sheltra discusses his prior experience at Nashville , his thoughts on the season and the chance of taking home the coveted Gibson guitar. Sheltra was featured in the inaugural Carolina 500K program earlier this year at Rockingham Speedway.

Nice Stat: Officially halfway through the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series, Sheltra Motorsports has fielded a car for Patrick Sheltra that has run in the top-10 for all 13 events thus far this season. The team has amassed one top-five with a runner-up at Toledo Speedway while holding four additional top-10 finishes. The team’s season best qualifying effort came at Kansas Speedway where Sheltra awarded himself with a career best run of eighth. Sheltra recorded his career best short track qualifying run of eighth at Berlin Raceway earlier this month. The team has led two races at Kansas Speedway and Cayuga Motor Speedway for a total of 15 laps.

Join The Fan Club: Sheltra Motorsports has launched a Patrick Sheltra Fan Club and it’s absolutely free! Race fans can log onto to PatrickSheltra.com and fill out the form and you’re an immediate member. Receive press releases, autograph cards and much more!

Watcha Haulin?: Crew Chief John Hayden has elected to bring Sheltra Motorsports chassis number 11 to Nashville Superspeedway this weekend. This is the same automobile the team participated with in both Pocono Raceway events this year. Chassis number 15 will serve as the team’s backup automobile. The team ran that model at the open ARCA RE/MAX Series test at Nashville Superspeedway in addition to the test and race at Michigan International Speedway in June.

Point Standings: After round 13 on the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule, Patrick Sheltra sits ninth in the championship standings accumulating 2,415 points. Sheltra is 410 markers from moving into the fifth position currently held by nine-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Frank Kimmel. 630 credits separate Sheltra from the points lead held by SunTrust Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Scott Speed.

Sheltra Motorsports, Nashville Superspeedway Pre-Race Quotes: Patrick Sheltra, driver of the No. 60 Ferguson Pipe Enterprises-FloraGanics Dodge:

On Pocono: “All things considered, we were happy to be back running up front. While we did not receive the finish we know we deserved, we were still very happy to walk away with a strong finish and a clean racecar.”

On Nashville: “Nashville Superspeedway is a unique racetrack. You need a good car, good horsepower and a little luck to have a good finish there. We’re bringing a very good piece to the track this weekend and I would like to accelerate to my first ever top-10 finish at Nashville Saturday.”

On Being Featured In The Race Program: “It’s pretty cool. Nashville Superspeedway has a lot of history even though it hasn’t been around for a long time. The stands are always full and the fans are some of the most dedicated out there. Hopefully the program will help us attract some new race fans.”

On Points: “Well, at least we are going in the right direction. I’ve said it all season, there is no room for error this year. It’s just been that competitive. We have to keep our head on straight and try to walk away with as many points as we can this weekend.”

Sheltra Motorsports, Nashville Superspeedway Pre-Race Quotes: Grace Sheltra, owner of the No. 60 Ferguson Pipe Enterprises-FloraGanics Dodge:

On Pocono: “The car was out front and the team rebounded from a series of obstacles. As a car owner you really can’t ask for much more. If we had a couple more laps, we surely could have landed a top-10 finish. However, to walk away with a 12th place finish felt like a win especially after all the bad luck we faced lately.”

On Nashville Superspeedway: “It’s concrete, so it can set up for a different game for all the teams. The race is televised, so that is great news for the ARCA fans that cannot attend the race. We decided to take the car we ran at Pocono last weekend. I think everyone will see it will prove to be the right move.”

PRIOR RESULTS:

Patrick Sheltra, Nashville Superspeedway Prior ARCA Race Results:

Date Event Start Finish Laps Status
04/07 Nashville ARCA 150 11 25 111/113 Running
08/07 TOYOTA ARCA 150 16 13 112/113 Running

The TOYOTA ARCA 150 (150 miles/113 laps) is the 14th of 21 events on the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The 15th ARCA event held at Nashville Superspeedway is a two-day show. Practice begins Friday, August 8 with a three hour practice session planned from 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. the following morning. The field will take the green flag on Saturday, August 9 shortly after 3:30 p.m. The event will be televised live on SPEED with additional race coverage including live timing and scoring available online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.

Fast Links:

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

Sanction: ARCA RE/MAX Series: ARCARacing.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 830.261.1215
EMAIL: knight849@aol.com