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Sheltra Motorsports In Rain Delay At Iowa Speedway

Topics: Patrick Sheltra, Prairie Meadows 250

Sheltra Motorsports In Rain Delay At Iowa Speedway

Chris Knight
Sheltra Motorsports
April 18, 2008

NEWTON, Iowa (April 18, 2008) – Sheltra Motorsports which currently holds the sixth and eighth positions respectively in driver and car owner points heading into Saturday’s Prairie Meadows 250 is currently in a holding pattern for the second consecutive weekend as Mother Nature has stalled activity at Iowa Speedway.

Sheltra, the 21-year old Indiantown , Florida native enters Iowa on the heels of a 15th and 11th place finish respectively in the first two ARCA RE/MAX Series events of the season at Daytona International Speedway and Salem Speedway. The consistency has paid off with the dirt late model ace holding the sixth position in the ARCA RE/MAX Series point standings, the highest of his ARCA career heading into tomorrow’s third chapter of the Prairie Meadows 250.

“No one is every happy when there is a rain delay,” offered Sheltra, driver of the No. 60 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. “The hardest part is just sitting knowing when you can be out on the track. However, the delay allows you to communicate with the team and fellow drivers here at the track. There’s nothing you can really do about it.”

Last year at Iowa Speedway, Sheltra finished 20th after qualifying 15th and admits that his second trip to the .875-mile paved oval should pay off in a bigger way just after 12:30 local time tomorrow afternoon.

“This place is nice. There is no other way to describe it. I really learned the quickest way around the track as the race went on last June and I’m hoping to utilize what I learned when and if we’re able to get on the track today. If not, I have a good feeling about the race. I’m confident that we can gather our first top-10 finish of the season.”

Crew Chief John Hayden has elected to bring the same Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS that the team competed with in the 2007 ARCA RE/MAX Series finale at Toledo Speedway which awarded the team with a eighth place finish in the former Richard Childress Racing machine.”

“We have a real good piece for this weekend,” Sheltra sounded. “This is our first real short track car and we were ecstatic with the results from last year. Hopefully we’ll make it two top-10 finishes in a row for this car Saturday afternoon.”

Heading into Iowa, Sheltra has 27 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts to his credit with a career best finish of third on the dirt at Illinois State Fairgrounds (August 2007) with an additional top-five finish (fourth) at Berlin Raceway (July 2007) while holding additional top-10s at Kentucky Speedway (June 2007), DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (September 2007) and Toledo Speedway (October 2007). Three ninth-place qualifying efforts at Kansas Speedway (April 2007), Pocono Raceway (June 2007) and Illinois State Fairgrounds (August 2007) is Sheltra’s best time trials efforts to date.

The Prairie Meadows 250 (250 laps/219 miles) is the third of 21 events on the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. The third ARCA race held at Iowa is a two-day show. Practice begins Friday, April 18 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 12:30-2:00 p.m. A second round of practice has been etched in from 3:00-4:30 p.m. ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying is set for Saturday morning April 19 slated to begin at 9:00 a.m. with the field taking the green flag shortly after 12:35 p.m. The race will be televised live on SPEED (12:30 p.m. local) with additional race coverage online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.

For more on Patrick Sheltra, please visit the newly re-launched PatrickSheltra.com.

About Sheltra Motorsports:

Sheltra Motorsports (sheltramotorsports.com) is a three-tier Motorsports operation consisting of dirt and asphalt competition. Patrick Sheltra, a 21-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 Craftsman Truck Series (No. 35). 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 .

Patrick Sheltra, Sheltra Motorsports , Iowa Speedway Notes of Interest:

· Sheltra Motorsports will run a mixture of Chevrolet Monte Carlos and Dodge Chargers during the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series season. For Salem , Sheltra Motorsports will run a Chevrolet Monte Carlo purchased from Richard Childress Racing (RCR). Sheltra Motorsports debuted the automobile last October at Toledo Speedway awarding the team with an eighth place finish. Clements Automotive will provide the horsepower for the sophomore ARCA team.

· Sheltra currently holds the highest points position (sixth) that he has ever held in his ARCA RE/MAX Series career. Last year, the 21-year old superstar finished seventh in the championship standings competing in 22 of the scheduled 23 events.

· Sheltra will make 1,000 left hand turns on Saturday afternoon.

In addition to running a full 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule, Sheltra will also run a limited schedule in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (No. 35) and compete in selected dirt late model events (UMP and WoO Series) throughout the United States.

Sheltra Motorsports Quick Facts:

Team Name: Sheltra Motorsports, No. 60 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

Driver: Patrick Sheltra, Indiantown , Florida

Car Owner: Grace Sheltra, Indiantown , Florida

Marketing Partners: Ferguson Pipe Enterprises, Inc, FloraGanics, American Concrete Industries, Inc, Hardie Pipe, The Casite Company, J&S Bulk Transportation, Inc., US Construction Supply Corp., Martin County Petroleum, Sheltra & Son Construction, Sheltra Cattle Company, Recycling Services, Indiantown Marina, All About Flowers, Speed Media, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, DMC Graphics and Purcell Tire & Rubber.

Crew Chief: John Hayden

Team Manager: Keith Strunk

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TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:

NAME: Chris Knight, Sheltra Motorsports
PHONE: 239.834.9797 or 830.261.1215
EMAIL: knight849@aol.com