Rain Halts Patrick Sheltra’s Bid At First Potential ARCA Pole

Topics:  Patrick Sheltra, Rattlesnake 150

Chris Knight
Sheltra Motorsports
April 15, 2010

FORT WORTH, Texas (April 15, 2010) - - Three cars into Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell Thursday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS), Mother Nature decided to drench the 1.5-mile speedway which ultimately forced ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards (ARS) officials to cancel time trials and set the Rattlesnake 150 field by 2009 ARCA Racing Series car owner points.

Indiantown, Florida native Patrick Sheltra will make his TMS debut from the ninth position and set his sights on roaring his Grace Sheltra owned machine to the lead from his fourth row starting spot.

“I was really hoping to qualify,” said Sheltra, driver of the No. 60 Recycling Services-Buffalo Wings & Rings Toyota Camry. “We have a really strong car for the race and I feel that we would have had a shot at the pole, should we have been able to qualify. But, that’s old news now and our biggest goal now is to focus on the race and try and put ourselves in victory lane.”

Friday night’s contest will mark the first race for Sheltra Motorsports in a Toyota Camry this season. The Jon Wolfe led organization will run the Japanese manufacturer at all of the intermediate tracks this year. Earlier in the day, the Mooresville, North Carolina based operation turned in the fifth fastest time overall giving the ARCA pro his first ever top-five practice run on a speedway in his four years of ARCA competition.

Sheltra’s fourth place finish last Sunday afternoon at Salem (Ind.) Speedway awarded the 23-year old young gun with his third straight consecutive top-10 finish this season in just three of the ARS events run thus far in 2010. Sheltra is joined by Steve Arpin as the only other competitor to hoist that statistic. With his strong runs, Sheltra currently locks third in the ARCA Racing Series championship standings just 35 markers behind point leaders Steve Arpin and Justin Marks, whom are tied for the number one spot. Marks will start the event ahead of Sheltra in the fourth position with Arpin lining up 22nd.

Entering Texas, Sheltra has 70 ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards starts to his credit with one career victory at Salem Speedway (April 2009). During his ARCA tenure, Sheltra has accumulated 12 top-fives and posted 25 top-10 finishes. 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 six times for 148 laps.

All About Flowers, American Concrete, CAM 2 Blue Blood Racing Oil, Ferguson Pipe Enterprises, Sheltra & Son Construction, Inc., and Buffalo Wings & Rings join Recycling Services as the team’s marketing partners in Friday night’s show.

The Rattlesnake 150 (100 laps / 150 miles) is the fourth of 20 events on the 2010 ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards schedule. The second ever ARCA race held at Texas Motor Speedway is a two day show. The event will take the green flag on Friday, April 16 shortly after 6:30 p.m. The race will be televised live on SPEED with additional race coverage including live timing and scoring and radio broadcast through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.

For the latest on Patrick Sheltra, Sheltra Motorsports and marketing partnership opportunities please visit PatrickSheltra.com.

For additional input on Buffalo Wings & Rings, please connect to Buffalowingsandrings.com or call 513.831.WING.

Join the official Patrick Sheltra fan page on Facebook by clicking here.

About Sheltra Motorsports:

Sheltra Motorsports (sheltramotorsports.com) is a three-tier Motorsports operation consisting of dirt and asphalt competition. Patrick Sheltra, a 23-year old native of Indiantown, Florida competes in the UMP and WoO (Dirt) Series; while also running a full schedule in the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards (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 Mooresville, North Carolina.

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