Patrick Sheltra, No. 60 Buffalo Wings & Rings Dodge Charger, Talladega ARCA 250 Fast Facts

Topics:  Patrick Sheltra, Talladega ARCA 250

Chris Knight
Sheltra Motorsports
April 22, 2010

ARCA Racing Series Race No. 5, Talladega ARCA 250, Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Alabama

Race Information: Event: Talladega ARCA 250, Friday, April 23 at 4:00 p.m. Local Time Track: Talladega Speedway Qualifying: Thursday, April 22, at 5:05 p.m. Local Time Track Length: 2.66-mile paved oval.

Texas Motor Speedway Recap: Last Friday night, Patrick Sheltra and his Jon Wolfe-led Sheltra Motorsports team made their ARCA Racing Series debut together at Texas Motor Speedway in the Rattlesnake 150. After practicing fifth fastest the team was looking forward to qualifying in the No. 60 Recycling Services Toyota Camry but Mother Nature had other plans and washed out qualifying. The team started ninth based on their car owner points from 2009. Immediately moving forward in the race, Sheltra was contending for the fifth position on lap 13 when two cars made contact ahead of the No. 60 machine. Sheltra was prepared to avoid the incident but was plowed from behind by another competitor. Despite crucial aerodynamic damage to the team’s Camry, Sheltra rebounded for a seventh place finish.

The Buffalo’s On The Hood: Stepping up their associate marketing partnership role from last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Cincinnati, Ohio based Buffalo Wings & Rings (BWR) will return as the primary marketing partner for Sheltra’s fourth career ARCA start at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Known for its “Great Food; No Bull!” campaign, Buffalo Wings & Rings (BWR) is the fastest-growing privately owned franchised chain of restaurants in the nation serving Buffalo-style chicken wings, onion rings, burgers, gyros, wraps and salads. And the only wing establishment in the country with a unique saucing system, customers of BWR get to choose from 45 different sauce combinations. Founded in 1984 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Buffalo Wings & Rings operates 56 franchised restaurants in the United States. Buffalo Wings & Rings was ranked the No. 1 fastest growing restaurant chain nationwide in the July 2008 issue of Restaurant Business, and ranked in the top 500 franchises in the January 2009 issue of Entrepreneur.

Double Duty For Mr. Showtime: On Tuesday, officials from RAB Racing announced that Patrick Sheltra would pilot the team’s No. 09 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Aaron’s 312 from Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway Saturday afternoon. Sheltra is guaranteed to make his fifth career start in the Nationwide Series but first at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Saturday’s race will also mark the first time that the Indiantown, Florida native will pilot a Ford Fusion in his racing career.

Talladega Quick Fact: Sheltra will make his fourth career start at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Friday. Sheltra has one top-five finish at the demanding restrictor plate oval in the fall of 2008 where he led with two laps to go before being shuffled out of the draft and had to settle for fifth. Last year, Sheltra had the car to beat but an engine failure forced the team to a disappointing 33rd place finish. In his ‘Dega debut in 2008, Sheltra learned the draft and finished 16th.

Testing, Testing, 123….: To prepare the Sheltra Motorsports team for round five of the 2009 ARCA Racing Series schedule, the fourth year ARCA team participated in a open test session on Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24th. The team spent the two days testing both their superspeedway Dodge Chargers in preparation for the second and final restrictor plate race of the year.

A Familiar Voice Atop Again: Veteran spotter and former ARCA Racing Series driver Jason Jarrett will spot for Sheltra in Friday’s Talladega ARCA 250. Jarrett, the son of two-time Daytona 500 champion and former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Dale Jarrett spotted for Sheltra in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in 2007. Jarrett also guided Sheltra to a stout fifth place run in the season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and most recently, a seventh place finish last Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway awarding the Mooresville, North Carolina team with their fourth consecutive top-10 finish this season.

A Challenge From Pops: Should Sheltra score a win in Friday’s ARCA Racing Series event at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, father Rick Sheltra will purchase a new boat for his son to enjoy during his summer-down time at Sheltra’s new home in Cornelius, North Carolina. The deal from “pops” as he’s known in the garage area is that Sheltra must win one of the three events during the month of April. The challenge started at Salem (Ind.) Speedway on April 11 where he finished fourth. Sheltra was seventh last Friday night at TMS.

Nice Stat: So far in 2010, Sheltra is joined by only one other driver who has scored four top-10 finishes in all four races this season. With the ARCA Racing Series pro’s fifth place finish at Daytona, a 10th place performance at Palm Beach, a fourth place run at Salem Speedway and most recently a seventh place outing last Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway, Steve Arpin is the only other competitor who has also finished inside the top-10 in the four of 20 events so far this season.

Point’s Check: Four races down, 16 to go, Sheltra with the guidance of crew chief Jon Wolfe sits third in the ARCA Racing Series championship standings just 70 markers behind current leader Steve Arpin. 60 markers separate Sheltra from the runner-up spot held by close friend Justin Marks. Mother and car owner Grace Sheltra locks the third position in the ARS car owner standings, just 70 credits from the top-spot held by Billy Venturini (No. 55).

Patrick Sheltra ARCA Career At-A-Glance: Entering Talladega, Sheltra has 71 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 26 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.

Are You In The Know?: Patrick Sheltra and Sheltra Motorsports are proud to be apart of the Facebook and Twitter cravings. If you have an account, join our club as the Sheltra Motorsports team drives towards winning the 2010 ARCA Racing Series championship.

Vote Him Your Favorite Driver: Race fans can vote Patrick Sheltra as the 2010 ARCA Racing Series most popular driver by visiting ARCANation.com. From now until the end of the season, race fans can click on to ARCA’s official fan-related web site and vote once a day for their favorite ARCA Racing Series driver. The winner will be announced at the ARCA Racing Series Championship Awards Banquet in Covington, Kentucky this December. If you’re an ARCA Nation member your vote counts twice per day for one driver. If you’re a non-ARCA Nation member, your vote counts only once. Sign up today at ARCANation.com and vote for Patrick Sheltra!

Sheltra Motorsports, Talladega Superspeedway Pre-Race Quotes: Patrick Sheltra, driver of the No. 60 Buffalo Wings & Rings Dodge Charger:

On Texas Motor Speedway: “The finish was a great recovery for the Sheltra Motorsports team but we were disappointed because we felt we had a car that could contend for the win. The team’s never give up attitude though is what kept our early season momentum together. I am really proud of them.”

On Talladega Superspeedway: “The name Talladega says it all. For the past couple years, we have shown that Sheltra Motorsports has a successful superspeedway program and we look to continue that presence on Friday. Everyone calls it a chess game at 200 miles per hour and they aren’t kidding. Staying alert and avoiding is the “big one” is key to winning at Talladega.”

On Drafting: “All by yourself on the track like Talladega is incredibly boring but when you get a group of ARCA drivers in the draft, it can be a lot of fun. There has to be some give and take though. One wrong move can spell disaster. We know that we have a strong enough car that can be up front all race long and that’s exactly where we plan to be.”

On Pulling Double Duty And Driving For RAB Racing: “I’ve always had the utmost respect for Robby Benton and his organization in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. I’m honored and humbled at the opportunity to drive for the team at Talladega. Our expectations are high, but there is no doubt that with a little luck we can accomplish our mission.”

On Points: “We’re keeping ourselves in the game and that’s all we can do at this point. We’re capable of finishing up there with Steve (Arpin) and Justin (Marks) and we’ve proven that we just need them to have a little misfortune so we can catch-up. It’s very obvious that the championship is going to go down to the wire again and we plan to be in that fight!”

Sheltra Motorsports, Talladega Superspeedway Pre-Race Quotes: Grace Sheltra, owner of the No. 60 Buffalo Wings & Rings Dodge Charger:

On Texas Motor Speedway: “I am extremely proud of the Sheltra Motorsports team for keeping themselves together and flipping an unfortunate situation into a positive one. We finished seventh and after everything we had to deal with at Texas, we’ll take the finish in stride!”

On Talladega Superspeedway: “It’s a place that is fun for the fans but makes you nervous wreck as a team and even mother. We’ve had a strong restrictor plate program over the past two years and we plan to keep that strength going at Talladega. We’re going there to win on Friday in spectacular Sheltra fashion.”

On Patrick Running Double Duty: Robby Benton and the RAB Racing team has given Patrick an incredible opportunity and we’re extremely thankful to them for it. Patrick knows that he’ll have a good racecar, he just has to keep himself out of trouble and aim for that top-10 finish we all know the team is capable of Saturday afternoon.”

PRIOR RESULTS:

Patrick Sheltra, Talladega Superspeedway Prior ARCA Performance Record:

The Talladega ARCA 250 (94 laps / 250 miles) is the fifth of 20 events on the 2010 ARCA Racing Series schedule. The 48th ever ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway is a two-day show. Practice begins Thursday, April 22 with a three hour practice session planned from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell is set for later in the day slated to begin at 5:05 p.m. A 45-minute final practice has been etched in on Friday, April 23 from 9:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. The event will take the green flag that afternoon shortly after 4:00 p.m. The race will be televised live on SPEED with additional live broadcasting available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.

Fast Links:

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

Marketing Partner: Buffalo Wings & Rings on the web: BuffaloWingsandRings.com

Sanction: ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards: ARCARacing.com

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