Patrick Sheltra, No. 60 Recycling Services Toyota ARCA Iowa Speedway Fast Facts

Topics:  Patrick Sheltra, Prairie Meadows 200

Chris Knight
Sheltra Motorsports
July 9, 2010

Patrick Sheltra, No. 60 Recycling Services / Ferguson Pipe Toyota Camry Prairie Meadows 200 Fast Facts

ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards Race No. 9, Prairie Meadows 200, Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa

Race Information: Event: Prairie Meadows 200, Saturday, July 10 at 8:00 p.m. Local Time Track: Iowa Speedway Qualifying: Saturday, July 10 at 5:15 p.m. Local Time; Track Length: .875-mile paved-oval.

Last Time Out; Michigan International Speedway: Patrick Sheltra continued his 2010 ARCA Racing Series surge by posting a solid podium finish in the Racing for Wildlife 200 at Michigan International Speedway on June 12. Returning to the two-mile oval after a successful test a month prior to the event, Sheltra and his Jon Wolfe led team felt that they had one of the contending cars for the eighth race of the season. After practicing in the top-five, Sheltra boasted a third place qualifying effort, a speedway best before utilizing the 100 lap event to keep his No. 60 Sheltra Motorsports Toyota Camry clean and cross the line third, securing his fifth top-five finish of the year and eighth consecutive top-10 in eight races run this year. The performance also accelerates past Sheltra’s best finish at Michigan International Speedway of sixth in 2008.

Returning To The Hawkeye State: Indiantown, Florida native Patrick Sheltra will make his fourth start at the relatively new Iowa Speedway Saturday night. Sheltra made his inaugural debut at the .875-mile short track in 2007 where he qualified 15th and finished 20th. In 2008, Sheltra started eighth and captured his first top-10 finish of the 2008 season by crossing the line ninth. Last year, Sheltra qualified 18th and rallied to finish 14th in his No. 60 Dodge Charger. Sheltra has been running at the finish of all three events.

Remembering A Friend And Racer: Patrick Sheltra and his Sheltra Motorsports team for the second consecutive year will remember and honor former ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards driver and 2008 Iowa Speedway winner Matt Hawkins who died from an accidental gun discharge in February 2009. Sheltra and Hawkins raced each other in several ARCA events including the 2008 Prairie Meadows 250 at Iowa Speedway, Hawkins lone ARCA victory in his inaugural series start. Sheltra Motorsports would like to thank the team’s graphic design company DMC Graphics (Philpot, Kentucky) for supplying the “In Memory of Matt Hawkins” decals for this weekend.

Happy Birthday Mama Grace: Co-Car Owner and Patrick Sheltra’s mother Grace Sheltra celebrated her 54th birthday on Thursday (July 8). Grace Sheltra is one of several female owners in the ARCA Racing Series and was the highest finishing female car owner in 2008. As one of the top-female car owners in the development series, she has one win, 15 top-fives and 30 top-10 finishes to her credit.

Welcome To The Team: Sheltra Motorsports welcomes Brandon Hinson of Hinson Sports Management (HSM) to the team as the Director of Marketing for the long-time ARCA team. Hinson, a long-time fixture in the Motorsports industry will oversee Sheltra’s current and future marketing partner platforms while also creating business-to-business relationships within the Sheltra Motorsports organization and its affiliates. He will also work side-by-side with Sheltra Motorsports’ Manager of Operations and Communications Chris Knight.

Moving Forward Again: For the sixth time in his ARCA career and fourth time this season, 24-year old Patrick Sheltra will pilot a Toyota Camry in Saturday night’s contest. Sheltra competed under the Japanese banner at Texas Motor Speedway in April where Sheltra revived himself from being collected in an early race incident to score a solid seventh place finish. Last month, Sheltra posted another top-five finish of the season by placing fourth at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Most recently, Sheltra maneuvered a impressive third place qualifying run and finishing position at Michigan International Speedway in the Racing for Wildlife 200 enabling the team to notch their eighth top-10 finish in a row this year. Last season under the guidance of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship organization Germain Racing, Sheltra hoisted a Camry at Michigan International Speedway and at the season-finale at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway.

Point’s Check: Eight races down, 12 to go, Sheltra with the guidance of crew chief Jon Wolfe sits first in the ARCA Racing Series championship standings accumulating 1885 points and 35 markers ahead of second-place Justin Marks. Sheltra also holds a 75 point gap from third place competitor Mikey Kile. The 24-year old Sheltra also controls the first position in the ARS car owner standings. Sheltra leads his prospective positions in point’s solely on his own for the third consecutive race after sharing the top-spot with Parker Kligerman for one race (Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway) in 2009.

Nice Stats: By posting his eighth top-10 finish of the season at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) on June 11, Sheltra remains the only ARCA Racing Series driver to finish inside the top-10 in all eight races thus far in 2010. Sheltra kicked off his strongest start to an ARCA season with a fifth place performance at Daytona, a 10th place performance at Palm Beach, a fourth place run at Salem Speedway, a seventh place outing at Texas Motor Speedway, his season-best second at ‘Dega, an eighth at Toledo Speedway, a fourth place run at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and most recently a third place outing in the Racing for Wildlife 200 at MIS.

Closing In On A Record: While eclipsing his fifth top-five finish of the year at Michigan International Speedway last season, Patrick Sheltra holds a new record for the number of finishes inside the top-five for a full-season. In his previous three full-time seasons, Sheltra has posted a year high of four top-five finishes including in 2009. Sheltra personal best of nine top-10 finishes in 2008 is on the verge of being collapsed with Sheltra aiming for nine straight top-10s thus far in 2010. Sheltra is expected to set a new personal season stat record with 12 races remaining this year.

Autographs Anyone?: After his duties at the track on Friday, Sheltra is scheduled to spend his evening at the Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino (Altoona, Iowa) participating in an autograph session from 7:00pm to 8:00pm local time.

Marketing Partnerships Still Available: Multiple cost-effective marketing partnership packages are still available for the 2010 ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series seasons for Patrick Sheltra. Let Sheltra Motorsports show you how to find victory lane in more ways than one! For additional information on how to be apart of our winning organization, please contact brandon@patricksheltra.com or marketing@patricksheltra.com.

Patrick Sheltra ARCA Career At-A-Glance: Entering Iowa, Sheltra has 75 ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards starts to his credit with one career victory at Salem (Ind.) Speedway (April 2009). During his ARCA tenure, Sheltra has accumulated 15 top-fives and posted 30 top-10 finishes. A third place qualifying effort at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway (April 2009) and Michigan International Speedway (June 2010) is Sheltra’s best time trials effort 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, Iowa Speedway Pre-Race Quotes: Patrick Sheltra, driver / owner of the No. 60 Recycling Services / Ferguson Pipe Toyota Camry

On Michigan International Speedway: “We’re real proud of our performance at Michigan. Even though we weren’t able to win, we still produced another strong run which I feel continues to aid our team towards the 2010 ARCA Racing Series championship. We’re knocking on the door of a win, it’s only a matter of time.”

On Iowa Speedway: “Iowa Speedway is a neat place. The track is super nice and provides some great racing. Handling and horsepower are key even though it’s a short track. Jon (Wolfe, crew chief) and I have a game plan for Saturday night and I feel we’ll keep our strong season alive on Saturday night.”

On Matt Hawkins: “You cannot come to Iowa Speedway and not think about Matt Hawkins. He was a good race car driver. He was someone you felt comfortable racing with and you always knew if you raced him clean, he would show you the same respect. He’s greatly missed here in ARCA but his memories live on at Iowa Speedway and all year long.”

On The Team’s Toyota Program In 2010: “It’s been a extreme pleasure to work with Triad and the Toyota folks this year. Every time we have a race with them, we learn something new. They know we’re in the thick for the championship and they are doing everything they possibly can to keep our No. 60 Sheltra Motorsports Toyota Camry out front.”

On Points: “It’s in our minds with every race we go to know. You cannot not help but think about it. We’re getting near the halfway point of the year and we have some promising races ahead for us. What we cannot afford to do is put ourselves in a position where we can put our season at risk and allow the other guys to steal our thunder. The guys on the Sheltra Motorsports team have gone above and beyond every race to give 150 percent and I don’t plan to give anything less than that behind the wheel.”

Sheltra Motorsports, Iowa Speedway Pre-Race Quotes: Jon Wolfe, crew chief of the No. 60 Recycling Services / Ferguson Pipe Toyota Camry

On Deciding To Take A Toyota Camry To Iowa Speedway; Rather Than A Dodge Charger: “We have started to transition our cars to Toyota, we are concentrating on the intermediate tracks. Iowa is kind of in between a short track and an intermediate, so with the speed and handling that it (Iowa) requires our Toyota was the right choice.”

On Deciding Not To Test At Iowa Speedway: “We debated hard over the decision to test at Iowa, and decided that we had a good set-up and Patrick has run there more than once. So we choose to work hard on our inventory for the other upcoming events as the schedule is getting ready to become very hectic.”

On The Keys To Succeeding At Iowa Speedway: “The track at Iowa is still pretty new so it holds a lot of grip in the surface, so the guys will be able to go hard in the beginning of a run. The team that will have the most success is the one who can go hard for the entire run on fuel and tires.”

On How Much Of A Difference Will It Be To Practice And Qualify In The Day But Race At Night At Iowa Speedway? “The difference between day and night is normally not a big deal, if your car is a little tight in the day it will get tighter at night. You just need to be smart about your adjustments.”

On Potentially Winning The Prairie Meadows 200 At Iowa Speedway: “There are so many variables when it comes to winning a race, so no one can predict a win. We’ve been consistent and in the hunt all season long, so those are some of the elements that it takes when it comes to winning. We do know that if we keep running up front a win will come soon.”

PRIOR RESULTS:

Patrick Sheltra, Iowa Speedway Prior ARCA Performance Record:

The Prairie Meadows 200 presented by SPEED on Mediacom (200 laps / 175 miles) is the ninth of 20 events on the 2010 ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards schedule. The fifth ever ARCA race at Iowa Speedway is a one-day show. Practice begins Saturday, July 10 with an hour and thirty five minute practice session planned from 10:00 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. A final fifty minute session has been etched in from 1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is slated to begin at 5:15 p.m. The event will take the green flag shortly after 8:00 p.m. The event will air live on SPEED. Additional race coverage including live timing and scoring and audio broadcasting throughout the day will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) presented by ARCA Nation online at arcaracing.com. All times are local (Central).

Fast Links:

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

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

About Sheltra Motorsports:

Sheltra Motorsports (sheltramotorsports.com) is a three-tier professional Motorsports organization consisting of dirt and asphalt competition. Patrick Sheltra, a 24-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. 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