| Patrick Sheltra Delivers Thrilling Effort At
Daytona; Finishes Fifth
“Sheltra Makes Run At First Superspeedway Win;
Comes Up A Little Short”
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (February 7, 2010) - - While much
of the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona (Fla.) International
Speedway was focused on IZOD IndyCar Series driver Danica
Patrick stock-car debut, Indiantown, Florida native Patrick
Sheltra gave her exposure a run for the money and thanks
to an impressive performance he was able to deflect some
of the exposure and create some buzz at the “World
Center of Racing.”
After practicing in the top-10 on Thursday, Sheltra qualified
his No. 60 PowerTrac Machinery Dodge Charger into the 11th
position on Friday morning. Rain forced the cancellation
of final practice Friday evening but the Sheltra Motorsports
team led by veteran Crew Chief Jon Wolfe were confident
in their machine.
At the start of the season opener, Sheltra quickly positioned
himself into the top-10 and had began tucking his way through
the running order before on lap five, the No. 60 machine
broke loose in turn three with “Mr. Showtime”
as he’s called in the garage making a brilliant save.
A lap later, a multi-car crash ensued behind Sheltra which
took out several of the race’s top-contenders.
During the caution, Sheltra radioed to his team that his
car was fast but “loose” and needed some help
with grip. Wolfe acknowledged his request and informed his
pilot that he would make an adjustment on the next stop.
The event would be plagued early on with caution after
caution. Sheltra became agitated with all the yellows as
he felt like he had a car capable of powering to the front.
Close to the half-way mark, Sheltra made his lone trip
to pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.
The Mooresville, North Carolina based crew did a great job
with the stop but Sheltra found himself blocked in his pit
by another competitor. The hiccup cost him a couple positions
on pit road.
No worries though, Sheltra was bound and determined to
retain those lost positions back and gain a few more in
the process. Several impressive and thrilling passes throughout
the second half of the race, caused the fans in the stands
and announcers to gasp, Sheltra though found himself back
in the top-three inside the final 10 laps of the event.
While his team and friends quickly recalled the outcome
of last year’s event, they had no time to fret –
as Sheltra began setting up his prey ahead of him –
vying to maneuver his car to the lead and what would have
been the biggest win of his racing career.
With two laps remaining, Sheltra ducked to the outside
with little help – hoping to get additional help to
draft to the lead. With many of the cars electing to stay
glued to the bottom – Danica Patrick did everything
she could to attach her car to the bumper of the No. 60
but it was a little too late. Sheltra would come to the
checkered flag battling the No. 51 of pole sitter James
Buescher side-by-side with the Toyota of Buescher just edging
out Sheltra’s Dodge to the line awarding the 23-year
old driver with his second-career top-five finish at a superspeedway.
In 2008, Sheltra found himself in contention for the win
at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway but a late-race shuffle
while leading knocked him back into the fifth position.
“That was a lot of fun,” said Sheltra, climbing
from his racecar. “We had an excellent car, we just
needed some help. It just seemed like no one wanted to go
to the outside. Our car could go out there but it just seemed
like everyone wanted to stay on the bottom. Next time I
see Terry Jones – I’m going to buy him a drink
or something. He came out of nowhere and gave us a huge
shove late in the race and that really gave us the momentum
to try and steal the show.”
He added, “We had to make a move to try and win the
race. This is an important race for us and I think we made
the best of it. Thanks to Jon (Wolfe, crew chief) and the
guys for their flawless efforts all week. We are extremely
thankful to PowerTrac for coming onboard for the race and
all of our other marketing partners for their commitment
to our race team. I definitely had my co-pilot aboard (referring
to Nicholas Batchelor). Nicholas this race is for you!”
As far as Danica Patrick’s effort – Sheltra
noted, “You know what, she did a great job. I know
she learned a lot about the draft and she raced everyone
pretty clean. It seemed like she was always around me. She
even tried to help me there in the end – and I appreciate
that. It would not surprise me if she decided to run the
NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona. I think she’ll
do fine.”
American Concrete, Buffalo Wings & Rings, BuckedUpApparel.com,
CAM 2 Blue Blood Racing Oil, Ferguson Pipe Enterprises,
Indiantown Marina and Pardo Trucking join the team as associate
marketing partners in Saturday's season-opener.
Unofficially, Sheltra sits fifth in the ARCA Racing Series
championship standings, the highest points start in his
four seasons of competition. Just 30 points separate Sheltra
from the lead held by Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart. Sheltra
could easily take the top-spot by competing in the upcoming
ARCA Racing Series 150 at Palm Beach (Fla.) International
Raceway as the competitors ahead of him are not expected
to run a full-season.
Exiting Daytona, Sheltra has 68 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 11 top-fives and posted
23 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 five times
for 109 laps.
Next up for the ARCA Racing Series is an open-test at Palm
Beach (Fla.) International Raceway on Monday, February 8.
The eight-hour test is a preamble to the second event of
the 2010 season set for Saturday, February 27, 2010.
Stay tuned for a revamped web site and several social networking
opportunities to connect with Patrick Sheltra and the Sheltra
Motorsports team but in the mean time for the latest and
marketing partnership opportunities please visit PatrickSheltra.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.
TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:
Chris Knight, Sheltra Motorsports
P: 239.834.9797
E: chris@patricksheltra.com |
