| Patrick Sheltra Returns To Top-10 Status At
Kentucky
“Mr. Showtime Captures Career-Best Finish In Bluegrass
State”
SPARTA, Kentucky (May 11, 2009) - - ARCA RE/MAX Series
(ARS) veteran Patrick Sheltra wasn’t exactly happy
with the handling of his No. 60 Buffalo Wings & Rings
Dodge Charger after the heavily delayed practice session
Saturday afternoon at Kentucky Speedway found the team 20th
on the rundown, but the Sheltra Motorsports team bounced
back in spectacular fashion in the Drive Smart! Buckle-Up
Kentucky 150 after Sheltra earned his third top-10 finish
of the season by finishing sixth in the fifth race of the
2009 season.
Earlier in the week, Sheltra Motorsports announced the
partnership with Buffalo Wings & Rings as the primary
marketing partner for Sheltra’s ride for the remainder
of the 2009 season and with the vastly growing restaurant
chain headquartered in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio, Sheltra
was bound to put on a good show for his new kin.
A one-day show at Kentucky Speedway presented the teams
a challenge of practicing, qualifying and racing all in
one day. What the teams were not expecting was a massive
seepage issue with the 1.5-mile speedway which delayed practice
for several hours and subsequently canceled Menards Pole
by Ansell qualifying.
In practice, Sheltra in his neon green and Camouflage Dodge
quickly powered to the sixth fastest time but as the two-hour
session progressed, Sheltra slipped in the running order
with Sheltra reporting that his car was tight in the center
of the corner. The problem hindered the third-year team
but crew chief John Hayden and his bunch vowed never to
give up. After practice, Hayden virtually changed the entire
setup which paid off when the cars and stars of the ARCA
RE/MAX Series took the green flag shortly after 8:00 p.m.
local.
At the start, Sheltra quickly found himself hovering in
the top-five. Happy with the car’s handling, Sheltra
was biding his time and saving his car for the end of the
show.
While running no worse than seventh through the race’s
first half, Sheltra and his team made a pit stop approaching
lap 45 where the team changed four tires and added Sunoco
Racing fuel before sending their driver back into battle.
On the restart, Sheltra maneuvered in fifth and found himself
battling from fourth to sixth inside the race’s second-half
and put on an intense side-by-side battle with the No. 25
for nearly 15 laps. A caution inside the final 20 laps of
the event, setup a chance for Sheltra to slide back into
the top-five but a tight machine would keep Sheltra from
a chance of nabbing his second victory of the season.
Sheltra tried to take advantage of a yellow flag inside
the final 10 circuits but to no avail. Sheltra did however
cross the start finish line sixth, collecting his best Kentucky
Speedway finish in five starts.
“We wore out our tires there when I was battling
side-by-side with the No. 25,” said Sheltra after
the race. “We had a pretty good car, just too tight
there at the end. We didn’t have a car that could
win the race but we were happy to bounce back from practice
and put our team back in the top-10. I’m real happy
for Buffalo Wings & Rings and the guys on the Sheltra
Motorsports team. We needed this finish to get back on track
from Talladega.”
Sheltra added, “We’re going to Toledo Speedway
next weekend and it’s one of my favorite race tracks
and I think we have a shot at winning our second race of
the season for everyone.”
With his effort Saturday night, Sheltra unleashed himself
from being tied with fellow Floridian Bryan Silas to fully
gain control of fourth in the championship standings heading
into round six of the season next Sunday.
Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is the first of two
trips to Toledo Speedway for the running of the Menards
200 presented by Federated Car Care on Sunday, May 17. Toledo
Speedway is the home track for the ARCA series. In last
year’s spring Toledo event, Sheltra finished a close
second to Matt Carter. Sheltra has two top-fives and three
top-10s in four prior starts at the half-mile oval.
Exiting Kentucky, Sheltra has 51 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts
to his credit with one career victory at Salem Speedway
(April 2009). Sheltra also holds second place efforts at
Rockingham Speedway (April 2009), Toledo Speedway (May 2008)
and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (September 2008) with
four additional top-five finishes, (fourth) at Toledo Speedway
(October 2008), (fifth) at Talladega Superspeedway (October
2008), (third) at Illinois State Fairgrounds (August 2007)
and (fourth) at Berlin Raceway (July 2007) while holding
additional top-10s at Kentucky Speedway (May 2009), Nashville
Superspeedway (August 2008), Michigan International Speedway
(June 2008), Kentucky Speedway (May 2008), Kansas Speedway
(April 2008), Iowa Speedway (April 2008), Kentucky Speedway
(June 2007), DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (September 2007)
and Toledo Speedway (October 2007). 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.
For more on Patrick Sheltra, please visit PatrickSheltra.com.
For additional input on Buffalo Wings & Rings, please
connect to Buffalowingsandrings.com or call 513.831.WING.
About Sheltra Motorsports:
Sheltra Motorsports (sheltramotorsports.com) is a three-tier
Motorsports operation consisting of dirt and asphalt competition.
Patrick Sheltra, a 22-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 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 Whitesville, Kentucky.
TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:
Chris Knight, Sheltra Motorsports
P: 239.834.9797
E: chris@patricksheltra.com
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