| ARCA Point’s Leader Patrick
Sheltra Sixth In Lone Practice Session At Pocono Despite
Minor Setback
LONG POND, Pennsylvania (June 4, 2010) - - Current ARCA
Racing Series (ARS) point’s leader Patrick Sheltra
only turned six laps in Friday morning’s practice
session at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway but the six laps were competitive
enough to give his Sheltra Motorsports a boost for the remainder
of the weekend despite a minor setback.
Sheltra in the No. 60 Recycling Services-Ferguson Pipe
Toyota Camry was one of the first drivers to tackle the
track nicknamed “the tricky triangle” for the
short hour and forty minute practice session. Sheltra quickly
shot up to second on the rundown before after his second
trip out reported to his crew that he felt had a problem
in his Grace Sheltra owned automobile.
Sheltra’s intuition turned out to be dead on as upon
a complete inspection of the vehicle by the team diagnosed
a hole in the fuel line, a similar problem that the Indiantown,
Florida native has had twice in his ARCA career including
here at Pocono.
A gallant effort by the Jon Wolfe-led operation resulted
in a complete fix of the situation. Sheltra however was
unable to return to the 2.5-mile triangle before the conclusion
of practice. The performance though was good enough to land
Sheltra sixth on the overall rundown of the 34 cars who
took time with Sheltra maneuvering his Japanese nameplate
around the facility in 55.223 seconds at 162.976 miles per
hour.
“We’re good,” said Sheltra, who holds
a 10-point margin between he and second place competitor
Justin Marks heading into tomorrow’s race. “The
car was strong right off the bat but it didn’t take
long before I had that feeling that something was wrong.
We played it smart and took our time to find the problem,
so I’m not worried about the rest of the weekend.”
Sheltra continued, “We weren’t real sure how
this car was going to be because we changed it from a Dodge
to a Toyota during the off-season but it was evident when
we went on the track Friday morning, we have a hot rod.
We didn’t have a chance to make a mock qualifying
run and we still landed sixth, so I’m looking forward
to seeing what the rest of the day brings.”
Justin Marks and Steve Arpin, Sheltra’s closest competition
in the race to the championship posted the 12th and 14th
fastest times respectively.
The four year ARCA pro will make his eighth start at the
track tomorrow hoping to retain the coveted point’s
lead while taking his Mooresville, North Carolina based
Sheltra Motorsports team to victory lane for the second
time since the team’s inception. Sheltra is also aiming
for an impressive seven consecutive top-10 finishes in the
series’ first seven races run this season.
39 ARCA Racing Series cars are on the grounds at Pocono
(Pa.) Raceway this weekend with Saturday’s Messina
Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 marking the 50th time that the
cars and stars of the ARCA division will take the green
flag. Before the start of the seventh race of the 2010 season,
Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is on deck with Sheltra
scheduled to roll off 10th beginning at 1:45 p.m. Eastern.
Cost-effective marketing partnerships are still available
for Pocono (Pa.) Raceway this weekend and for the remainder
of the 2010 ARCA Racing Series season. For additional information,
please contact marketing@patricksheltra.com.
Entering Pocono, Sheltra has 73 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 13 top-fives and posted
28 top-10 finishes. A third place qualifying effort at Rockingham
(N.C.) Speedway (April 2009) is Sheltra’s best time
trials efforts to date. He has controlled the ARCA field
six times for 148 laps.
The Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 (80 laps / 200
miles) is the seventh of 20 events on the 2010 ARCA Racing
Series schedule. The 50th ARCA race at Pocono Raceway is
a two-day show. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is set
for Friday June 4 slated to begin at 1:45 p.m. The event
will take the green flag on Saturday, June 5 shortly after
1:00 p.m. The event will be tape-delayed on SPEED and will
air at 4:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The race however will
be broadcasted live 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.
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 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. 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
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