| Patrick Sheltra Hungry For Top Run At Michigan
“Sheltra Motorsports Hoping To Shine In Motor
City”
BROOKLYN, Michigan (June 10, 2008) - - Sophomore ARCA RE/MAX
Series driver Patrick Sheltra heads to Michigan International
Speedway this week looking to recover from a disappointing
finish in last Saturday’s Pocono ARCA 200 and put
himself and his Sheltra Motorsports team back in contention
for the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series championship.
Sheltra looks for his second top-five finish of the season
at Michigan International Speedway, a speedway that’s
been known to spawn first-time winners. Sheltra is hoping
when the checkered flag flies in Friday’s Racing for
Wildlife 200, his No. 60 Dodge Charger is the one heading
to victory lane.
“Pocono is behind us, so I’m eager for Michigan,”
said Sheltra, who will make his third career ARCA start
at the two-mile oval. “We’re back with a Dodge
Charger and armed with a fresh RC Consultants engine and
we’re ready to be in contention for the win Friday
afternoon.”
The monstrous Michigan International Speedway has provided
great racing and great finishes for teams and fans in the
past. The Indiantown, Florida native doesn’t see a
change in race number nine Friday.
“Michigan is a fun place to race,” sounded
Sheltra. “It’s a track with a lot of room and
plenty of racing. You can go three, four and even five wide
at Michigan and that’s exciting! Of course racing
like that comes with its territories. You have to have a
strong car and a strong motor. We’re confident in
the car we’re bringing and we know that the engine
failure we suffered at Pocono is in the past and we don’t
anticipate having it happen again.”
Sheltra Motorsports joined a plethora of other ARCA RE/MAX
Series teams last month for a open test at the Brooklyn,
Michigan race course and the team was confident following
the session.
“The Michigan test went pretty good,” Sheltra
said. “We brought a new Dodge Charger to the track
and it adapted very well. Our main objective with the car
was to shake it down and make sure that we didn’t
face any major obstacles when we returned for race week.
We’ve made some aggressive changes that I think will
pay off for us.”
Friday’s event also marks the home of one of Sheltra
Motorsports marketing partners, The Casite Company. The
Casite Company joined Sheltra Motorsports in January 2008.
“It’s very cool to have a company like The Casite
Company this close to the race track. I tell you what; their
products at The Casite Company are the best on the market.
We use them fluently at the shop and the track and we would
not consider using anyone else. I want to thank The Casite
Company for all they’ve done for me and Sheltra Motorsports
and we hope that we can deliver them a victory in their
own back yard Friday afternoon.”
Crew Chief John Hayden has elected to bring Sheltra Motorsports
chassis number 11 to Michigan International Speedway this
weekend. The only time the automobile has seen the track
was during the open ARCA RE/MAX Series test at MIS in May.
Chassis number 15 will serve as the team’s back-up
automobile. This is the same piece that the Whitesville,
Kentucky based team competed with at Pocono Raceway last
weekend.
Sheltra added, “Our Dodges have been a great addition
to our team. We’ve been strong with all of them. We’ve
ran in the top-10 with all of them. I don’t expect
any different on Friday afternoon. We acquired this piece
from Penske Racing, so we’re hoping that we can stroll
into victory lane on a same weekend where Penske Racing
is in attendance.”
With finishes of 33rd and 14th at Michigan International
Speedway in the past two years, the avid race car driver
knows an exceptional run will help him climb the point’s
ladder and recover from the point’s blow the team
suffered following their finish at Pocono Raceway last weekend.
Currently, Sheltra is 315 points from the top-spot and only
155 markers from the top-five currently locked by Frank
Kimmel.
“We have to get back on track. We lost a lot of points
last weekend at Pocono Raceway,” Sheltra commented.
“We cannot afford something to go wrong this weekend,
we’re trying to win a championship and we can’t
afford to have any more misfortunate like we had at Pocono.
The points are just too tight. We have to put ourselves
back in the top-10 Friday.”
Entering Michigan, Sheltra has 33 ARCA RE/MAX Series starts
to his credit with a career best finish of second at Toledo
Speedway (May 2008) with two additional top-five finishes
(third) at Illinois State Fairgrounds (August 2007), (fourth)
at Berlin Raceway (July 2007) while holding additional top-10s
at 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). An eighth place qualifying effort
at Kansas Speedway (April 2008) is Sheltra’s best
time trials efforts to date. He has controlled the ARCA
field once for four laps.
The Racing for Wildlife 200 (200 miles/100 laps) is the
ninth of 21 events on the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule.
The trip to the Irish Hills track is a two-day show. Practice
begins Thursday, June 12th with a two hour practice session
planned from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ARCA SIM Factory pole
qualifying is slated to begin at 3:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
The field will take the green flag on Friday, July 13th
shortly after 5:00 p.m. The race will air live on SPEED
beginning at 5:00 p.m. Additional race coverage including
live timing and scoring will be available online at arcaracing.com.
All times are local.
For more on Patrick Sheltra, please visit the newly re-launched
PatrickSheltra.com.
About Sheltra Motorsports:
Sheltra Motorsports (sheltramotorsports.com)
is a three-tier Motorsports operation consisting of dirt
and asphalt competition. Patrick Sheltra, a 21-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 Craftsman Truck Series (No. 35). 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.
Patrick Sheltra, Sheltra Motorsports, Michigan
International Speedway
Notes of Interest:
· Sheltra Motorsports will run a mixture of Dodge
Chargers and Chevrolet Monte Carlos Chevrolet during the
2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series season. For Michigan, Sheltra Motorsports
will run a Dodge Charger that will make its ARCA RE/MAX
Series debut this week. The car was acquired from Penske
Racing during the off-season. The car was previously driven
by 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman. RC Consultants
will provide the horsepower for the sophomore ARCA team.
· Sheltra currently maintains a point’s position
in the top-10 (ninth) heading into Michigan International
Speedway this week. Sheltra moved into the top-10 in the
series’ second race of the season at Salem Speedway
and has remained locked in the top-10 since. The Indiantown,
Florida native is just 155 markers from entering the top-five
and 315 credits from the number one position held by SunTrust
Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Last year,
the then 21-year old superstar finished seventh in the championship
standings competing in 22 of the scheduled 23 events.
· Sheltra will make 400 left hand turns on Friday
afternoon, eighty (80) more turns than the series last outing,
the Pocono ARCA 200 at the 2.5-mile track of Pocono Raceway
last Saturday.
· In addition to running a full 2008 ARCA RE/MAX
Series schedule, Sheltra will also run a limited schedule
in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and compete in selected
dirt late model events (UMP and WoO Series) throughout the
United States.
Sheltra Motorsports Quick
Facts:
Team Name: Sheltra Motorsports, No. 60 Dodge
Charger
Driver: Patrick Sheltra, Indiantown, Florida
Car Owner: Grace Sheltra, Indiantown, Florida
Crew Chief: John Hayden
Team Manager: Keith Strunk
Marketing Partners: Ferguson Pipe Enterprises,
Inc, FloraGanics, American Concrete Industries, Inc, Hardie
Pipe, The Casite Company, C.J. Rayburn Race Cars, J&S
Bulk Transportation, Inc., US Construction Supply Corp.,
Martin County Petroleum, Sheltra & Son Construction,
Sheltra Cattle Company, Recycling Services, Aaron’s
Outdoors, Indiantown Marina, All About Flowers, Speed Media,
Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, DMC Graphics and Purcell Tire
& Rubber.
TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:
NAME: Chris Knight, Sheltra Motorsports
PHONE: 239.834.9797 or 830.261.1215
EMAIL: knight849@aol.com
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