| Patrick Sheltra Suffers Heartbreaker In DuQuoin
DUQUOIN, Illinois (September 8, 2009) - - It appeared early
on in Monday’s Southern Illinois 100 at the DuQuoin
State Fairgrounds that Patrick Sheltra in the No. 60 Buffalo
Wings & Rings Dodge Charger had one of the fastest machines
in the ARCA RE/MAX Series (ARS) field but a mechanical failure
just 30 laps in erased the Indiantown, Florida’s native
hopes for securing his second victory of the season.
Sloppy weather in the DuQuoin, Illinois area created a
challenge for the teams Monday morning forcing ARS to adjust
their schedule by pushing practice, qualifying and the race
ahead by a half-hour.
When practice finally rolled on, Sheltra quickly went to
a familiar place on the dirt; first. Sheltra retained the
top spot for a majority of the session before other competitors
took their turn at the top of the leader board. Adjustments
by the Sheltra Motorsports team tried to improve the handling
of the Dodge Charger with Sheltra shoving himself back in
the top-five but with an early draw in qualifying; the team
halted their session early with the No. 60 sliding back
in the rundown to 13th overall.
Drawing first in qualifying can pose a disadvantage to
any team no matter what the track but the Whitesville, Kentucky
team was poised to make the best of the situation. During
his one lap run, Sheltra ran a time of 35.107 seconds at
102.544 miles per hour; the effort was Sheltra’s best
lap of the one day show thus far.
“The track is really free,” said the 23-year
old phenom, who qualified 10th. “It’s going
to be an interesting race because of the track conditions.
You’re going to see a lot of the cars on the edge
but I think that can be an advantage for us.”
At the start of the Southern Illinois 100, Sheltra did
not waste any time moving forward in the competitive field.
By the completion of lap two, Sheltra had easily moved into
the seventh position.
Trapped behind the No. 39 of Kelly Kovski, Sheltra was
mining his matters but trying to setup his fellow dirt racing
colleague to move into the first half-dozen. The patience
paid off with Sheltra finally making the pass around Kovski
before being halted with a caution two laps later.
During the caution, Sheltra reported to crew chief John
Hayden that his car “was good but a little snug.”
Hayden acknowledged his drivers response while also asking
for the water temperature. Sheltra responded with “220.”
On the restart, the dirt late model ace made quick work
of the No. 36 of Robb Brent solidly moving into the top-five
while closing in on the fourth position of Josh Richards
when Sheltra immediately keyed the radio and reported a
major climb in his water temperature.
The temperature had climbed to 270 with the veteran ARS
driver ready to make an unscheduled stop to pit road. The
caution flag waived though for Sheltra’s stopped machine
in turn three with Sheltra refiring his Grace Sheltra owned
automobile and catching up to the tail end of the field.
Hayden brought his driver down to pit road for removal
of tape and a hook-up to the cool-down system. Quick work
by the team kept the Buffalo Wings & Rings Racing team
on the lead lap.
Sheltra restarted deep in the pack but charged through
the field before another yellow flag waived allowing the
team to make another trip to pit road. Another hook-up to
the cool down system brought the temperature down. The team
released their driver back to competition planning to bring
him back in the next caution lap but Sheltra reported over
the radio that the motor was skipping.
The return trip to pit road proved to be the final resting
place for the No. 60 Buffalo Wings & Rings Dodge Charger
where the mechanical failure left the team with a disappointing
31st place finish.
“It’s a real heartbreaker,” offered Sheltra.
“We had a car capable of winning the race for sure
but the monkey just won’t get off our back. I’m
disappointed and frustrated to say the least. I want to
thank my guys for giving me a fast car; it’s just
a shame that we couldn’t make it to the end.”
Sheltra added, “I also want to continue to thank
Buffalo Wings & Rings, Ferguson Pipe and all of our
marketing partners for continuing to stand behind our team
in this funk. We’ll refocus and move on to the final
four races where it will be all about winning for the Sheltra
Motorsports team.”
Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is a return trip to
New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) for the running of The
South Jersey Building Trades 150. The 18th event of the
season is set for Sunday, September 13 set to roll off at
1:00 p.m. Eastern. Last year, Sheltra finished 11th in his
inaugural road course debut after starting 21st.
For more on Patrick Sheltra, the Sheltra Motorsports team
and marketing partnership opportunities 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 23-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.
About Buffalo Wings &
Rings:
Buffalo Wings & Rings is the fastest-growing
privately owned franchised chain of restaurants in the nation
serving Buffalo-style chicken wings, onion rings, burgers,
chicken and salads. Founded in 1988 in Cincinnati, OH, Buffalo
Wings & Rings operates 52 franchised restaurants in
the United States. Buffalo Wings & Rings was ranked
the #1 fastest growing restaurant chain nationwide in the
July 2008 issue of Restaurant Business, and ranked in the
top 500 franchises in the January 2009 issue of Entrepreneur.
For more information, visit www.buffalowingsandrings.com
or call 513-831-WING.
TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:
Chris Knight, Sheltra Motorsports
P: 239.834.9797
E: chris@patricksheltra.com |
