ARCA Points Leader Patrick Sheltra Sixth In First Practice At Iowa

NEWTON, Iowa (July 10, 2010) - - Current ARCA Racing Series (ARS)
presented by RE/MAX and Menards points leader Patrick Sheltra knocked off the
sixth fastest time in his No. 60 Recycling Services / Ferguson Pipe Toyota
Camry Saturday morning in preparation for tonightā€™s Prairie Meadows 200
presented by SPEED on Mediacom at Iowa Speedway.
Sheltra enters the ninth race of the 2010 season on the heels of eight
consecutive top-10 finishes in a row including his fifth top-five finish of
the year with a third place result in the most recent ARCA event at Michigan
International Speedway on June 11.
Set to make his fourth career start at the .875-mile Rusty Wallace
designed oval, Sheltra is happy with the way his day has started out.
ā€œThis No. 60 Recycling Services / Ferguson Pipe Toyota is a dream to drive,
ā€??? offered Sheltra, whose retained the top spot in the championship chase
for the third consecutive contest entering tonightā€™s festivities. ā€œWe
decided not to come out and test here but felt like we had a setup that would
point us in the right direction once we unloaded. Needless to say, we are
extremely pleased with the way that car is performing. We need to make some
very minor tweaks to really dial our Toyota Camry in, but Iā€™m stoked about
the race tonight.ā€???
Saturday morning marked the first time that Sheltra has ever landed inside
the top-10 during a practice session at Iowa Speedway. Previously, Sheltra
posted a 16th place effort in 2008 in the No. 60 Sheltra Motorsports Dodge
Charger.
ā€œWe didnā€™t make any qualifying runs or anything, so I donā€™t think weā€™ve
flexed our strongest performance yet,ā€??? sounded Sheltra. ā€œJon (Wolfe, crew
chief) and all the guys on the Sheltra Motorsports team really worked hard
to give me a good car, no matter what the circumstance. I think itā€™s a
top-three car for sure tonight.
The 24-year old ran 49 laps during the hour and thirty five minute session
posting his fastest lap of 24.343 seconds at 129.401 miles per hour, .523
seconds behind session leader Joey Coulter.
In addition to fighting for an impressive ninth consecutive top-10 finish
in a row, Sheltra will utilize tonightā€™s event to also pay tribute to Matt
Hawkins. The Indiantown, Florida native has placed an ā€œIn Memory of Matt
Hawkinsā€??? decal on the b-post section of his Sheltra Motorsports machine in
remembrance for Hawkins, a former Iowa ARCA winner and racing competitor.
Hawkins, the 2008 winner at Newton, Iowa facility lost his life in a tragic
accidental gun-discharge in February 2009. Thanks to long-time decal
supplier, DMC Graphics of Philpot, Kentucky, the Sheltra Motorsports brigade has
made the decal available for tonightā€™s competitors, ARCA officials and track
personnel.
ā€œMattā€™s with us all today,ā€??? Sheltra spoke. ā€œItā€™s pretty cool to see the
entire field have that decal on their car for tonightā€™s race. Hopefully weā€™
ll have a safe clean race and Matt can help guide us to victory lane!ā€???
Sheltra drew the 34th of 40 positions for Menards Pole by Ansell
qualifying slated for this evening (5:15 p.m. local).
Cost-effective marketing partnerships are still available for this weekend
at Iowa Speedway and for the remainder of the 2010 ARCA Racing Series
season. For additional information, please contact _brandon@patricksheltra.com_
(mailto:brandon@patricksheltra.com) or _marketing@patricksheltra.com_
(mailto:marketing@patricksheltra.com) .
Entering Iowa, Sheltra has 75 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 15
top-fives and posted 30 top-10 finishes. A third place qualifying effort at
Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway (April 2009) and Michigan International Speedway (June
2010) is Sheltraā€™s best time trials effort to date. He has controlled the
ARCA field six times for 148 laps.
The Prairie Meadows 200 presented by SPEED on Mediacom (200 laps / 175
miles) is the ninth of 20 events on the 2010 ARCA Racing Series presented by
RE/MAX and Menards schedule. The fifth ever ARCA race at Iowa Speedway is a
one-day show. A final fifty minute practice session has been etched in from
1:00 p.m. ā€“ 1:50 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is slated to begin
at 5:15 p.m. The event will take the green flag shortly after 8:00 p.m.
The event will air live on SPEED. Additional race coverage including live
timing and scoring and audio broadcasting throughout the day will be available
through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) presented by ARCA Nation online at
_arcaracing.com_ (http://www.arcaracing.com/) . All times are local
(Central).
For the latest on Patrick Sheltra, Sheltra Motorsports and marketing
partnership opportunities please visit _PatrickSheltra.com_
(http://www.patricksheltra.com/) .
Join the official Patrick Sheltra fan page on Facebook by clicking _here._
(http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Official-Patrick-Sheltra-Fan-Page/2918198
18750?ref=mf)
About Sheltra Motorsports:
Sheltra Motorsports (_sheltramotorsports.com_
(http://www.sheltramotorsports.com/) ) is a three-tier professional Motorsports organization 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. The
team is headquartered in Indiantown, Florida with additional operations in
Richmond, Indiana and Mooresville, North Carolina.
###
TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:
NAME: Chris Knight, Sheltra Motorsports
PHONE: 239.834.9797 or 239.214.1083
EMAIL:
(mailto:%20%20\n%20%20%20This%20email%20address%20is%20being%20protected%20from%20
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chris@patricksheltra.com