ARCA Points Leader Patrick Sheltra FIRST In Final Practice At Iowa

NEWTON, July 10, 2010: ARCA Racing Series (ARS) presented by RE/MAX and Menards point’s leader Patrick Sheltra bolted to the fastest lap in the final practice session for tonight’s Prairie Meadows 200 presented by SPEED on Mediacom.

Sheltra, the driver of the No. 60 Recycling Services / Ferguson Pipe Toyota Camry maneuvered his green and orange machine around the .875-mile short track in 23.952 seconds or 131.513 miles per hour. Sheltra ran a total of five laps during the final fifty minute session.

“We’re super happy,” said Sheltra, who leads the ARCA Racing Series point standings by 35 markers over Justin Marks. “We made two qualifying runs there in happy hour and we were able to pick up on our second run from our first. That truly is a testament to the team, our marketing partners and Triad (engine supplier for Toyota). We’ve never been this good at Iowa before, so I’m really looking forward to tonight.”

In the morning session, Sheltra negotiated the Rusty Wallace designed track to a time 24.343 seconds at 129.401 miles per hour. By the end of final practice, the 24-year old Sheltra picked up over three-tenths of a second from his fastest lap earlier today.

With Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying set to launch at 5:15 p.m. CST, the Indiantown, Florida native is focused on starting up front and hopefully delivering his first career ARCA pole.

“I feel like we have one of the strongest cars here,” offered Sheltra. “I know we’re going to have a shot at the pole and those bonus points will definitely help us. But the bigger picture is later tonight. We want to go out there, keep our nose clean and have a good run. I know we could do that; we just need to have a little luck too. It sure would be nice to cap a great day here with a win at Iowa Speedway!”

By posting his eighth top-10 finish of the season at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) on June 11, Sheltra remains the only ARCA Racing Series driver to finish inside the top-10 in all eight races thus far in 2010. Sheltra kicked off his strongest start to an ARCA season with a fifth place performance at Daytona, a 10th place performance at Palm Beach, a fourth place run at Salem Speedway, a seventh place outing at Texas Motor Speedway, his season-best second at ‘Dega, an eighth at Toledo Speedway, a fourth place run at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and most recently a third place outing in the Racing for Wildlife 200 at MIS.

Sheltra drew the 34th of 40 positions for Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying slated for this evening (5:15 p.m. local). Sheltra’s career best finish at Iowa Speedway came in 2008 where he crossed the line ninth in the No. 60 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS.

Cost-effective marketing partnerships are still available for tonight at Iowa Speedway and for the remainder of the 2010 ARCA Racing Series season. For additional information, please contact brandon@patricksheltra.com or marketing@patricksheltra.com.

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 Sheltra’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. 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. All times are local (Central).