ARCA

Mansfield: Patrick Sheltra race report

Mechanical Gremlins Attack Patrick Sheltra Hard At Mansfield "Team Determined To Rebound Despite Tough Night" MANSFIELD, Ohio (July 17, 2010) - - For the second consecutive race, Patrick Sheltra and his Sheltra Motorsports team were bit ...

Published: Jul 18, 2010, 3:35 PM

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Mechanical Gremlins Attack Patrick Sheltra Hard At Mansfield
"Team Determined To Rebound Despite Tough Night"

MANSFIELD, Ohio (July 17, 2010) - - For the second consecutive race, Patrick Sheltra and his Sheltra Motorsports team were bit by circumstances beyond their control as two separate mechanical failures forced a upsetting 21st place finish Saturday night in the Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA 200 at Mansfield Motorsports Park (MMP).

Sheltra in the No. 60 Sheltra Motorsports Dodge Charger entered the 10th race of the 2010 ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards season hoping for a quick rebound from the most recent contest at Iowa Speedway where an engine failure last Saturday night resulted in the team's worst finish (29th) of the year.

The Indiantown, Florida native started his one-day show at Mansfield by posting the 16th fastest lap in practice only to find additional speed in qualifying to put his Chrysler nameplate 14th in the starting lineup for his second ever tango with the Ohio-based speed plant.

In typical Sheltra fashion the drop of the green flag saw the No. 60 quickly move up through the field and by lap five; Sheltra had carefully maneuvered his automobile into the top-10.

When the caution flag waived on lap 25 for a light spin on the backstretch, Sheltra radioed his Sheltra Motorsports team led by veteran crew chief Jon Wolfe that his car was good but he needed a little help rolling through the center of the corner.

Wolfe acknowledged his driver's request by informing him that a chassis adjustment would be made to correct the problem during the first round of pit stops. Unfortunately, while racing in the eighth position on lap 57, Sheltra furiously informed his team that the battery was dead. As the 24-year old was preparing to make an unscheduled pit stop under green, the yellow flag waived for a multi-car incident in turn four ultimately allowing the team to investigate the issue under a slower race pace.

Despite losing several laps to the leaders, Sheltra returned to the track with a new batter in-toe hoping to keep his nose clean and keep his championship chase intact. Uncharacteristically for the team's season; the night continued to spiral out of control.

A few laps later, Sheltra would have to bring his No. 60 Recycling Services / Ferguson Pipe Dodge Charger back down pit road as the new battery would not hold a charge. Upon further review by the team, it was determined that a line to the alternator had broke; which forced an additional repair on pit road. Despite losing more laps to the competition, Sheltra returned to the race track just hoping to salvage a decent finish but a rear-end failure just shy of half-way brought the team's frustrating night to a screeching halt.

"We're down but we're not out," said Sheltra, who now has eight top-10 finishes in 10 races this season. "It was another tough night, but we will shake this monkey and get back to our championship form. We're only at the halfway point and there's a lot more racing left. We cannot afford to let these past two races affect our long term goal. It's important to the team, our marketing partners and our fans that we bounce back in typical Sheltra Motorsports fashion. You'll see what I am talking about at Pocono."

With the finish, Sheltra took a dip in the ARCA Racing Series championship point standings, dropping from second to unofficially fourth tied with Tom Hessert accumulating 2,345 points. Sheltra now sits 125 markers behind leader Justin Marks. 75 merits keep Sheltra from moving back into second locked by Craig Goess with 40 credits keeping the Mooresville, North Carolina based team from third held by nine-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel.

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series is a return trip to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway for the running of the Weis Markets 125.

-source: sheltra motorsports

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