Talladega: Patrick Sheltra qualifying report

Patrick Sheltra Maneuvers To Career-Best Nationwide Qualifying Run At Talladega

TALLADEGA, Alabama (April 23, 2010) - - Indiantown, Florida driver Patrick Sheltra posted a career-best 22nd place qualifying effort Friday morning at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in the No. 09 RAB Racing Ford Fusion setting the tone for tomorrow's Aarons 312.

The 23-year old ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards pro will make his fifth career NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) start but first at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. His previous best qualifying run occurred at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway last July for MacDonald Motorsports where he rolled off 27th.

Sheltra was the 28th automobile to tackle the speedway and posted a lap of 52.126 seconds at 183.709 miles per hour which posted the RAB Racing with Brack Maggard team in the 14th spot. At the conclusion of time trials, the second-year Nationwide operation slipped back to 22nd, where they will start their seventh race of the season.

"I was real happy with our RAB Racing Ford," said Sheltra, who will also compete in today's Talladega ARCA 250 for the ARCA Racing Series. "The car is good by itself and in the draft, so I'm looking forward to the race."

He added, "I just want to thank Robby (Benton, co-owner), Brack (Maggard, co-owner) Ben (Gable, crew chief) and the entire RAB bunch for their help and support. I'm looking forward to a good finish in our debut together."

On the ARCA side, Sheltra will start 15th this afternoon in his No. 60 Buffalo Wings & Rings Dodge Charger vying for five straight top-10 finishes in the series first five events for his Sheltra Motorsports operation.

-source: sheltra motorsports