Sheltra Motorsports Talladega test notes 2011-03-30

Patrick Sheltra and Sheltra Motorsports Team Top the Speed Charts at Talladega
Sheltra ends Talladega Test atop the Leader board

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 30, 2011) - Patrick Sheltra left the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards test session at Talladega Superspeedway exactly where he ended the 2010 season--on the top. The 2010 ARCA Racing Series champion lapped the 2.66-mile track in a time of 50.575 seconds (189.343 mph), fastest of the 20 drivers to take laps around Talladega's high-banks.

While the test was originally planned to be held both Tuesday and Wednesday, rain forced ARCA officials to cancel the second day of testing, proving Tuesday's fast results that much more important for the 2010 championship-winning team. The Sheltra Motorsports team came to Talladega looking to get a new superspeedway car prepared for the ARCA Racing Series 250 on Friday, April 15.

"It's kind of a new era for us because we have switched our speedway program to Toyota," said crew chief Jon Wolfe. "The biggest thing was that we had the opportunity to draft with the new car. It was a little bit of a learning experience with the Toyota, and we struggled to find speed a little bit with single car runs, but we have a good game plane now in place for what needs to be done to be better. In the draft we were obviously pretty strong, but we lacked a little bit to be able to pull up on cars. All in all we were pretty happy with how the car drafted."

Milka Duno was the first to hit the track in the No. 63 Sheltra Motorsports Toyota focusing on single car runs throughout Tuesday's three-hour morning session. Sheltra, who also holds the title of team owner at Sheltra Motorsports, was at the test to help shake down the new car and to help prepare his rookie driver for her first Talladega Superspeedway start. Completing 28 laps in the afternoon drafting session, Sheltra drove to the front of the pack and the top of the speed charts.

"I'm really happy with the way the car drove," said Sheltra. "I think we got what we wanted out of the test. Jon (Wolfe) and the guys will go back to the shop and make some adjustments. I am really excited to see how the new car will perform in the race."

After a break of almost two months, Sheltra Motorsports will take to the track for the second of 19 events on the 2011 schedule and are looking for strong results when the ARCA Racing Series takes the green flag at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, April 15th.

-source: sheltra motorsports