ARCA Racing Series veteran driver Patrick Sheltra had to wait nearly two and a half hours after going out 15th Friday morning to determine his starting position for tomorrow’s Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona. When the 52nd car driven by Lance Fenton crossed the start-finish line, Sheltra had officially locked himself into the 11th place starting position, tying a career best for the Indiantown, Florida native on a superspeedway.
Last April, Sheltra in the same machine qualified 11th at Talladega (Ala.) Speedway. Friday’s effort though beats his previous best qualifying run at the 2.5-mile superspeedway by five positions from last February.
Sheltra’s lap of 50.059 seconds at 179.788 miles per hour awarded the 23-year old rising star with his third career start at the “World Center of Racing.”
“I pointed out yesterday that our car was going to qualify somewhere between eighth and 12th and we were right on,” Sheltra said. “Our PowerTrac Machinery Dodge Charger is a fast one. I am very confident of the performance we will have in the draft tomorrow afternoon which should make us a factor for the win.”
He added, “I just want to thank everyone including my crew chief Jon (Wolfe) and the entire Sheltra Motorsports team and our marketing partners for their support. I’m really looking forward to the race.”
Sheltra garnished additional attention for his qualifications lap as it was the exact time and speed of IZOD IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick who will make her first start in a stock-car alongside Sheltra’s No. 60 PowerTrac Machinery Dodge Charger tomorrow in the 12th position.
“I think she (Danica) has a pretty good car,” said Sheltra. “She just needs to play it smart, bide her time and pay attention. I know she is going to have a car that drafts real good, I just hope she respects the drafting and “bump drafting” for what it is and uses it right. Maybe she’ll even help us win this thing tomorrow,” he added smiling.
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