Patrick Sheltra Is The 2010 ARCA Champion

Patrick Sheltra may have lost the battle, the American 200 presented by Black’s Tire & Auto Service but he won the war, the 2010 ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards championship with a fourth place finish in the ARCA season finale Saturday afternoon at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway.

The finish was good enough to secure the ARCA Racing Series championship title by 20 points over Craig Goess Jr., who finished right behind the No. 60 Tequesta Road and Bridge of Florida / Jones Group International Toyota Camry in fifth. Sheltra, the 24-year old rising star quickly made his march to the front and took control of the field on lap 61 to collect five bonus points. Sheltra would then re-inherit the lead on lap 87 and led until the final restart of the day when a tight handling machine developed and dropped the Indiantown, Florida native in the race rundown.

Sheltra though was determined to crown his Jon Wolfe-led team with the ARCA Racing Series championship and held off the No. 81 of Goess over the final five circuits to claim his 12th top-five finish of the year and his 17th top-10 overall. Both were 2010 ARCA Racing Series highs.