Patrick Sheltra Wins Ansell Protective Gloves 150

Joey Coulter Takes Prestigious Bill France Four Crown Award

The Start Of the Race… The #76 AARP of Jerick Johnson Car spins on the Green Flag .

And heads for the infield grass.. No caution.. The Race was on

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Patrick Sheltra #60 claimed his second consecutive race in the ARCA Racing Series, winning the Ansell Protective Gloves 150 by 1.669 seconds over Steve Arpin. With his win at Chicagoland Speedway - his first on a speedway and the third of his 82-race career - Sheltra became the second driver with multiple and back-to-back victories this season, joining Arpin.

The 24-year-old Sheltra led 85 of 100 laps to back up his winning performance from just five days earlier, when he won the Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. Sheltra maintained his position as the only driver in the series with top-10 finishes in each of the seven speedway races to date.

"I cannot thank everyone at Sheltra Motorsports enough," said Sheltra, who used the services of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Davidiland as a driver coach. "We had a great car. We opted not to come out and test here (last week) and obviously, it did not hold us back. I can't thank everyone enough. We're on fire right now and we don't plan to let the flame die anytime soon."

Craig Goess (No. 81 Greenville Toyota of N.C. Toyota) started on the Menards Pole for the second time this season. Goess faced a stiff challenge from the start from Sheltra

Sheltra, whose win Sunday came after a daring move to the outside on a late restart, used the outside line at first to drive next to Goess, but eventually passed the ARCA Racing Series points leader on the inside in the first turn of the fifth lap.

Sheltra opened a lead of more than one second after a Lap 15 restart, and immediately found himself under hot pursuit from Justin Marks (No. 32 Construct Corps Toyota), Arpin, and Grant Enfinger (No. 09 BeasleyAllen.com Ford). Enfinger battled Arpin along the low line for third place and passed him in the fourth turn on Lap 23 for the position. With only Marks between Enfinger and Sheltra's lead, the second and third positions were occupied by drivers who had changed their engines before qualifying. Enfinger then moved around Marks on Lap 25 and found himself 1.921 seconds behind Sheltra.

Chad Finley (No. 29 Bumper to Bumper Certified Service Centers Chevrolet), who had started third on Lap 15 and fallen back to sixth, moved along the top of the track and back into third place. Meanwhile, Enfinger was closing the gap on Sheltra, closing within 0.139 second on Lap 29.

Chad Hackenbracht (No. 58 Tastee Apples Chevrolet) hit the turn 2 wall on Lap 33, and Robb Brent (No. 36 Orchard Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Dodge) temporarily assumed the lead within the ensuing caution, the race's second, on Lap 35. Brent eventually had to pit, and Finley took the point on Lap 42.

Sheltra moved away on Lap 47, and just four laps later held a lead of more than one second over Finley. By leading the race's 50th lap, Sheltra took the Messina Halfway Leader Award, a fitting supplement to his Aaron's Lap Leader Award, earned for leading more laps than any other driver.

Arpin moved past Tim George Jr. a Richard Childress Racing Development driver and Marks to take third place, and it was soon his Toyota that was battling Finley for the second position. The side-by-side racing between Arpin and Finley allowed Sheltra to advance his lead to more than two seconds, and his lead only grew before Alli Owens (No. 15) spun on Lap 60 to bring out the race's third caution.

The race's final caution came out when Finley's car went up in smoke and had to leave the track. Sheltra's pursuers had a chance on the Lap 91 restart, but Sheltra pulled away over the final 10 laps to win his second consecutive event in the series and move into third place and within 10 points of Goess in the series standings.

Arpin and Enfinger battled tightly in the waning laps, with Arpin taking the second position. Kimmel and Goess followed to close the top five, and Marks held off Tom Hessert (No. 77 Cherry Hill Classic Cars Dodge) for sixth place. Hessert currently stands fourth, 25 points behind Goess's lead.

Joey Coulter's eighth-place finish, coupled with Sheltra's win, gave him a wire-to-wire win in the Bill France Four Crown Award. Coulter (No. 16 Rip It Energy Fuel/Darrell Gwynn Foundation Chevrolet) defeated Sheltra by a mere 10 points, 745-735, to win the season-within-a-season contest which awards drivers for success on a diverse slate of tracks.

Bobby Gerhart finished ninth to take his first top-10 since the June race at Pocono, and Bryan Silas finished 10th.

At one hour, 21 minutes, and 35 seconds (110.317 mph), the race was 31 seconds short of matching last season's record-setting race, won by eventual series champion Justin Lofton at a speed of 111.020 mph. The five caution periods delayed the race for 30 laps.

9-Time ARCA Champion salutes the fans on the Pace Lap