Donny's Icebreaker Performance Runs Out of Gas Early
LMI Team Ends Up 15th at Thompson
For awhile, it looked like the sun was shining brightly on Donny Lia during the Icebreaker at Thompson International Speedway (CT). Lia led 25 laps in the season opening NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event and looked to be on track for a strong finish, possibly even a victory, in the annual event.
But then, Lia’s luck began to chill after a scheduled pit stop to take on tires.
As Lia was advancing through the pack along with several of the other top guns who pitted, he was one of over a dozen drivers to get caught in a big wreck off turn four. The rear of Lia’s #18 car was damaged, but he kept trucking to the finish line – until he ran out of fuel with only six laps remaining. Lia ended up with a 15th-place finish.
“We had a good car and I’m really, really proud of these guys,” said Lia. “I don’t blame them one bit for missing on the fuel, because I never saw it coming myself. I never thought about it. We’ve just got a gas guzzler. I’ve got a great motor, but it’s a guzzler. We weren’t on top of how much gas it was using and that cost us.”
Last season, Donny finished 17th in The Icebreaker after a hub problem set his #18 team back.
Rather than be disheartened after the race, Lia looked ahead to what he expects to be a strong season with his LMI Modified team.
“I’ve got a good team and we’ve got some good cars,” said Lia. “I’m really excited about what’s ahead of us for this year.”
Up next for Lia will be his ARCA RE/MAX Series debut at Nashville Superspeedway. He’ll drive the #9 Hagans Racing Dodge in the PFG-Lester 150 on Saturday, April 15th.
The Nashville race is set for 1:30pm ET and will be televised live on SPEED Channel.
