Donny Lia Hopes Second Time Is A Charm At Stafford

Most racecar drivers will take a second-place finish in just the second race of the season and be satisfied. Don’t be fooled, Donny Lia was plenty satisfied with his runner-up finish at the Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway last month, but when the young Long Island-native left Stafford that afternoon he left hungrier than ever. Being just one position away has made him even more motivated to capture his first-career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory at the Northern Connecticut half-mile.

Since making the trip home from Stafford in April, Lia has had May 26th circled on his calendar. After five career poles at Stafford, including one at this year’s Spring Sizzler, Lia is ready to break in to the win column. Lia will have his second shot at Stafford of the season when the WMT returns for Connecticut Classic 150 on May 26th. Lia has spent the last few weeks getting his LMI #18 machine ready for what could be its first trip to Stafford Victory Lane.

“I think we’re going to be really good at Stafford,” said Lia. “We learned quite a bit last time we were here and I think that for it being our first time at Stafford with a new crew chief (Doug Chouinard), we ran really well. We’ve got a good idea based on the first time at Stafford of what works and when we go back we know what we need to make it better, so I think we’ll be in good shape.”

“I consider Stafford my home track away from home. I probably have more laps at Stafford than I do at my home track of Riverhead, where I started my career. It’s a tricky

track, but I’ve got so many laps here, I think I’ve got the

place figured out. There’s still plenty of other guys out therethat have a lot of laps at Stafford that are going to be tough, but I think we’re going to be pretty strong.

"We would’ve had a top-five at Thompson in the first race of the season if it wasn’t for some bad luck at the end of the race and we got second at Stafford, so I don’t see why we

can’t get another top-five again this week. We’re going into Stafford just to get a top-five, but realistically I think we can win, but in a worst-case scenario we’ll get a top-five.”

The Connecticut Classic 150 will be Lia’s first Modified race since his second-place run in the Spring Sizzler, but the layoff has allowed him and the team to continue the preparation of the LMI #18 for the hearty summer WMT schedule. A new LMI team has been working together since Florida Speedweeks and the combination brought two wins at New Smyrna, a pole, and two solid runs already this season on the Whelen Tour. For Lia, there’s no better time than now to get the win at Stafford for both himself and his team.

“The team has come a long way just in the couple of months that we’ve been together. We started from scratch in Florida and we’ve had some races to really gel, and everyone’s on top of their game right now. The communication and the chemistry have been great. Everyone’s on the same page and it’s working out really well.”

Lia goes into the third race of the 2006 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season eighth in points. The Connecticut Classic 150 is the second of four visits to Stafford this season for the WMT.

Just like he does every time he goes to a racetrack, Lia is headed to Stafford on May 26th with winning aspirations. His visions of victory are especially clear at Stafford, as the driver has already racked up a win in the weekly SK Modified division as well as the five career poles, but a win on the Whelen Tour has eluded him.