Night Number Two at New Smyrna Works Out Well For LMI Team
When Donny Lia won on night two of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway (FL), he did it in style. Lia led all 25 laps of his feature race to take his first victory of the young season.
The car was really good," said Lia. "It stayed the same, which is what we were working on, trying to keep the car consistent throughout a run. I think we figured out what we needed to do for the most part."
During a blistering fast qualifying session which saw Friday night's winner Eric Beers smoke around the track in 16.526 seconds, Lia timed in fourth fastest. After the inversion, he started from the first position.
At the green, Lia pulled the field around with Beers hot on his tail. In the first few laps, Beers pressured Lia for the top spot. Beers faded relatively quick, but Lia wasn't in the clear as numerous restarts challenged his skills.
"The restarts were great all night," explained Lia. "I think we got as good of restarts as we could get every time. They never really outsmarted me."
Lia's #18 battled with Eric Beers; #9 early on. (Jim Dupont Photo)
Donny Lia and his team in victory lane. (51 Photo)
Lia also had to survive challenges by the brothers Blewett. As the two swung around traffic behind Lia, John Blewett III took aim first but could not catch him. Younger brother Jimmy Blewett worked his way around his brother's car to see what he could do. In the end, no one could catch Lia before the checkered flag fell.
"It seemed like a pretty uneventful race leading the whole thing," said Lia. "But when you have the opportunity to sit on the pole you have to make the most of it and not make any mistakes and make it so you do not beat yourself. Let them beat you.
"We started on the pole, stayed out front, won the race and I've got a car in one piece for the next night."
The Modifieds take a night off before returning to action at New Smyrna on Monday night.
