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If you draw a line from Boston down the East Coast to New York City, you will find a number of asphalt oval tracks. Places like Seekonk Speedway in southern Massachusetts, Thompson Speedway and Waterford Speedbowl in Connecticut and Long Island’s Riverhead Raceway. Those tracks all have something in common for Donny Lia. Those are places where he’s won at in the past season and a half.

The only place that had been missing from the list was Stafford Motor Speedway. The tough and tricky track located right outside the quaint village of Stafford Springs, Connecticut had produced some very good runs for Lia, but never a victory.

Well, that was until Friday night when Lia broke through and took the #47 Wisk/Snuggle SK Modified to victory lane after starting 11th in the 40-lap feature. After a season of bad luck and frustration, Lia and his team were finally able to turn their hard work into a tangible result.

“It’s a big load off my shoulders,” said Lia of the win. “It feels like a big weight has been lifted off me. I’ve known that I could do it and I’ve known that for awhile, but to finally get it done feels really gratifying.”

To win at Stafford isn’t just a matter of checking another racetrack off a list somewhere. To win at Stafford is a big deal for Lia both personally and professionally.

“This place is so tricky. Turns one and two are probably two of the hardest corners anywhere that we race. You don’t know where to be coming off the corner. Those turns can bite you. If you are a little too tight or a little too loose, you’re done. So to get it right means that you figured this place out. That feels good.”

The team’s first victory of 2005 didn’t come easy. Lia was quick right off the bat with his new team when the season started, but a practice crash destroyed their first car. The team built a new mount and didn’t miss a beat getting it to the track, but hitting on the right set-up took a little bit of time.

“There’s been a lot of hard work and dedication. We’ve had some heartache and a lot of downs, but not a lot of ups. I’ve got a real great group of guys behind me and they just don’t give up. I’m thankfully for the opportunity that they’ve given me.

“I’m thankful to Rob Chowansky, Joe Santorro and Mike Smeriglio for giving me this opportunity. Mike Paquette from Chassis Dynamics has been helping us out a lot and we finally got this car figured out.”

The win at Stafford almost didn’t happen though. Early in the

race, it looked like the team’s bad luck would continue when a big wreck took place directly in front of Lia. Dust and smoke blanketed the frontstretch. Somehow, the white #47 drove out of the mess without a scratch.

“We were really good tonight, but we also needed some luck. That wreck was like ‘Days of Thunder’. I was in the middle of it and somehow I got through it. I saw it happen up ahead and slammed on the brakes and missed all these guys wrecking all around me. That really pumped me up. I knew that we had some luck and a great car, so I said, ‘let’s go do this’.”

Despite missing a race because of that practice crash, the #47 team has moved up to fourth in the Stafford points, only two markers behind defending champion Ted Christopher. More importantly, they are enjoying themselves.

“We’re having a good time. It was fun to go out there, be aggressive, and pass cars. We’ve haven’t been able to do that. This really helps us out.”

Before the SK feature, Lia also competed in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Stafford. He ran in the top 10 all night long and settled in for a ninth-place finish in the #18 Wisk/Huntington Honda car fielded by Lia Motorsports, Inc.

The finish helped to keep Lia in the top five of the Tour point standings, but isn’t exactly what he wanted either.

“It was a good run, but we’re still missing a little bit for the [Tour] races at Stafford,” said Lia. “These guys are tough and it doesn’t take much at all to be just a little bit off.”

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Toru returns to action Thursday night at Thompson International Speedway (CT).