Post: Michigan International Speedway - Cool City Customs 200
Last Lap Maneuver Produces Top-12 for Lia in Michigan
Donny Lia tied his career-best finish at a 1.5-mile race track on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway when he dodged a wreck on the white flag lap to take home 12th place honors in the Cool City Customs 200. Lia, a Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender who was the first rookie to win a race since 2005 when he won just three races ago, was running 19th on the backstretch when the No. 33 spun at the front of the field. Lia took evasive action to avoid the wreck and picked up seven spots in the sprint to the checkered flag.
“That matches our best finish at a speedway track,” said Lia, who qualified his No. 71 NationRides.com Chevrolet in 26th for the start of the 100-lap Cool City Customs 200. “We struggled but actually ended up getting our Silverado pretty decent in the middle run but we came down pit road on one of the late cautions and everybody got jammed up and we got into the back of the 16 truck. That pushed in the grill of our truck a bit and that hurt us real, real bad because we didn't have time to fix it.”
Despite the pit road incident, Lia drove his guts out while struggling with a truck that was less than perfect. “We went back out and I flat-spotted our right front tire and I didn't know it but we realized it after our last stop. If all that hadn't happened I feel like our Nationrides.com Silverado could have finished towards the front and we would have had a pretty decent finish. Our issues put us back, but that whole last lap melee put us twelfth so it worked out well for us either way."
The melee happened on the backstretch after the field took the white flag. Fellow Chevrolet driver Ron Hornaday was tapped by the No. 51 which sent him spinning in front of the field. “I saw Ron spinning and everybody checking up,” explained Lia. “I knew we took the white flag and if the yellow didn’t come
out, we were racing to the checkered flag. I just kept digging. I saw which way he was going and drove through the cloud of smoke with the best judgment that I had as far as where Ron was and where everyone was that was checking up. I never lifted. I just held it wide open and it worked out for us. I came through the smoke and gained a few positions so that was a pretty good move, I guess.”
Good move, indeed. Lia picked up seven spots to take home 12th place, his fourth top-12 finish in nine starts this year. “We kind of struggled all weekend but learned quite a bit about our truck,” said Lia. “Actually it was a pretty productive weekend even though we didn’t run all that great during the race. The guys just keep working hard on our trucks and I feel like we’re making gains each week. Like last night, they were in the wind tunnel until about 3 in the morning. It’s not going to come easy to us, but I know that we’re all working hard and there is nobody that deserves a good finish more than my guys at TRG.”
Lia will take to the one-mile oval of The Milwaukee Mile on Friday night when he returns to the wheel of the No. 71 NationRides.com Chevrolet for the Milwaukee 200. Live television coverage will begin on the SPEED Channel at 8:30 p.m. ET with radio coverage coming to you live courtesy of MRN Radio.
