Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Donny Lia did what he does best on Friday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis – he raced his way around a short track, claiming a ninth-place finish in his first visit to the Indianapolis bullring.  Lia’s top-10 in the No. 71 NationRides.com Chevrolet helped his TRG Motorsports team claim two top-10s at the 0.686-mile oval – the only multi-truck team to accomplish that feat on Friday night.

Lia entered the 200-lap Power Stroke Diesel 200 with new leadership from NASCAR veteran Crew Chief Jon Wolfe.  The pairing appeared to pay off as Lia raced his way to his third top-10 in 14 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts this year; claiming the Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the third time this year.  Lia’s top-10 was the first top-10 by a Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate at O’Reilly Raceway Park since Roush-Fenway Racing’s Erik Darnell finished 10th in 2006.

The race was tough for the former Truck Series winner who started outside row 12 and fought handling issues during the opening laps of the race.  At one point, Lia fell one-lap down but he claimed the “Lucky Dog” and was strong enough in the closing laps to claim ninth-place overall.

“We were just so tight all night long,” said Lia after the race.  “We got a lap down early and really raced our guts out trying to get that lucky dog.  We got the lucky dog and came back to grab a top-10 and I definitely can’t be discouraged with that.  We came out of here with a top-10 after struggling.  It really feels good to get that Raybestos Rookie of the Race again.  I haven’t had it in while and that’s what we’re out here racing for.  It was a really tough night, but a good night for TRG Motorsports.  We had two top-10s, and that’s the first time that we’ve both finished in the top-10 this year.” 

Even though it was a tough race for Lia, he still felt like he had a strong truck during the middle of the race after the crew made adjustments on their pit stops.  “During the middle part of the race there, I felt like we were as good as anybody,” he said. “I think we were a top-five truck at that point because we had raced our way past all those front runners and got the lucky dog.  It’s just funny how that works out.”

Lia may have had a shot at a top-five run, but several late race cautions kept him from racing to the front.  “The late race cautions really hurt us,” Lia continued.  “We would have been a lot better off with a long run there at the end.  I told my guys on the radio ‘these cautions here are killing us’ because if we would have had a long run we would have been able to pass some trucks there.  My truck wasn’t the best on restarts and would actually get a little bit better as the run went on.  The late cautions definitely hurt us tonight.”

Lia will have another shot at the top-10 when he returns to the wheel of the No. 71 NationRides.com Chevrolet on August 9th for the Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.  Live television coverage will begin on the SPEED Channel at 7 p.m. ET with radio coverage coming to you live courtesy of MRN Radio.

Donny Lia – No. 71

NationRides.com

Chevrolet

July 26th, 2008

O'Reilly Raceway Park

Power Stroke Diesel 200

Indianapolis, IN

Post: O'Reilly  Raceway Park - Power Stroke Diesel 200

Donny Lia Race Post:  Donny Scores Top-Rookie Honors in First Race In Indianapolis

Donny Races with Kyle Busch at ORP. (Ronda Greer Photo)