One of the longest and most prestigious NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series races is now in the books after Sunday’s running of the Sunoco Thompson 300 at the Thompson Speedway (CT), where Donny Lia and his #18 Lia Motorsports, Inc. team finished 14th. It might have not been the stellar day that the team had hoped for, but all things considered it was not as bad as they might have feared.
"All day, we couldn’t show what we had," said Lia. "The wreck in the end really hurt us. It was the third time that we got damaged. We had another terrible finish, so this team needs a 'pick-me-up.' We’re fast and these guys are great, but things haven’t worked out too well in the past few races."
That 'pick-me-up' might come at New Hampshire. In July at the track, Lia came back through the field after a late pit stop to finish fifth. He had one of the fastest cars on the track and knows that his chances are
good when he returns to the track, often referred to as the “Daytona” of Modified racing.
"We pitted a little bit too late last time," said Lia. "I had such a good car though. I know that we can win this race. I love this track. It’s fast and wide. There is plenty of room to race and it’s really smooth. It’s an awesome place to race. It’s the only place we go where the draft comes into play and I like that. It brings a lot more strategy into it."
Lia won earlier this season at the Riverhead Speedway (NY), which is the smallest track on the schedule. A victory at the largest track that the series visits all year would round out his racing resume.
"I’ve won two races at Riverhead and some people might go and say that I can only win there at my home track," said Lia. "Nobody could say that if we win at New Hampshire. That would say a lot about our program. I’ve got a great team and I know that we can go
anywhere and win. To do that would be big."
With just three races left in the season, Lia and his team are ready to close out the year on a good note.
"We’ve had a few bad races, but we’re not down at all," said Lia. "This team is ready to go and we know what we are capable of."
The NASCAR Modified Series 100-lap race is scheduled for Friday afternoon. It will be televised by Speed Channel at 10:00pm ET on Friday evening.
Donny Lia and his Lia Motorsports Inc. team are competing for the 2004 Championship in the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series this season. For more information on the team, please contact Matthew Dillner at (704) 231–7613 and be sure to visit DonnyLia.com.
Now, there won’t be much rest for Donny and team as they quickly regroup and gather again on Wednesday afternoon to sign into the pits at the one-mile New Hampshire International Speedway for the second event of the season at the series' largest track.
"It was a frustrating day, but we know what our problems were," said Lia of his Thompson event. "A part gave us a problem early on and there was nothing we could do about it until after the first segment. We fixed, but we were off sequence when it
Lia concentrates on the race ahead of him.
came to pitting for our tires. That got us in a hole that we could not get out of. It was too late for a good finish. The damage was done."
The race was divided into three 100-lap segments with the average finish of all three determining the overall finishing order. Lia finished 12th and 13th in the first two portions of the race and failed to finish the final leg after a wreck with the slower car of Dave Etheridge.
Donny's team attends to their car after a practice session to scuff tires.
There were plenty of preparations that the #18 had to make to get ready for 300 laps of racing.
