After a tough start to the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series schedule in 2004, one might have expected the LMI crew to use the recent three-week break in the action to lick their wounds. But instead the guys have been working harder than ever to turn things around. Last Saturday night at Thompson they decided to compete in the Race of Champions Modified Tour event being held there. It was a good opportunity to get some extra laps on a track that will be crucial to their fortunes over the rest of the season. It proved to be a smart choice as Donny dominated the race to pick up his first win in five months, dating back to Florida in February. It was both proof that the hard work has yielded results as well as a huge confidence boost to a bunch of guys that really needed it.
Donny was one of the quickest cars in practice at Thompson. In his qualifying heat he was able to not only make the race but also garner one of the spots in the redraw for starting positions in the feature. He picked the seventh starting spot and the crew went to work making some final adjustments for the race.
When the green flag waved Donny was a man on the move and quickly drove to second behind polesitter Ted Christopher. The pair waged a fierce battle over the next 40 laps. On the 42nd circuit Donny finally was able to get by a fading Christopher and once in front quickly began to pull away. When a caution flag waved near the halfway mark Christopher led most of the field to the pit area for fresh tires. The LMI crew elected not to pit and remained in the lead.
When the racing resumed Donny was able to open a lead once again. But gradually Tony Ferrante began to close in and soon the battle for the lead was on. Donny held his ground as long as he could but the Huntington Honda Chevy was beginning to fade a bit. Finally Ferrante made a pass for the lead on lap 81 and slowly began to pull away. At that point it was starting to look like more disappointment for the LMI team.
But Donny made some adjustments and began to close in once again. The battle for the lead returned and finally on lap 94 Donny made a pass off turn two to regain the top spot. Over the final seven circuits he held his ground and when the checkered flag fell he finally threw the monkey off his back with a long-awaited win. For the first time in too long smiles were the order of the day on the LMI pit area after a race.
“It’s been a tough year for us but today everything finally came together,” smiled Donny. “We had an awesome racecar all day. We battled Teddy pretty hard at the start and some people might have thought I was using my car up too early but I was never concerned about that. My car was so perfect I could have raced that hard all 100 laps and never hurt the right rear tire. There was no reason to save anything because it was there the whole race. We had decided to play our pit strategy by ear but when the caution came our lap times were not falling off at all so the was no reason to come in and give up the lead.
“I knew after everyone had pitted that at some point I was going to have to deal with somebody on fresh tires. It ended up being Tony Ferrante. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy because I had it in my mind he was looking to finally win a race. My car started to get a little tight and finally he was able to get by me and started to pull away. I dialed a lot of rear brake in my car and changed my line and our lap times started to come back down. I knew I could catch him but getting by him was a whole other deal. I knew if I was going to pass him back it would have to be in the corners. Finally I was able to get into turn one better than him and we made just a little contact. He got a little out of shape and had to get out of the throttle and I just drove underneath him. I couldn’t have planned it any better than it turned out. It all just worked out for a change.
“Whether we won tonight or not, I think we proved to ourselves that we’ve found something that we were lacking. We tested here a couple of weeks ago and tried some things that seem to be working for us. The car just has a good feel to it. We went to Loudon and tested there with good results. The car is so fast and so comfortable now. I know we’re going to be better at every track the rest of the season. Hopefully our luck will be better, too. I have to give the credit to my crew and especially my crew chief, Kevin Crowley, for getting things turned around in the right direction. As bad as our year has gone so far they never gave up and just kept working. The bottom line is all that hard work is finally starting to pay off. There is still a lot of racing left and we’ll climb back into the thick of things. Tonight was just the start.”
