#18 Team Finishes 27th, But Clinches Bud Pole Award in Season Finale
The World Series at Thompson Speedway (CT) was the final event for the 2004 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series tour. Donny Lia and his #18 Lia Motorsports, Inc. team had two goals for the race; they wanted to win the season long Bud Pole Award based on having the most pole positions during the year and they wanted to get into the top five of the point standings.
Next up was the race, Lia started in the top 10 and stayed there early on until his fortunes took a turn for the worse. Lia crashed hard into the turn four wall on lap 45 after part of his car came apart.
“The left rear wheel and the tire came off the car,” said Lia. “We were just riding and I felt a vibration that kept getting worse and worse. The next thing I know, something was coming off the back of the race car. It was a weird feeling because I was waiting for
something to happen and it finally did. I just went into turn three and lost the brake pedal. I had a feeling that the problem had to do with the brakes because when I was on the brakes, it felt a lot worse.”
Upon further review, it appears that a brake rotor came apart on the #18 car and took the hub with it. The team searched through the woods off turn three after the race and found the wheel. All, but one lugnut was still attached to their studs, so loose lugnuts were not the problem.
The wreck damaged the #18 car heavily and although they returned to log a few laps near the end of the race, the damage left Lia’s team with a finish of 27th.
“We would have been there at the end,” said Lia. “It’s too bad.”
With the wreck, Lia dropped to eighth in the final standings.
Although the Modified Series season is now over, Lia still has some unfinished business. His team will compete in the North South Shootout at Concord Motorsports Park on November 6th. Lia had a strong run in last season’s event and has an automatic starting spot already secured on the basis of his Race of Champions victory at Thompson earlier this year.
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.
The team accomplished their first goal, under strange circumstances to say the least, and were working towards the second one when the wheel came off their wagon – literally.
First off, Lia showed the way in practice and was a threat to win the pole. However, he was scored as second in time trials after Riverhead Raceway (NY) competitor Mike Andrews, Jr. became the surprise pole winner. Andrews picked up nearly two seconds on his second qualifying lap
Donny settles into his office space.
and stopwatches showed him being slower on his second lap, but there was no defining evidence of a clock malfunction and he was warded the top spot. Lia’s outside pole position was good enough to clinch the Bud Pole Award however.
“This is going to be what it is going to be,” said Lia. “They’re not going to go back on anything. The clock showed a lap time that was good enough for the pole and whether he (Andrews) ran it or not, it doesn’t matter. We’ll just take second. It is what it is. Our goal for today was the win the Bud Pole Award for the year. We accomplished that goal, so we’re excited and happy.”
