Donny's News

Unfortunately, all good things need to come to an end. Such is the case for Donny Lia's 2004 season. However, while most racers like to see their seasons come to a close, Lia is probably one of the few that wishes it would just keep going and going.

Lia continued his “post season” hot streak by finishing second, by just mere feet, in the annual Turkey Derby last weekend at Wall Township Speedway in New Jersey. It follows Donny's highly emotional win against the best of the best in the Modified world during the North-South Shootout at Concord Motorsport Park (NC) just a couple of weeks ago.

“I couldn’t make a move at the end on (Blewett). He was protecting the bottom. If I did make a move, there would have been a lot of contact and I probably would have had to turn him sideways to win it and I wanted to do it clean. I tried working him over a few times but he has so many laps around the place, he knows where to run. I learned a lot following him around.

Ironically, the accident that Lia just narrowly missed might be what allowed

him to have a shot at winning the event near the end.

“I saw Ken Barry working (Brian)Cramner over in front of me,” added Lia. “I knew Barry had (fresher) tires and was going to make the pass happen eventually. You could just see it coming. They got together and the second it happened, I just jumped on the brakes. I just followed them up the track to not make contact with them. I got into them a little bit but not too bad. We knocked the tow out a little.

“The car was banged up a little bit from that and some other battles and we were in our window to come in and pit. We were going to come in before that but we decided to watch what Barry does with fresh rubber and then make our decision. Being involved in that made our decision to pit a lot easier.

“Going into the race we planned on just going out there and riding. But early on I really felt like we had something so I started going hard. But we couldn't do anything with John at the end. Those guys had that car right on the bottom. He was able to run at his own pace. When your car is not right you have to compensate for it. You have to get into a certain rhythm. If you can’t run that certain rhythm the car wont be right. Even with the new tires we just weren’t good enough.”

The two top-two finishes in the post-Tour “special events” season has Lia's outlook on racing much higher.

“I haven’t been around these Mods a long time, but since I started running a few years ago, there seems to be a sort of rejuvenation of the Modified scene. I don’t know if that is maybe because of new teams or drivers, the track promoters or what. The turnouts are very consistent. The car counts, no matter if it is on the Tour or one of these independent shows, seems to be up. Wherever you go there are 40 to 60 cars. That’s a real strong field. These independent shows have a lot to offer and ranks right up there with what NASCAR is doing with the Mod Series.

“I think (the race officials) did a good job with the race and I will definitely be coming back to the Turkey Derby next year.”

For more information on Donny and the team, please contact Matthew Dillner at (704) 231-7613 and be sure to visit DonnyLia.com.

“It feels real good to end the season this way,” said Lia, who will now have off until many of the Northeast Mod stars reconvene at New Smyrna Speedway (FL) for the World Series of Asphalt Racing during Florida Speedweeks in early February. “Everything is gelling together. We have a great team and we’re all having a lot of fun doing it. We just have to keep this momentum going and go into next year and make it happen. After the win at Concord and the second (in the Turkey Derby), everyone on the team is pumped.

It really has our momentum going the right direction headed into Speedweeks in Smyrna. We are going to put a strong effort into Smyrna and try and win that deal.”

Lia qualified fourth for the annual race held the Saturday after Thanksgiving at the 1/3-mile track, but quickly made his presence felt. Lia avoided an accident with several drivers during the event and found himself in second by the end of the race. He battled on leader John Blewett's bumper over the last several laps, but couldn't make the pass before time ran out.

“We were off just a little bit. Not too bad, but just enough where we weren't going to win the race. The tires ended up giving us a shot at winning the race. Whether you have a good car or not, we at least had a shot at the win. We worked with what we had and to come out of here in second place is great.