While
the teams of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour have been on their spring
break, with a gap in their schedule of over a month, Donny Lia has continued
to be a busy racer. He made his USAR Pro Cup debut earlier this month at
Lonesome Pine Speedway (VA) by qualifying third and finishing a very
respectable 13th and he has been competing at Stafford Motor
Speedway (CT) on a weekly basis in the #47 Wisk/Clorox SK Modified.
So as
the Modified Tour gets ready to return to action this Friday night at
Stafford, Lia is all set up to do a little bit of double duty. He’ll run
the 150-lap Tour race in his #18 Lia Motorsports, Inc. car while also
driving the SK Modified in a 40-lap feature.
And
logging laps at Stafford is a very good thing for a driver.
“There’s no way that having more experience at a track can’t help,” said Lia.
“One of the reasons for running the SK was to get more seat time at
Stafford. We run there four times a year [with the Whelen Modified Tour],
so it can only help.”
“Stafford is one of the toughest and most technical tracks where we race.
The corners on each end of the racetrack are so different. You have to
negotiate them almost completely opposite of each other. The track has its
own little quirks and they are different quirks. It’s tricky. That place
and Thompson are the two hardest tracks that I’ve ever raced at. Since we
have eight Tour races at those two tracks, you have to figure those out. To
win a race either place would be a big accomplishment. You have to have the
whole package together. The team, driver and car all have to be perfect.”
Lia’s
team has not been sitting around either during their time off.
“The
guys in the shop have been getting some cars ready. We redid a car from
last year to get that ready to run. They’ve been getting a little antsy to
get going again after a big break. They want to go racing again.”
Any
downtime from now through September will be a valuable community for teams.
In the next 17 weeks, the Whelen Modified Tour hits the racetrack a total of
15 times and that can take its toll on competitors.
“We’ll
have our work cut out for us. There is a pretty good stretch of racing
here. Everyone wants to go racing right now; but five or six races into
this stretch, they might be wanting some time off again. Hopefully,
everyone has gotten the most of their break.”
Since
the Modified Tour last took to the track in early April, Lia has run a
string of SK Modified events in the #47 car. He has been fast enough to win
on several occasions, but bad luck has bit the team time and time again.
Still, the team won’t be giving up anytime soon.
“The
whole operation that they have to go SK racing is an awesome one. Those are
great guys who work very hard and we have a great sponsor in Wisk. They
really remind me a lot of my own Tour team that we’ve built up over the past
few years. They just don’t give up. We’ve had a lot of bad luck so far
this year and eventually that will turn around. Those guys know that and
they just won’t throw the towel in. They could have a few times this year
and they just won’t do that. I like being around them. Their goals are to
win no matter how hard they have to work to do that. I love working with
those guys.”
Lia
has shown the speed needed to excel in a SK Modified several times this
year, but hasn’t sealed the deal quite yet.
“There
have been a couple of races that we should have won already. But at the end
of the day you are either winning or not. Should have, would have or could
have doesn’t matter. Once our luck turns and we get it all together, we’ll
be fine. Everything is in place for some success as long as things line up
a little bit better.”
Friday
night at Stafford presents an opportunity for Lia to turn both of his
seasons around.
“We
hope to come out of Stafford with the wheels on both cars and a couple of
good finishes. Even if we don’t win, if we can get a few good finishes to
build some momentum on, we’ll be happy. That’s what we need.”
For
more information on Donny and his team, please contact Matthew Dillner at
(704) 231-7613 and be sure to visit DonnyLia.com.
