07/08/06

Donny Lia Heads to New Hampshire With Different Attitude

    As Donny Lia heads into what is arguably the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s biggest race of the season, the July event at New Hampshire International Speedway, he is in a little bit of a different position in his Modified Tour career.
    Lia currently sits third in the Tour standings behind two former champions who have 11 titles between them – Mike Stefanik and Tony Hirschman. Getting into that position has been the result of Lia changing his own racing philosophy.
    The young driver from Long Island has won races from Massachusetts to Florida and just about everywhere in between over the past three seasons, but now Lia is looking harder at the big picture and thinking like that helped him to finish third in the July 4th Mod Tour event at Stafford Motor Speedway.
    “It’s 180-degrees different,” said Lia. “Right now, I just try to get the best finish that I can. In the past, I’ve made mistakes and now I’m trying to use that to my advantage and learn from the past.”
    At Stafford, that meant taking a car that might not have been top-five worthy and finishing third with it.
    “It was a good day for us. We might have not had a top five car, but we pulled out a good finish. We missed the set-up a little bit by over adjusting and it was too tight for the race. It just couldn’t get through the center of the corner like I needed to and that kept me from being able to attack. Rather than offense, I was on defense for most of the night.
    “I’m happy to finish in the top three. These guys didn’t give up and I’m proud of them. I’m glad that I could bring the car home for the guys. They work really hard and deserve to be up front.”
    But the kinder and more cautious Lia still likes to win and he is hoping to do just that at New Hampshire.
    “Maybe we’ll have a breakthrough there. I hope to have a car that can contend for the lead and the win. We got a little bit of track time in testing there before it rained and that went well, so I think we’ll be good at NHIS. I’ve always been good there. I really like the place.”
    And to win at NHIS would be a major accomplishment for Lia both professionally and personally.
    “That would be a dream come true,” said Lia “The Modified races at New Hampshire are just so exciting for both the drivers and the fans, I can only imagine what it would be like to win one.”
    The New England 100 for the NASCAR Whelen Tour is set to see its green flag at 1:10pm on Saturday, July 15th at New Hampshire International Speedway.
    For more information on Donny Lia, contact Matt Kentfield at (704) 455–2051 and be sure to visit www.donnylia.net.

Source: Matt Kentfield/NASCARtouring.com/WMT PR
Posted:  July 08, 2006