10/18/06

Lia Makes The Right Moves To Finish Fourth at Thompson
LMI Team Rebounds From Wreck To End Up In The Top Five

    The 2006 year has been a season filled with bad luck for Donny Lia and his #18 Lia Motorsports, Inc. team. Preparation and skill have been no match for being in the wrong place at the wrong time or having parts break unexpectedly throughout most of the year.
    Early in the World Series NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Thompson International Speedway (CT), it looked like the same story would be retold. Lia was stuck right in the middle of a 17-car wreck and involved in a few other incidents right after making a routine pit stop. In the end though, he rebounded to a solid fourth-place finish.
    “We had some good luck today,” said Lia. “We had a lot of ups and downs. I thought that after we pitted, we tightened the car up too much. That hurt us a little bit, but not as much as all of the wrecks out there. When there was a wreck, I was either in it or just barely missing it. I had to make some evasive maneuvers and lost some spots every time that there was a wreck in front of me.
    “We lost a bunch of spots for being in the wrong places at the wrong times, but at the end of the day we were really lucky. Any of those wrecks could have ended our day and they didn’t. The first wreck hurt the car a little bit. We lost the alternator belt there and that robbed us of some power for the rest of the race.”
    But even with the chips stacked against him, Lia made the right moves on the track to bring home the best finish possible under his circumstances.
    “I’m real happy to come out of here in fourth. It’s my first top-five finish at Thompson. We have just had so much bad luck here and we never have been able to get the car right. There’s something about this place. It’s a tough race track.”
    Last week, Lia won his first Tour race of the season at Waterford . This week, he got his first career top-five finish at Thompson. That sets the stage for another strong finish in his next event, the Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway on October 28th.
    “We’re on the right track,” said Lia. “This is a great way to end the season. We got another top five and I’m looking forward to Stafford coming up. We’ve got a little momentum going. I think that we can win anytime that we go to the racetrack. These guys are working hard and I’m proud of them. We should be strong at Stafford .”
    For more information on Donny Lia, please contact Mike Twist at 207-590-1786 and be sure to visit DonnyLia.com.

Source:  Mike Twist/Lia Motorsports Inc PR
Posted:  October 18, 2006