Donny Lia, who captured the 2007
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in his first and only season in the
famed ‘Mystic Missile,’ will return to the team for another
title run in 2009.
Bob Garbarino, who got his first
championship ring after 47 years as a Modified team owner with
Lia at the helm of his No. 4 Dodge in 2007, announced today that
he will bring back the Jericho, N.Y., native for the upcoming
14-race schedule.
“Because of our past experience,
we’re very comfortable with having Donny Lia back behind the
wheel and I think he feels the same way,” Garbarino said. “We’re
expecting good results and we’re going to give it the best try
we can.”
Lia echoed the comments of his car
owner when asked about his expectations for 2009.
“We’ve got a great relationship,
and I don’t see why we won’t be able to proceed like we did when
we raced together back in 2007,” Lia said. “It’s really a great
team and a great group of people to work with so I’m really
looking forward to it.”
Lia’s first partnership with
Garbarino produced the best season of either’s career in racing.
Lia brought five wins and four years of full-time experience to
the ‘Mystic Missile’ for the 2007, but he had never finished in
the top five in the points standings. The pairing produced
instant success as the No. 4 found Victory Lane in five of the
first eight races to take a commanding grip on the title chase.
Lia wound up with six wins and 13 top 10s in 16 starts.
After earning the 2007 NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour crown, Lia moved on to the NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series in 2008, where he made a combined 22 starts
with TRG Motorsports and Randy Moss Motorsports. Lia became the
first rookie to win a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race
since 2003 when he took the checkered flag at Mansfield (Ohio)
Motorsports Park in May. He finished 18th in the season
standings with four top 10s.
Lia rejoined the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour twice in 2008. He drove his own No. 18 car to a
third-place finish at his home track, Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway,
in August. At New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, he
started in the H&H Motorsports No. 96 Modified, but after an
early accident he wound up substituting for Rob Summers in the
No. 1 car and drove it to a fourth-place finish.
Lia, who will enter 2009 with 11
wins, 43 top 10s and 13 poles in 97 career NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour starts, is glad to be back with Garbarino and the
series.
“I’m really excited to come back,”
Lia said. “I missed the Modifieds, I always did. We’ll go for an
another championship with Bob, which is what I really wanted to
do, while at the same time run a limited number of races in the
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, which is something I wanted
to do this year too.”
In addition to coming back to the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour full-time in 2009, Lia hopes to also
run as many as 10 races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck
Series.
Lia’s return to the ‘Mystic
Missile’ follows Chuck Hossfeld’s second tenure in the seat.
Hossfeld drove for Garbarino from 2002-04 and registered two
wins and a fourth-place finish in the standings in his return to
the team in 2008.
The 25th Anniversary season of the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will begin with the Icebreaker at
Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway on Sunday, April 5.
Source: Jason
Cunningham/NASCAR PR
Posted:
February 24, 2009
