Donny Lia is an American racing driver from Jericho, New York. He won the 2007 and 2009 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships. He also won the Race of Champions Modified Tour races in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. He has raced in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Racing career
In 1999, Lia began racing a Legends car at Wall Township Speedway. He won several times including the track's biggest event, the prestigious Turkey Derby. In 2000, Lia continued racing his Legends car with success all over the eastern United States.
In 2001, Lia competed in the NASCAR Modified division at Riverhead Raceway and he won Rookie of the Year honors. He also made his NASCAR Modified Tour debut at Martinsville Speedway. The 2002 season was spent gaining experience for a full-time move to the NASCAR Modified Tour in 2003.
In 2003, Lia placed in the top ten in NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series (previous name of the Whelen Modified Tour) points on his way to another Rookie of the Year award. He claimed five poles in 2004, more than any other competitor, which earned him the Bud Pole Award. He also competed on the Race of Champions Modified Tour, taking a big victory in the second-annual North-South Shootout at Concord Motorsport Park in North Carolina. Lia continued racing his Modifieds in 2005, winning two Whelen Modified Tour races and finishing sixth in WMT season points.
In 2006 he was given his first opportunity to race in a stock car. He practiced and qualified for the Nashville Superspeedway event in the ARCA series. He won one event on the Whelen Modified Tour and two pole positions, and he won three unsanctioned events.
In 2007 he won six Whelen Modified Tour races including the events at Martinsville, 2 at Stafford, Thompson, New Hampshire, and Riverhead. He clinched the season points championship before the final race. On September 15, 2007 he made his first appearance in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He raced in the Bill Davis Racing #36 Toyota at New Hampshire, finishing 20th.<ref name=racing-reference>NASCAR Driving statistics], Retrieved October 1, 2007</ref>
He had been set for HT Motorsports with the #59 Toyota in late 2007, and drove at Homestead hoping for a full 2008 season. However, sponsorship did not pan out, and instead joined The Racer's Group for the 2008 season, driving Kevin Buckler's #71 The Racer's Group Nationrides.com/Zurich North America Chevrolet Silverado starting at Auto Club Speedway (he was ineligible to race at Daytona because of minimum driver proficiency rules; NASCAR will evaluate his intermediate track experience before permitting him to race at Talladega Superspeedway later in the year, which may also require an ARCA race at Talladega the day before). He had his first Top 10 finish at Martinsville Speedway when he finished ninth.<ref name=racing-reference />
He had his first Craftsman Truck Series win at Mansfield in the Ohio 250 on May 24, 2008 by nudging race leader David Starr out of the way on the final lap, which is currently the only lap he has led in his Truck Series career. He is the first rookie to win a Truck Series event since Carl Edwards in the 2003 season.
References
External links
|
