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5/29/2007
DONNY LIA RACKS UP ANOTHER MOD TOUR
VICTORY AT STAFFORD
Mystic Missile Team is Now Batting .500 in 2007
Donny Lia had to wait for years to win a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
race at Stafford Motor Speedway (CT). He mastered the track by winning
there in an SK Modified, but when it came to “Tour racing,” something
would always keep him from victory lane – bad luck, being in the wrong
place at the wrong time or even losing a wheel within sight of the
finish line.
The wait for victory ended last month in the Spring Sizzler,
the track’s first and biggest event of the season. Lia won that race to
score his first victory for the #4 Mystic Missile team owned by Bob
Garbarino. He enjoyed that winning feeling so much, that he returned to
Stafford on Friday night to win again. This time, it was the Connecticut
Classic trophy that Lia was able to capture.
“Sometimes, when it’s your time, it’s your time,” said Lia.
“I don’t know if I’ve paid my dues here or what, but the track is giving
back or something. Hopefully it continues. But hey, everything works in
a cycle – especially luck. We were always close, but something would
always happen and it’d all be out the window.”
In fact, it almost all went out the window late in the race
this time at Stafford as well. Lia had to dodge the spinning car of Eric
Beers late in the race, and narrowly avoided getting caught in another
bad luck incident at Stafford .
“I saw Eric going around and I woah’ed up, cut it to the
bottom and I must’ve missed him by an inch,” said Lia. “I thought he was
going to hit me in the right rear. That’s just luck. If I had entered
the corner just a little bit higher, I probably wouldn’t have gotten
underneath him. You just have to be in the right place at the right
time, especially here; it’s so hard to pass here and it’s a flat
racetrack. Being in the right lane in the right time pays dividends. You
can have the fastest car, but if you don’t catch a couple breaks, it
doesn’t matter.”
In previous years, Lia has been an owner/driver on the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour. He has won five Tour races and has several additional
open show wins in that role. This year though, he has switched gears and
is strictly a driver for the Garbarino team. That new situation has
really worked to his advantage with Lia already batting .500, just four
races into the 2007 Tour season.
“I’ve got to thank Bob and Joan Garbarino,” said Lia. “My
whole crew is making it a lot of fun to come to the track this year.
It’s less stressful for me just being a driver. Maybe that’s making a
difference. Every piece of the equation is helping right now.
“I have a clearer head when I’m in the car this year. I just
have less on my shoulders. Before I was running a race team; this isn’t
Nextel cup, but it’s still a big responsibility. You’ve got a lot of
guys and a lot of equipment and it’s expensive. It’s just a lot on your
mind. He’s given me the opportunity to just focus on being a driver. I
can’t thank him enough for that. I think it’s working out well for both
of us. I can tell the guy what the car needs. I always could, but now I
have a better idea of it all. My head is just in the right place when I
get in the car. Plus, it’s more fun.”
Winning is fun too and Lia hopes to do even more of that as
the Tour season continues.
“We’ve had a good car. As long as the luck stays on our side,
we’ll be in good shape. I know they’re going to give me a good car every
week, so it’s just a matter of me not doing anything stupid out there
and not making any mistakes. It feels great. When you win, you never
know when you’re going to win again, so we won recently and we’ve won
again and I have to thank the guys for that.”
Lia and the Mystic Missile team will return to action on the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour on June 18th at Thompson International Speedway
(CT).
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 PR
Posted:
May 29, 2007 |
