Domenick Anthony “Donny” Lia
Born (1978-11-08) November 8, 1978
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Achievements2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Race of Champions winner
2007, 2009 Whelen Modified Tour Champion
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
First race2007 New Hampshire 200 (New Hampshire)
Last race2010 Smith's 350 (Las Vegas)
First win2008 Ohio 250 (Mansfield)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 4 0
Statistics current as of September 20, 2022 2008).

Domenick "Donny" Lia (born November 8, 1978)[1] is an American stock car racing driver. 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 on the national level in the ARCA Re/Max Series (now ARCA Racing Series), Camping World Truck Series, and the Nationwide Series.

Early and personal life

Lia owns several car dealerships in the Long Island area along with dealerships around Buffalo, Albany and Hartford areas.[2] Before he began his racing career, Lia competed in Sim-Racing against competitors all over the world, before the start of his career in 1999. He is also an 18-Time National and International Champion in the Radio-Controlled Model Racing Industry, and owns the largest RC On-Road Indoor Racetrack in the United States which he enjoys with his two sons, Michael and Domenick Jr. [2] After retiring in 2017, Lia took a five year hiatus from racing until he returned to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Series in 2022.

Racing career

In 1999, Lia began racing a Legends car at Wall Stadium (Wall, New Jersey).[2] 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, scoring over 20 wins.[3] He competed in the NASCAR Modified division at Riverhead Raceway (Riverhead, New York) and he won Rookie of the Year honors in 2001.[2] 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.

He placed in the top ten in NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series (previous name of the Whelen Modified Tour) points in 2003 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 non-modified 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.

The next season (2007), he was signed by legendary Nascar team owner Bob Garbarino, to drive the iconic Mystic Missile out of Mystic, Ct. They went on to have one of the most dominant seasons in NASCAR’s modern era (to that point)- winning 6 Whelen Modified Tour races including the events at Martinsville, 2 at Stafford, Thompson, New Hampshire, and Riverhead.[2] He clinched the season points championship before the final race.[3] On September 15, 2007 he made his first appearance in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He raced in the Bill Davis Racing No. 36 Toyota at New Hampshire, finishing 20th.

2008 truck

Lia had been set to drive for HT Motorsports in the No. 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 (TRG) for the 2008 season, driving Kevin Buckler's No. 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, with Mike Bliss running the race).[2][4] He had his first Top 10 finish at Martinsville Speedway when he finished ninth. He scored 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. He was the first rookie to win a Truck Series event since Carl Edwards in the 2003 season. He was the also the first driver from Riverhead, New York to win a NASCAR national series race since Steve Park's final Cup Series win in 2001.[2] Late in the season, Lia resigned from TRG, and signed to drive for Randy Moss Motorsports for seven of the final eight races of the season.[5]

Lia returned to the Mystic Missile in the Whelen Modified Tour in 2009, winning four times and winning his second championship.[3] He drove a part-time schedule in the No. 07 and No. 21 Chevrolet Silverados for SS-Green Light Racing in the Truck Series in 2010.[3] He then ran three truck races for Stringer Motorsports near the end of the season.[6]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NNSC Pts Ref
2009 SK Motorsports 07 Toyota DAY CAL LVS BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT
43		 DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 150th 34 [7]

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NCWTC Pts Ref
2007 Bill Davis Racing 36 Toyota DAY CAL ATL MAR KAN CLT MFD DOV TEX MCH MLW MEM KEN IRP NSH BRI GTW NHA
20		 LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO 75th 191 [8]
HT Motorsports 59 Toyota HOM
25
2008 TRG Motorsports 71 Chevy DAY CAL
26		 ATL
20		 MAR
9		 KAN
12		 CLT
34		 MFD
1		 DOV
17		 TEX
19		 MCH
12		 MLW
22		 MEM
26		 KEN
20		 IRP
9		 NSH
16		 BRI
12		 GTW 18th 2466 [9]
Randy Moss Motorsports 81 Chevy NHA
29		 LVS
10		 TAL MAR
28		 ATL
17		 TEX
14		 PHO
16		 HOM
16
2010 SS-Green Light Racing 21 Dodge DAY
30		 21st 1500 [10]
07 Chevy ATL
16		 MAR NSH
22		 KAN DOV
19		 CLT
26		 TEX IOW
26		 GTY IRP
 DAR
25
Dodge MCH
13
21 Chevy POC
22		 NSH
12
07 Toyota BRI
30		 CHI
Stringer Motorsports 90 Toyota KEN
18		 NHA
12		 LVS
28		 MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM

Busch North Series

NASCAR Busch North Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 NBNSC Pts Ref
2005 Solhem Racing 00 Chevy STA HOL ERI NHA WFD ADI STA DUB OXF NHA
28		 DOV LRP TMP 59th 79 [11]

Whelen Southern Modified Tour

NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour results
Year Car owner No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NSWMTC Pts Ref
2011 John Lukosavage 01 Chevy CRW HCY SBO CRW CRW BGS BRI CRW LGY THO
8		 TRI CRW CLT CRW 31st 147 [12]

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ARSC Pts Ref
2006 Hagans Racing 9 Dodge DAY NSH
37		 SLM WIN KEN
41		 TOL POC MCH KAN KEN BLN POC GTW NSH MCH ISF MIL TOL DSF CHI SLM TAL IOW 155th 75 [13]
2010 Venturini Motorsports 55 Toyota DAY PBE SLM TEX TAL TOL POC MCH IOW MFD POC
39		 BLN NJE ISF CHI DSF TOL SLM KAN CAR 138th 35 [14]

References

  1. ↑ Donny Lia Career Statistics
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Barker, Barbara (June 21, 2008). "LIer a driving force". Newsday. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 SS-Green Light Racing (February 10, 2010). "SS Greenlight Racing signs Donny Lia". motorsport.com. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  4. ↑ NASCAR (February 9, 2008). "Modified champion Donny Lia joins TRG". Daytona Beach, Florida: motorsport.com. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  5. ↑ Randy Moss Motorsports (October 7, 2008). "Randy Moss Motorsports names Lia to finish season". Statesville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Lia, Stringer Motorsports team for Kentucky". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. September 1, 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Donny Lia – 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Donny Lia – 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Donny Lia – 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Donny Lia – 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Donny Lia – 2005 NASCAR Busch North Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Donny Lia – 2011 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Donny Lia – 2006 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Donny Lia – 2010 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
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