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Donny Lia
Donny Lia
Born	Domenick Anthony Lia; November 8, 1978 (age 46); Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Achievements	2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Race of Champions winner; 2007, 2009 Whelen Modified Tour Champion
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
First race	2007 New Hampshire 200 (New Hampshire)
Last race	2010 Smith's 350 (Las Vegas)
First win	2008 Ohio 250 (Mansfield)
	Statistics current as of September 20, 2022 2008).

Domenick “Donny” Anthony 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.^[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.

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]
2007	HT Motorsports	59	Toyota																									HOM 25	75th	191	^[8]
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]
2008	Randy Moss Motorsports	81	Chevy																		NHA 29	LVS 10	TAL	MAR 28	ATL 17	TEX 14	PHO 16	HOM 16	18th	2466	^[9]
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
		07	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

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

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ted Christopher	NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion 2009	Succeeded by Bobby Santos III
Preceded by Mike Stefanik	NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion 2007	Succeeded by Ted Christopher