L.I.'s Lia Hinted At Success (Whether He Meant To Or Not)

(Originally published on May 28, 2008)

Perhaps I should've paid more attention to Donny Lia's mannerisms than his mouth.

It's certainly not that Lia told me a tall tale last July. Upon our first meeting he said he had made peace with the fact that he may never reach NASCAR's upper echelon, after years of doggedly pursuing nothing but on the Whelen Modified Tour. And to this day I believe his sincerity.

Only thing is, while the 29-year-old was explaining his newfound priorities, he did a number on a water bottle in his hand that was quite Freudian. Wrenching it, bending it, tapping it on his desk at his shop in East Northport, shaking his head and finally softly (albeit very briefly) muttering some frustrations about what it takes to get to the promised land.

For full disclosure, I had never before seen Jericho's Lia race. But his explanation that he had seen the bigger picture in life aside, it still wasn't hard to see someone aching for a different conclusion. At the time, it seemed unprofessional to put words in his mouth. His few admissions were so guarded that they didn't seem fit to print for fear of mischaracterizing him on what amounted to a hunch.

But Saturday, the drive that would never go away became apparent even to someone like myself who never saw him toil in the WMT. In only his eighth race in the Craftsman Truck Series, it would've been reasonable for him to settle for a top-five finish at Saturday's Ohio 250, which would have done enough to increase his exposure. But the move past Mike Skinner and the eventual last-lap pass of David Starr for the victory amounted to a woman whose biological clock was ticking. This just wouldn't wait.

As Lia told me Sunday night, "I guess that's what this deal's all about, making waves."

He admitted that there's a fine line between getting all you can and becoming greedy, but that he had a truck that could win and had to try. That he had a truck at all is a story in itself.

Journalists looking on the NASCAR Media site for Lia's mug shot in the days following the win came up empty. After a deal in the offseason to drive the No. 59 HT Motorsports Toyota fell through, his ride in the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevy came so late that he wasn't around for the photo shoot. He wasn't able to compete at the Daytona opener because he missed testing and didn't get certified for the track.

By any reasonable measure, this was going to be a year to get his feet wet. Now, there's a win in his column and a sponsor on his car-NationRides.com, a website designed to help people find used vehicles. Sponsors love drivers that have true passion for the product, so what tells me they couldn't find a better choice than a guy whose father owns car dealerships?

Life is good. Too good to be bothered by Todd Bodine's claims that Lia drove dirty on the last lap. Lia did make contact with Starr, but claimed it wasn't intentional. Starr said that it merely stopped his momentum, and he still finished second.

"Todd Bodine, I guess he's a little upset that it wasn't him that did it and won the race," Lia told me. "He's got his opinion, and he's entitled to it, and if that's the way he feels that's how he feels. But I think he's kind of using me as a scapegoat to get some attention off him after what he did the week before to Ron Hornaday [dumping him at Lowe's]."

He later added, "He can try to paint a picture however he likes. He mentioned on-air, 'Oh, he's a dirty driver. He always has been, blah, blah, blah.' How would he even know how I drive? We've never raced against each other."

Lia admits he lost a little sleep partying all night after the most improbable NASCAR win since David Gilliland at Kentucky in 2006.

But after what Lia's gone through to get here, he's not losing any sleep over Bodine.