O'Reilly Raceway Park is a NASCAR fan favorite for its side-by-side close racing with plenty of action. Donny Lia saw plenty of that action Friday night as he brought home the ASI Limited No. 07 in 16th-place in the AAA Insurance 200.
Lia and the SS Green Light team spent the afternoon practice sessions working on a loose condition, with crew chief Jason Miller and the SS Green Light team making adjustments to Lia's ASI Limited Chevy.
"We were a little free in practice in the heat of the day," Miller said. "We kept making minor changes to tighten up the truck knowing it would get tighter at night, but we couldn't get the handle right for Donny."
In the late afternoon qualifying session Lia posted a best lap of 23.09 seconds at just under 107 mph, giving him the 19th starting position for the race.
"We we're just a little too tight to get the speed we needed in qualifying," Miller said. "I was surprised at how much the small changes we made changed the truck."
Lia settled into the 22nd spot following the drop of the green and began to work his way toward the front of the field, moving into 21st on lap 20 and up to 20th by lap 30. As the sun set over the track, Lia's tight condition continued and he fell back a lap to leader Timothy Peters just past the one-quarter mark of the 200-lap race.
A caution for debris bunched the field on lap 86 and Lia brought the ASI Limited Chevy to the attention of Miller and the SS Green Light crew for four tires and a chassis adjustment to loosen the truck.
As often happens in NCWTS action, cautions breed cautions and Lia was caught in a sandwich with three other trucks on lap 97, causing considerable damage to the right side of the truck. Quick repairs by the SS Green Light team kept Lia from loosing another lap to the leaders.
Lia got back on the lead lap earning the "lucky dog" on lap 142 when he narrowly avoided disaster when rookie Nick Hoffman got loose below him and made contact with the No. 07. The contact sent the rear of Lia's truck into the outside wall and, Lia showed great control to gather up his ride and avoid a huge pileup.
Damage from the two incidents and a fading brake petal slowed Lia's charge to the checkerered, and the New York native crossed the line 16th.
"All in all coming away in 16th with all the action we had was alright," said Miller after the race. "We might have had a top-12 truck but we were just too tight in the race. We were hoping for a little better result, but tonight it just wasn't meant to be."
The next race for Lia and the SS Green Light No. 07 team is the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Pocono Mountains 125 on Saturday July 31.
"I think the whole team is excited about going to Pocono next week," Miller said. "We tested there with Jason White and I think we learned a lot for this race."
