Lia qualified for the Too Tough to Tame 200 on Seventeenth with a best lap of 29.29 seconds at just under 168 mph for the 200-mile race.
Donny narrowly avoided trouble on lap ten when teammate Jason White’s truck got loose while trying to make a pass inside of Austin Dillon and spun directly in-front of several trucks including Donny’s. Lia dove the No. 07 to the apron as the trucks scrambled to avoid contact with White’s truck. Donny came out of the melee clean in thirteenth place.
Donny had several good battles on the narrow egg-shaped track with Mike Skinner and Ricky Carmichael throughout the race staying on the lead lap in the top-fifteen for most of the middle stages of the race and looked to be in position for a strong run to the checkers.
Another close call for the SS Green Light No. 07 came when Carmichael got loose and earned a Darlington stripe before shooting across the track right in front of Donny on lap eighty-six.
Shortly after, Donny earned a Darlington stripe barely brushing the wall. After backing off for a lap or two, everything felt good and Donny picked-up the pace.
Donny’s night would be cut short on lap ninety-one when the right front tire on his Chevy blew sending the No. 07 hard into the turn-four wall flattening the side of his truck and causing the races sixth caution. The damage was too severe for Lia to continue and resulted in a twenty-fifth place finish behind winner and point leader Todd Bodine.
With a total of nine caution flags, Darlington Raceway lived up to its nickname of “Too Tough to Tame” with only twenty of the thirty-six starters running at the end of the 200-mile race.
The next race for Donny Lia and the SS Green Light team is the O’Reilly 200 at the Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, August 18th.
For more on Donny Lia and SS Green Light Racing visit www.SSRacingonline.com
- SS Green Light Racing Press Release
