Rookie Donny Lia did something no other rookie in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has done in five years - he won.
Lia, NASCAR’s 2007 Whelen Modified Tour champion, passed race leader David Starr on the final lap to win Saturday’s Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Park.
“You know, I got into (David) Starr right there a little bit and hey, that’s last lap racing and I’m sure he owes me one now but that’s cool,’’ said Lia. “You know if it’s the last lap and I’m in his position then I’m going to anticipate him hitting me anyway whether I did it today or not. That’s just short track racing and you know, I just can’t believe we are here right now. It’s just really unbelievable.”
The 27-year old Jericho, N.Y., native became the first rookie to win on the circuit since Carl Edwards won in Nashville in August 2003. And Lia led only the last lap of the race as seven drivers exchanged the lead six times as 15 cautions consumed 80 laps. Terry Cook and Mike Skinner rounded out the top-5 finishers and were followed by Shelby Howard, Jack Sprague, Johnny Benson, Sean Murphy and Stacy Compton.
Lia won $45,500 from $513,636 in posted awards.
Terry Cook finished fourth behind Starr and Bodine with Mike Skinner taking fifth. Shelby Howard, Jack Sprague, Johnny Benson, Sean Murphy and Stacy Compton completed the top 10.
All but two drivers in the 36-truck field finished the race — 29 of them on the lead lap.
Bodine assumed the championship lead by eight points over Rick Crawford as previous leader Ron Hornaday Jr. was involved in an accident on lap 47 and spent most of the race behind pit wall as his crew repaired his Chevrolet. The defending series champion was credited with a 35th-place finish, 105 laps behind the winner.
Pole starter Benson led the race’s first 45 laps before being passed by Hornaday, whose advantage lasted less than two circuits before a mishap in the fourth turn. Skinner, Howard and Dennis Setzer led during the next 33 laps before Starr — who’d pitted for fuel early — cycled back to the front and remained there through multiple restarts.
The event’s final caution, for Brendan Gaughan’s spin in the second turn, proved to be pivotal as it erased Starr’s five truck-length lead and set up the final-lap dramatics.
“It was just good short-track racing,” Starr said. “I guess I left a hole open and he got into me in the left rear. We just drove into Turn 3 on a prayer. (Lia) had the preferred line.”
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