Lia wins first truck race in dramatic fashion at MMP

MANSFIELD, Ohio -- Rookie Donny Lia banged his way past David Starr on the final lap Saturday to win the Ohio 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck race at Mansfield Motorsports Park.

Lia's victory was his first in eight NCTS starts, and he became the series' first rookie winner since Carl Edwards in August 2003. It was also the first win in NASCAR for TRG Motorsports, which is in its first season in the series.

Ohio 250

Official Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Donny Lia	Chevrolet
2.	David Starr	Toyota
3.	Todd Bodine	Toyota
4.	Terry Cook	Toyota
5.	Mike Skinner	Toyota
6.	Shelby Howard	Chevrolet
7.	Jack Sprague	Chevrolet
8.	Johnny Benson	Toyota
9.	Sean Murphy	Chevrolet
10.	Stacy Compton	Dodge

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Lia's Chevrolet tapped Starr's Toyota in the left-rear in Turn 2 on the half-mile track. Starr, Lia and Todd Bodine went three-wide into Turn 3. Lia had a slight advantage exiting Turn 4 and beat Starr to the checkered flag by 0.241 seconds, with Bodine a close third.

"I knew I had to get to Starr's back bumper to have a shot," Lia said. "I didn't like to have done that, but it was the last lap on a short track. I'd expect the same thing from him if I was in the lead and he was second. David was getting real tight and he squared the corner [Turn 2]. I got into him and turned him sideways. I guess we pulled even on the back straight.

"As we were rolling through the center of the corner, I knew I had to get to the throttle first. I've never won a race coming out three-wide to the checkered flag before."

The 27-year-old Lia was NASCAR's Whelen Modified Tour champion in 2007. TRG's previous experience had been in sports-car racing.

"We don't have any information on the racetracks," Lia said. "That's what makes this win amazing to me. The feeling I have is indescribable. I'm in shock."

Starr led from Lap 80 through 249, 170 total, in Red Horse Racing's Toyota.

"It's just a shame to have it turn out the way it did," Starr said. "We got beat on the final lap. That one hurts pretty bad. Once I got into the marbles [in Turn 2], there wasn't much I could do."

Starr also had a left-front tire going down in the final three laps.

"I could feel it with three laps to go," Starr said. "I was just hanging on."

Bodine, who moved into the points lead by eight over Rick Crawford with seven of 25 races complete, thought Lia drove too hard on the last lap.

"The way he drove it [into Turns 1 and 2] was ridiculous," Bodine said. "He drove in there to turn him."