Domenick “Donny” Anthony Lia (born November 8, 1978)^[1] is an Americanstock car racing driver. He won the 2007 and 2009NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships. He also won the Race of Champions Modified Tour races in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. He has raced on the national level in theARCA Re/Max Series (now ARCA Racing Series),Camping World Truck Series, and theNationwide Series.

Lia owns several car dealerships in theLong Island area.^[2] Before he began his racing career, Lia competed in Sim-Racing against competitors all over the world, before the start of his career in 1999. He is also an eighteen-time national and international champion in the Radio-Controlled Model Racing Industry, and owns the largest RC On-Road Indoor Racetrack in the United States which he enjoys with his two sons, Michael and Domenick Jr.^[2] After retiring in 2017, Lia took a five year hiatus from racing until he returned to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Series in 2022.

In 1999, Lia began racing aLegends car atWall Stadium (Wall, New Jersey).^[2] He won several times including the track's biggest event, the prestigious Turkey Derby. In 2000, Lia continued racing his Legends car with success all over the eastern United States, scoring over twenty wins.^[3] He competed in the NASCAR Modified division atRiverhead Raceway (Riverhead, New York) and he won Rookie of the Year honors in 2001.^[2] He also made his NASCAR Modified Tour debut atMartinsville Speedway. The 2002 season was spent gaining experience for a full-time move to the NASCAR Modified Tour in 2003.

He placed in the top ten in NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series (previous name of theWhelen Modified Tour) points in 2003 on his way to another Rookie of the Year award. He claimed five poles in 2004, more than any other competitor, which earned him the Bud Pole Award. He also competed on the Race of Champions Modified Tour, taking a big victory in the second-annual North-South Shootout atConcord Motorsport Park in North Carolina. Lia continued racing his Modifieds in 2005, winning two Whelen Modified Tour races and finishing sixth in WMT season points.

In 2006, he was given his first opportunity to race in a non-modifiedstock car. He practiced and qualified for theNashville Superspeedway event in the ARCA series. He won one event on the Whelen Modified Tour and twopole positions, and he won three unsanctioned events.

The next season (2007), he was signed by legendary Nascar team owner Bob Garbarino, to drive the iconic Mystic Missile out of Mystic, Ct. They went on to have one of the most dominant seasons in NASCAR’s modern era (to that point)- winning six Whelen Modified Tour races including the events atMartinsville, two atStafford,Thompson,New Hampshire, andRiverhead.^[2] He clinched the season points championship before the final race.^[3] On September 15, 2007, he made his first appearance in the NASCARCraftsman Truck Series. He raced in theBill Davis Racing No. 36 Toyota at New Hampshire, finishing twentieth.

Lia had been set to drive forHT Motorsports in the No. 59Toyota in late 2007, and drove at Homestead hoping for a full 2008 season. However, sponsorship did not pan out, and instead joinedThe Racer's Group (TRG) for the 2008 season, driving Kevin Buckler's No. 71 The Racer's Group/Nationrides.com/Zurich North AmericaChevrolet Silverado starting atAuto Club Speedway (he was ineligible to race at Daytona because of minimum driver proficiency rules, withMike Bliss running the race).^[2][4] He had his first top-ten finish atMartinsville Speedway when he finished ninth. He scored his firstCraftsman Truck Series win atMansfield in theOhio 250 on May 24, 2008 by nudging race leaderDavid Starr out of the way on the final lap. He was the first rookie to win a Truck Series event sinceCarl Edwards in the 2003 season. He was the also the first driver fromRiverhead, New York to win a NASCAR national series race sinceSteve Park's final Cup Serieswin in 2001.^[2] Late in the season, Lia resigned from TRG, and signed to drive forRandy Moss Motorsports for seven of the final eight races of the season.^[5]

Lia returned to the Mystic Missile in theWhelen Modified Tour in 2009, winning four times and winning his second championship.^[3] He drove a part-time schedule in the No. 07 and No. 21Chevrolet Silverados forSS-Green Light Racing in the Truck Series in 2010.^[3] He then ran three truck races for Stringer Motorsports near the end of the season.^[6]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

• Official website
• Donny Lia driver statistics at Racing-Reference

• Living people
• 1978 births
• People from Jericho, New York
• Sportspeople from Nassau County, New York
• Racing drivers from New York (state)
• NASCAR drivers

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from May 2019
• Short description is different from Wikidata