Cars on Two Wheels & In the Fence at Finish of NHMS Mod Race
Lia Wins – Plenty of Trash Talkin’ About Last Lap of the Race
by Bob Dillner
Whether you loved it or hated, the conclusion of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is something that will be talked about for years to come. The finish was reminiscent of the infamous battle between 9-time NASCAR Modified Nat’l champ Richie Evans and former Daytona 500 champ Geoff Bodine in the modified portion of the Dogwood 500 at Martinsville Speedway in 1981. In both cases, cars were in the wall and up in the catch fence coming to the checkered flag.
“There’s no excuse for pulling the kind of crap he was pulling out there,” Geoff Bodine would tell journalist Roy Dunn back on that spring day of 1981.
“I don’t know what he was doing; trying to commit suicide, I think,” was Evans response to the incident.
More than 25-years later, it was three NASCAR Modified champions slinging mud after what would be the most infamous finish in nearly 20-year history of Modifieds at the “Magic Mile.”
“It was chaos,” said winner Donny Lia in victory lane.
That chaos involved 2007 WMT titlist Lia, 2003 series kingpin Todd Szegedy and defending champ Ted Christopher. On the final lap Christopher, who had made up a lap he lost from a loose oil line earlier in the race, was leading going into turn three. Lia made a slingshot maneuver past Christopher to lead in the middle of three and four and then Szegedy pulled off a bonsai move by both of them to lead at the beginning of turn four.
What happened after that is a bit cloudy, even to some of those who were in the middle of the action.
“I think I made the move down the back straightaway on Teddy (Christopher). What happened after that man, I don’t know,” explained Lia to the best degree that he could. “I don’t know who was Teddy and who was Todd; I know it was the two of them. Somebody dove real low to the bottom through three and four and I saw maybe two cars coming up the racetrack. I rolled out of it and tried to cross them both over. I didn’t quite make it all the way to the bottom, but made it to the middle and that’s where I stayed. I kept my foot in it and tried to keep it in between them. Whoever it was on the bottom, and I don’t know who it was because it’s just all a blur right now, they just moved up the racetrack when I was there coming on the front stretch. He probably should have stayed where he was.”
The guy Lia is referring to is Christopher. When asked about what spurred the incident coming off of turn four, this is what TC has to say.
“Well, you’d have to ask the guy that turned me more than anything. I passed 50 cars; we were putting on a great show and never touched a soul. And I can understand the last lap; we were all rubbing and banging and moving people out of the way, but you know what? Those two decided to dive bomb into turn three and I drove underneath them. So I come off there nice and free in front of those guys and for him (Lia) to turn me like that, it’s a long season ahead, and I don’t like the guy anyhow.”
As for Szegedy, he and Christopher wound up climbing the wall and the catch fence coming off of turn four. Christopher never lifted and finished fifth. Szegedy was eighth.
“What are you going to do? We’re all trying to win,” Szegedy will tell us while standing next to his mangled modified. “We’re racing really hard. We’re here to put on a show for everybody and that’s what we did.
“I had a ton of momentum (going into turn three) and I said, ‘Heck with it, I’m going to sail it into three.’ I knew if I just drove that thing in as hard as I could drive it in, I would clear the both of them. I think maybe I drove in a little too hard, slid up a little too much, and that enabled them to get up underneath me. I saw the both of them in my mirror; I held my line and we all kind of tangled and bumped. I’m not sure what happened after that.”
“Todd, who normally doesn’t race like that, I think was trying to be clean,” said Lia. “It’s just so hard to nowadays because everyone’s going to race you that way and if you don’t race them back that way; the nice guys finish last. So for me, I just said, ‘You know what? I’m going to keep my foot in it and hopefully they don’t go where they shouldn’t.”
But that’s wherein the debate lies; who actually went where they shouldn’t. For Christopher, the answer is simple.
“To get turned at a place like this at that speed, he’s (Lia) stupid,” Christopher stated emphatically. “He always has been stupid and he’ll never change. You know what, all the money in the world that his father pumps into it doesn’t make him a great driver, that’s why he doesn’t race trucks anymore because his father isn’t putting any more money in it. It’s stupidity. I didn’t touch a soul, passed 50 cars and then to be turned like that, I’m not happy about it.
“Now we’ve got a car that’s torn up really, really bad,” continued TC. “It needs a front clip and a lot of work to it; part of a rear clip and all of the parts that go with it. You sit there, looking like you’re going to make 14-thousand-seven and you make four-thousand and spend ten-thousand to fix it. It’s not a good day.”
It was Lia taking home the big payday on a beautiful New England afternoon while many cars, including those outside of this trio, that sat injured from the wild wreck.
Oh, and by the way, Eddie Flemke Jr. finished second. But in reality, nobody ever remembers who finished second in a finish like this. They only remember the fury and what was said after the fact and in this case, there is plenty to put in the memory bank.
Ted Christopher (#36) and Todd Szegedy (#2) get up close and personal with the wall on the final lap. (Jim DuPont Photo)
Donny Lia and the rest of the field dove low trying to avoid the last-lap wreck. (Jim DuPont Photo)
Eddie Flemke, Jr. (#10) finished second. (Jim DuPont Photo)
Donny Lia was thrilled with his return to the Modified victory lane. (Jim DuPont Photo)
