Practice makes perfect ( almost..)

A lot of things have happened to Matt Oneill since last year's lack lustre performance at the Richmond Fair Demolition derby. Matt completed his apprenticeship shortly after last year's derby, gaining his full 310S technicians qualifications. But his heart was in the motorsports world and Matt began his practicing for this year's derby almost immediately after reading the web site writeup about his “one minute “ performance in the Derby ring. As early as October last year Matt was running over hubcaps in the parking lot in preparation for this season's event. Matt would back over the hubcaps, then drive forward again to make sure he finished them off. Word around the shop was that if Matt hit you with a car, get out of the way as fast as you can, because he’s coming back to finish the job. Matt even continued to drive his dented black Mustang, making no effort to smooth out the wrinkles in his daily driver to make sure he was mentally prepared to trade paint with the “Larry the cable guy” wannabees at the fair.

Finally the day came...Friday September 17th brought about our second appearance at the Richmond Fair Demolition derby. After last year's weak effort, Matt was primed and ready for the task. Of course, beating last year's performance wouldn't take too much out of young Matt..as most people could hold their breath for longer than Matt's "one minute" of fame from last season. Matt entered the 6 cylinder division at this year's derby armed with Betty Gemus's recently retired Pontiac Grand Am...emblazoned with his "one minute Matt" monacher Matt dove into the fray with a new found vigor previously unseen by any of our other staff. It seemed that Matt really did have something to prove, and had no intention of taking another whole year of ribbing from the rest of the team. Thank god for fuel injection as Matt was able to keep his entry running for a whole 3 minutes this time. It seemed that the more damage the Pontiac sustained the more comfortable Matt became with it. The closer the Grand Am came to ressembling Matt's dented Mustang the more dangerous he became....but despite the fact that he lasted a whole 3 minutes this year victory eluded him, as his entry broke an axle and he was unable to continue. Only the girls will be able to call him “one minute Matt” now....( but that’s another story..)

Derby driving comes easier to some people...Our second entry this season was once again in the 4 cylinder division, this year rookie driver Amanda Holloway ( Joel’s better half ) represented Parker Auto Care, driving a spruced up version of Remi Somenzi’s silver Ford Escort. Amanda had considerable challenges to overcome, meeting up with a 14 car field in the preliminary round, she dodged a few hits, delivered some solid damage, sandbagged a bit, and nursed the weak transmissioned number 23 car to a second place finish in the heat. At the end of the heat the car was taken back to the Pit area where Joel and the pit crew welded a broken tie rod end back together, hammered out some dents and awaited the 4 cylinder final.

Amanda held her own in the final, trading paint with the best the puddle jumper division had to offer and in the end came up with a 3rd place finish out of the 14 car field in the final. No prizes for third place, but a valiant effort nonetheless... After the derby was over, the whole crew headed over to Joel and Amanda’s place to set plans for next year, when Brandon “boom boom “ Johnson will make his hillbilly debut. Should be a real treat.

Thanks go out to all the supporting staff...Joe at May’s towing for transporting the derby cars from the shop to the ring , Paul and the staff at Autowa Upholstery and Glass for their help preparing the cars. Corrado Vezzaro and his staff for the delivered subs..and of course , Joel and Amanda for once again opening up their home to the whole group. Another successful event ..looking forward to next year....

Matt Oneill and Ryan Ogrady with their cars before the event	Matt "One Minute" Oneill behind the wheel of his ride

OGRADY posts second place finish in heat while Oneill earns new nickname.

Friday September 19th brought the about our first ever participation in motorsports when 2 of our technicians tried their skills in the Demolition Derby events at the 164th annual Richmond Fair.

Using vehicles scrounged up in the last 2 weeks and with the assistance of 2 of our suppliers Ryan Orgady and Matt Oneill each took part in the event staged on the Richmond Fairgrounds in front of about 2500 eager spectators.

Ogrady, driving the Geo Metro 4 car like there was no tomorrow, placed 2nd in the first heat of the 4 cylinder class, being one of 2 cars remaining mobile in the 9 car field. This qualified him to participate in the final later in the evening, but it was not to be as both vehicle... and driver...took knocks in the head and did not continue. Nevertheless, Ryan Ogrady is now a household word in Richmond, as all that could be heard throughout the village during the first heat was the announcer's booming voice shouting Ryan's name and trying to urge him back into fray of competition.

Oneill, keen to participate in the 6 cylinder class and painstakingly prepared a vintage 1977 Chevrolet Nova. After failing to hear his name to participate in the 6 cylinder heat Matt managed to talk his way into the second heat. Things looked very good for Matt at the beginning of the competition, as his number 10 car appeared to dominate the field for the first 45 seconds or so of the event, but then Matt experienced technical difficulty as the relatively undamaged Nova stalled and would not restart...after 1 minute of competition Matt was out of the field. At the end of the heat the Nova was assisted by tractor back to the pit area, but could not continue. After the event drivers, crew and spectators all went back to Joel and Amanda's place in Richmond where the driver's traded war stories and licked their wounds until next year...

Thanks go out ot Joe at May's Towing for transporting the Derby cars to the fairgrounds, Paul and staff at Auto-Wa Upholstery and Glass for their assistance in preparing the cars for the competition, Ian McCuaig for the offer of discount funeral services and Joel and Amanda for opening their home to all of us at the end of the evening.

Until next year, when Dan Jones has expressed an interest in stepping behind the wheel, and we are all sure that Matt "one minute" Oneill will be looking to improve on his performance (both spelling and driving).

Parker Auto Care is a sponsor of the Stinson Show Car Series of street rod and charity shows in the Ottawa area.

   Saturday August 9th we hosted our first ever open house at our new location and it was a resounding success. After biting our nails for a couple of weeks over the weather, the sun came out and stayed out fo the whole day.   

   All in all we welcomed 60 car show participants and about 200 guests (judging from the number of free hot dogs and sausages we gave away). Every participant seemed to walk away with a door prize or two and enjoyed a day of special cars and beautiful weather as they toured the shop and met the staff. We are looking forward to hosting another event just like it (but slightly bigger) in August 2009.

   Special thanks go out to Larry Way and Roger McGetchie for their help in spreading the word to all the car show people. Adam Frame for running our registration table and helping with door prizes. Gord Deecker for his outstanding hot dogs and sausages. The stereo system was courtesy of Showtime Professional DJ's & Event Services. Door prizes came courtesy of Bridgestone/Firestone, Hosie & Brown Auto Electric, Campbell Ford Sales and Max Auto Supply.

   Thanks to Oldies 1310 Radio for all the radio advertising, balloons and banner.

   We hope to see you all again next year.

From all the staff at Parker Auto Care Ltd

Click on the following link to see pictures from the car show.

http://6one3.smugmug.com/gallery/5757666_zDzxq#355952948_nLLGj