He was here about 7 or so months ago parting out a couple of LUV's, and trying to keep his alive. Then he was posting questions about a 66 chevy pick up he had just bought. Well NASCAR came to the rescue.
http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/li ... 02,00.html
By Kim Lamb Gregory
kgregory@VenturaCountyStar.com
September 19, 2006
If you want to see a grown man from Port Hueneme cry, tune into "NASCAR Angels," an automotive-themed reality show that premieres this week on KABC.
"We find people who serve others in some capacity and we fix up their cars," explained producer Dennis O'Neill of MagicDust Television, a Phoenix-based production company that teamed up with NASCAR to create the reality show.
U.S. Coast Guard boat mechanic Richard Manaseri was nominated for the show after MagicDust Television approached the Coast Guard station in Channel Islands to ask if anyone there was deserving of a vehicle makeover. A fan of NASCAR with a decrepit truck, Manaseri came to the minds of his Coast Guard co-workers.
And how did MagicDust end up at the local Coast Guard station? O'Neill explained that the producers, when considering California as a location for a "NASCAR Angels" episode, noted the ocean is one of the things that makes California special and the Coast Guard is closely linked to the ocean.
"NASCAR Angels" will debut at 3:30 p.m. Saturday on KABC-TV, Channel 7. The episode featuring Manaseri is scheduled to air in late October.
No word yet on the precise date, but the cameras were rolling at the U.S. Coast Guard station in Channel Islands Harbor on Aug. 29 as boat engineer Manaseri first beheld the extreme makeover performed on his dull, purplish-red 1966 Chevy pickup truck.
"It was mechanically functional. It was just ugly as hell," Manaseri's friend and unit mate Howard Yarboun said of the truck. "It was basically a purple dinosaur. We called it Barney."
"It only ran 10 percent of the time," added another unit mate, Devin Green.
Friends, Coast Guard colleagues, Manaseri's wife, Ashley, and their 2-month-old daughter, Dakota, waited in suspense just outside a garage at the Coast Guard station as Manaseri prepared for his first glimpse of the truck he had relinquished to the "NASCAR Angels" team 2 weeks earlier.
Manaseri's legs shook under his navy blue uniform as crews from local businesses rolled out a shiny purple truck that Manaseri hardly recognized as the old farm truck he and his dad bought years ago when Manaseri was a kid growing up in the Antelope Valley.
"Honestly, I was so afraid it was going to be ‘Pimp My Ride,'" Manaseri, 25, said later, referring to another more flamboyant car makeover show.
Tears slipped down his cheeks as crews cracked open the truck's hood to reveal a brand-new engine whose purring parts glinted in the sunlight.
Manaseri hugged members from Goodyear Tires and Palmer's Custom Paint & Body, two Camarillo companies that donated their goods and services to the show.
D'Angelo's Automotive & Industrial Coatings of Oxnard donated the deep purple paint.
"They stripped it down to the bare metal and worked on it," said Alan Palmer of Palmer's.
Mechanics at Palmer's were surprised on Aug. 28 when NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace strolled into the garage to check on the progress.
"I was awed to see him in the middle of my shop," Palmer said.
Crews from Palmer's worked on the truck for five days, about 15 hours a day, before handing it over to the Goodyear crew.
Manaseri is one of several NASCAR fans around the U.S. whose vehicles will be featured on "NASCAR Angels." The show also will give viewers step-by-step tips on automotive care.
"We want NASCAR fans to be better educated on how to take care of their cars," said Dave Robuszewski, director of marketing for "NASCAR Angels."
When asked by producers if his newly rebuilt truck was "OK," a practically speechless Manaseri eked out a tearful, "More'n OK."
That week, Manaseri and 10 buddies from his Coast Guard unit traveled to Fontana to meet Wallace and watch a Busch Series NASCAR race.
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