Four Cheney and Medical Lake organizations helped NAPA Auto Parts set what appears to be an unofficial world record for the most cars washed in an eight-hour span on April 27.
When NAPA Auto Parts vowed they would break a world record, they certainly did not disappoint as they met their own expectations.
NAPA has unofficially broken the world record of the most cars washed nationally around the U.S. on April 27 in an eight-hour period with a pending total of 9,179, surpassing REPCO's previous record of 6,277 total cars washed in Australia. Four teams that helped in the carwash at the Cheney NAPA store were the Medical Lake Jr. ROTC, Medical Lake Team Circuit Breakers, Medical Lake Drama Class, and the Cheney Community Team Awana. Tony Blount, the founder of West Plains Angels, provided the teams and led them and his organization into helping NAPA and receiving donations from customers.
"I think it's awesome," NAPA retail development manager Marty Walker said of breaking the world record. "We had teams that absolutely executed in the Cheney location as well as all throughout the country. We were able to partner with great organizations. The West Plains Angels were a huge help. Everybody just had a great time."
Despite breaking the world record by about 3,000 cars washed, Walker said that he and NAPA were not surprised at all that the company surpassed the previous record by that much.
"This is NAPA," Walker said, also mentioning the "NAPA Know How" motto. "When we set our minds to do something, we get it done. We had a great team and a group of retailers throughout the country. We just had no doubt in our minds that were going to get it done."
Besides breaking the world record, Walker said he was happy with the efforts in the Cheney NAPA store as well as other stores in the Spokane area.
"The event in Cheney went fantastic," Walker said. "We were the number one in the Pacific Northwest."
Walker said he appreciated the carwash teams for their working efforts and saw them as special groups.
"These kids came and worked all day," Walker said. "No shortcuts. They knocked the ball out of the park. They did a fabulous job."
Walker also enjoyed working with Blount, saying that he is an amazing and passionate man.
"He's very passionate about what he does with the West Plains Angels," Walker said. "That guy just gets things done. His passion is for the kids that were (at the Cheney store). He wanted to make sure that the kids got all the credit. He was enjoyable to work with."
Walker said the teams receiving donations from customers was awesome. But he also said that only the teams of the organizations received money. NAPA did not receive any of the donations.
"All the money went straight to the organizations," Walker said. "We had people coming through that were just really happy to be able to contribute to them."
Even though NAPA has set the new world record at over 9,000 cars washed nationally, Walker said that nothing is impossible when it comes to another company attempting to break the record, whether that company is in the U.S. or in another country.
"If it gets broken, I wouldn't be surprised to see NAPA right back on top," Walker said. "We'd probably do it again. We did 9,000 this time. We'd do 12,000."
NAPA might have gotten a lot more than what their new record says if the car wash event were in June instead of April.
"If we had done this in June, I bet we could have gotten to 15,000 cars because a lot of people wouldn't get out of their cars until it really started to warm up," Walker said. "(In the summertime), I think the car count would be a lot higher."
Walker said that he was most proud of the teams of kids in the Cheney NAPA event.
"They were so much fun to be around," Walker said. "They were hardworking and had good attitudes and having a good time. It was probably the highlight of my day."
Walker also appreciated the customers for attending the event and participating in breaking the world record and making something happen.
NAPA's new world record for most cars washed in an eight-hour period on a single day is currently unofficial and under pending review.
Marco Vargas is an Eastern Washington University student majoring in journalism.
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