The gift came a day early, but for Ron Sarsfield, it was the best birthday gift he had ever gotten.

A day before he turned 37, Mr. Sarsfield got a call that turned a dream of his into reality. It was not a typical dream, but for a tow truck driver from Hunker who loves demolition derbies, nothing could have been better.

Listening to the "Road Dog" show on Sirius Satellite radio two days earlier, Mr. Sarsfield called in and gave his idea about a wedding.

"I always had it in my head to have it at a demolition derby," he recalled. "I called in on the radio program and said, 'You know, if we are going to have a redneck wedding, why don't we have a redneck wedding and a demolition derby?"

About 48 hours later, Country Music Television producers gave Mr. Sarsfield and his soon-to-be bride, Kelli Johnston, a call. The show was interested in the idea for its series "My Big Redneck Wedding."

The Sarsfields' story will air at 9 p.m. tomorrow as the series' season finale.

"They kept it just like my original idea. It kind of blew my mind," Mr. Sarsfield said.

The wedding was on Dec. 8, and neither Ron nor Kelli has seen the edited version. They will gather with friends tomorrow to watch.

"You never know how it's going to look," Mr. Sarsfield said. "I'm not really nervous, just anticipating it. Who knows what they are going to make me look like?"

His wife hopes their show doesn't take on the air of an episode of "Jerry Springer."

Some of the elements are there, though.

The actual wedding took place at Motordrome Speedway in Smithton, otherwise known as "The Smithton Hole."

Kelli wore her wedding dress to the track while Ron donned a camouflage hat and jacket and a pair of jeans. Both raced cars through the muddy track and wrecked into each other.

Kelli did manage to escape with only a spot on her dress.

The reception was at Hunker fire hall, outside New Stanton. There were about 180 guests.

This was one of eight weddings the show will have featured in its series, after it scoured the country for the most "down-home" country couples.

Tom Arnold is the host. Previous episodes have featured beer can canopies, mechanical bulls at the reception, newspapers table cloths and a camouflage dress code for all wedding guests.

"In a world of edgy, overly produced, overly dramatic reality shows, 'My Big Redneck Wedding' is just a simple and fun half-hour," Lewis Bogach, executive producer of the series, said via e-mail.

"The audience can relate because our couples are honest and authentic, eccentric and sometimes crazy. And what's so abundantly clear is how much they really love each other."

The Sarsfield wedding had been a long time in the making. They had met shooting pool more than 10 years ago, and they have a 9-month-old named Emily.

Ron proposed to Kelli on Valentine's Day two years ago, but wedding plans were put on hold after Ron had a heart attack that summer.

The Sarsfields were planning be married by a justice of the peace when Country Music Television came calling.

A camera crew and producers came to the Pittsburgh area a few times to shoot footage of the wedding preparation. Everyone involved in the wedding had about three weeks to put it all together for the show to be shown this season. About 12 people were on the hand to film the actual wedding and reception.

Mrs. Sarsfield moved to Hunker from Fort Allen in Hempfield about four years ago to live with Ron and is a cake decorator at a Giant Eagle.

Hunker is part of the Hempfield Area School District. The 2000 census listed Hunker's population at 329.

"It's just a really small town," Ron said. "There's no traffic lights, no bars, just a small town that is comfortable to live in."

Kelli added: "If you blink, you miss it. It's basically just an add-on to New Stanton."