Long Island Automotive Swap Shop Returns to Sunday Format Dec. 8th
Longtime Riverhead Raceway announcer Bob Finan announced officially today that the Long Island Automotive Swap Shop will return to its Sunday roots for 2013 as the race car flea market will unfold Sunday December 8th in the pit area of the track. The gates will open at 10:00 am with vendors paying just $20 per vendor position with general admission a very modest $5.
Started “back in the day” at Islip Speedway by the late “Big” Bob O’Rourke the swap shop is an opportunity for all race teams that race at Riverhead Raceway or for that matter off Long Island to come out and sell their unwanted inventory at bargain prices that turns the event into a buyers market as well as a sellers. “Those swap shops at Islip were really something, hey, Bob even had the Scibelli Brothers raffle off a Modified one year” Finan recalled.” Since those days the swap shop has gone through some changes, Bill Denniston kept it alive for a spell and although nothing is what it used to be as they say, I’m trying to keep it going in memory of Bob and as a service to the racers”, Bob added. As to the switch back to Sunday Bob admitted, “We tried Saturday for a bit, too many folks have to either work or do weekend sports with the kids, so Sunday it is”.
Once again some great deals will be found on NASCAR Modifieds, Late Models, Figure Eights, Chargers, Blunderbusts, Super Pro Trucks, Legend Race Cars, Enduro Cars and also Go-Karts. Aside from those type racecars there will be plenty of spare parts for those type machines as well as trailers, open or enclosed, complete engines, intake and exhaust manifolds, racing seats and belts, rims, tires, tools, body panels and pretty much anything else one might be seeking to either buy or sell. For race teams looking to sell off unwanted inventory the Swap Shop is a golden opportunity to turn that inventory into hard cold cash, while for buyers the prices will be just right as these teams don’t want to bring this equipment back to their race shop if they can avoid it.
Of course the Long Island Automotive Swap Shop is not limited to stock cars as all drag racers, off road and 4X4 racers, motorcycle racers or anything automotive related are welcome to come out and either buy or sell their wares. Those who are in the business of NASCAR, NHRA or any sports collectibles are more than welcome to join in on the buying and selling as are race teams who have left over team shirts and sweat shirts to sell, as these items would make a great Christmas gift for the racer on your list.
Bob will also have the entire Flash Foto collection on hand again this year as he has the leftover inventory from the former track photographers with some classic shots of some legendary drivers among the collection for a very small fee, these too are a great holiday gift for former racers or team members from the late 80’s and early 90’s. To that end all those nostalgia buffs are encouraged to bring out their photo albums from Riverhead Raceway, Islip Speedway and Freeport Stadium and relive the days gone by, those who choose to do so and are not selling pictures will only pay the $5 general admission.
For race teams the December 8th Long Island Automotive Swap Shop is an venue to clean out the race shop and make some racing capital for 2014 or the holidays, for buyers it’s a chance to get the race car or equipment for your current race team at bargain basement prices. For the Long Island racing community it is one final chance to get together before the long off-season sets in.
Please note vendor spots will be sold on the day of the Swap Shop only and not in advance. Please do not call the Riverhead Raceway office for further information for those updates. Instead visit www.riverheadarceway.com or Bob Finan’s Facebook Page. In the event of rain the LI Automotive Swap Shop will be Sunday December 15th.
Source: Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR