By Lou Modestino
There is no need for Black Friday sales or Cyber-Monday surfing to get good prices on the most sought-after items for motoring enthusiasts. Simply make a wish list and bring it to the Eastern States Exposition on January 18 & 19 for the Annual Autoparts Swap ‘n Sell, where good quality products come at a fair price and in plenty of time for the season.
Nearly 350 vendors will converge in West Springfield, MA, to fill the 125,000 square foot Better Living Center to capacity with auto parts and accessories. Autoparts Swap ‘n Sell will take place on Saturday and Sunday, January 18 &19, 2014, from 8am through 5pm on both days. Admission is $10 per day. Children 12 and under are free with a paid adult.
Rest assured there will still be doorbusters and great deals on items big and small – from tail lights to tool boxes, license plates to restrictor plates, t-shirts to t-buckets, headers to helmets, chassis to tchotchkes and everything in between. Vendors are representative of most automotive genres including hot rods, customs, imports and all segments of racing – asphalt, dirt, oval and drag.
In the market to sell, the crowd is as diverse as the offerings. Limited vendor space measuring 12’by 15’ is still available for $130.
Autoparts Swap ‘n Sell is a good old fashion swap meet where goods are inspected first-hand and deals are done in person.
With everything that Swap ‘n Sell has to offer, January 18 &19, 2014 just may be thebusiest shopping days of the year.
Oxford Plains Speedway’s new General Manager, Dick Therrien, is pleased to announce that Applebee’s Restaurants have signed on to be the marketing partner for a brand new, fan friendly program called the Applebee’s Super-Fan Card.
Therrien explains, “We are instituting a brand new program here at OPS in 2014. The program is designed to reward the race fan for attending races on a regular basis. All a fan has to do is ask for their Applebee’s Super-Fan card when they attend any event at Oxford Plains Speedway. The card will be punched each time they attend. When they have all ten of the Applebee’s logos punched, they can redeem their punch card for a free ticket to the next regular racing event. Each fan must have their own punch card and some restrictions apply. This is a great way to reward our regular fans for supporting our track. I think they are going to love this new program!”
Applebee’s Marketing Coordinator of New England, Lori Prunier is excited as well, “We are looking forward to working with Dick and his staff at Oxford Plains Speedway. The Applebee’s Super Fan Card is an awesome way for us to interact with and support race fans throughout the season. The idea is very creative and fits perfectly with our customer service programs. We are very proud of the new partnership that we have formed.”
The Applebee’s Super Fan Card will be available on opening day, Saturday, April 12th, at the general admissions ticket booth.
From sources from the north country tells about a motor sports country club 2 mile road course
being built up around Rt. 16 & Rt. 25 for a motor sports country club in Tamworth, NH. The source told us that you can see the construction from the adjacent roadways. We don’t know if a private motor sports country club will generate enough income to pay the bills. But, it’s a similiar venue to the 1.7 mile road course currently under construction at the growing Thompson Motorsports Park in Connecticut.
While we are at it we sew a rendering of The New Palmer Motorsports Park in central Mass. According to what was in the recent Motorcyclist Post. Tony Iannarelli said, “The project is under construction on a 658 acre parcel of land in the Whiskey Hill section of Palmer. The road course will have 7 sharp curves and 4 hairpin turns with some elevation changes. Fred Ferguson expects the track to be completed for the 2015 season and plans to rent it out to various motor sports groups and clubs. The Palmer venue is not far from the Thompson Motorsports Park.
Oxford Plains Speedway President, Tom Mayberry is pleased to announce that the NEMA Midgets, (Northeastern Midget Association will be part of the giant Oxford 250 weekend, July 18th through 20th. This will mark the first time in several years that the Midgets have appeared at Oxford.
The NEMA Midgets are a compact winged racecar with a very high power to weight ratio. With up to 400 horsepower and weighing approximately 1,000 pounds, Midgets are among the fastest cars on oval tracks ½ mile and under. Midget racing has long provided a pivotal role in the development of some of the nation’s finest and most successful drivers.
Joining the NEMA Midgets will be the NEMA LITES. The NEMA LITES are basically the same car except they are self starting, and they have basically the same chassis, wing package and tires, but have a limited race engine. The LITES are built so that they can easily be converted to a full NEMA Midget package.
The NEMA Midgets and NEMA LITES will be competing on the Saturday, July 19th portion of the Oxford 250 weekend card.
Also, the ISMA Super Modified Assoc. has booked a Friday, June 20 date with the Oxford Plains Speedway according to published reports. That series has dates in New England, New York, Ohio and Ontario.