2018 Chaparral Motorsports Monster Parking Lot Sale Recap
As always seems to be the case with any big event or party, you spend weeks or even months getting everything ready and then the next thing you know, it's over in a flash. That's exactly how it goes with Chaparral Motorsports' biggest sale of the year, the Monster Parking Lot Sale. You'd think after more than 30 years of having this massive sale at the same every year, prepping for it would get easier, but it doesn't. It still takes months of planning, organizing vendors, getting product sorted, and an assortment of other details big and small to pull off this huge endeavor. But every year everything comes together and then bright and early on the first Saturday in October the gates are opened and the vending area is flooded with a frenzy of savvy shoppers scoring great deals on everything from sport bike tires to motocross gear.
This year the Chaparral Motorsports Monster Parking Lot Sale was on October 6th and there were more than 25 top name vendors such as Metal Mulisha, Oakley, ODI Grips, Assault Industries, FMF Racing, and Galfer. The majority of the vendors had participated in the sale many times before so they knew exactly what to expect. There were three rookies that in attendance this year: Havoc Racing, Fasthouse, and Biltwell, and I'm not too sure they were prepared for the onslaught of the initial rush that came when gates flew open at 8am. Everyone managed to stay sane and had a great time helping the crowds get incredible deals.
Deals! Deals! Deals!
Oh, you didn't make it to the sale and want to know what kid of deals you missed? Well how about Fasthouse Jerseys for $20, Gaerne SG 10 Boots for $300, Oakley Crowbar Goggles with tearoff, nose guard and extra clear lens for $50, Biltwell Gringo hemets for the unbelievable price of $40, and billet hubs from the Dubya booth for $100 a piece.
Not to toot our own horn (HONK!! HONK!!), but the Chaparral sales lot was slammed from the get go and well into the afternoon. There were deep deals on riding gear, boots, dirt bike helmets, street bike helmets, and mx gear bags. However, by far the most popular items were tires of all varieties. Maxxis Desert IT rear tires were going for $72, CST Sandblast paddle tires for $98 each, and Dunlop Elite 4 front tires for $124. People found it hard to pass up Fox Racing Jerseys for $18, Alpinestars Youth Neck braces for $33, and Shift Racing helmets for $65.
Attendees scored so many good deals they found it hard to carry everything. You could easily spot the sale veterans as they had come prepared with wagons and moving dollys ready to haul away all their swag. Some people had to resort to more creative measures like handing off the baby to the wife so the stroller could be used as a cart or just piling everything into a recently purchased Ogio gear bag. In fact, we saw more than one person with a broken leg using their rolling knee walker to carry tires and whatever else they had purchased.
This year marked the 32nd annual Monster Parking Lot Sale. While it took a lot of planning and seemed to fly by with the blink of an eye once the day of the event arrived, we are already discussing plans to make next year's event even better.
