Dustin Blank poses next to his Chevrolet Monte Carlo painted to look exactly like Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s classic Budweiser NASCAR Cup Series car, during the Big Butler Parts-A-Rama fall swap meet on Sunday, Sept. 27, at the Butler Farm Show ground. William Pitts/Butler Eagle

CONNOQUENESSING TWP — For the first time ever, the Big Butler Parts-A-Rama automotive swap meet expanded into the fall, holding its second event of the year over the weekend of Saturday, Sept. 26, and Sunday, Sept. 27, at the Butler Farm Show grounds.

According to organizers Tom and Nadine Napierkowski, the decision to start a fall show this year was largely due to demand from vendors.

“Our vendors have been asking for a fall show and we felt the need that there would be a fall show,” Nadine Napierkowski said. “We wanted to expand our show, so we thought we would try a fall show.”

The main Parts-A-Rama event, which was held this June at the Big Butler Fairground, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. The fall show was held at the Butler Farm Show grounds because, according to the Napierkowskis, the Big Butler Fairground was not available.

“The fairgrounds did not want to have any fall events,” Nadine Napierkowski said.

According to vendors, such as Mike Gonlin, business was especially plentiful on Day 1 of the event.

“Yesterday was amazing,” Gonlin said. “Yesterday by this time I made $600 or $700.”

The Napierkowskis concurred, saying the fall Parts-A-Rama will become a permanent fixture.

“We want to thank all of our spectators and all of our vendors for making this first show a success,” Nadine Napierkowski said. “We expect to continue doing the fall show here at the Farm Show grounds.”

As with every Parts-A-Rama, there were some unusual finds if you knew where to look, not least of which was a vintage Chevrolet Monte Carlo painted to look exactly like Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s original Budweiser-sponsored car from 1999 — on sale for $4,500 or best offer.

The vehicle was a personal project of Evans City resident Dustin Blank, a NASCAR fan who drives race cars at Lernerville and other tracks in his spare time. However, the Monte Carlo was not one of those cars — it was his daily driver.

“I actually drove this every day for a little over a year,” Blank said. “It always gets good attention.”