Restaurant to hold auction of 600 racing collectables

For the past two decades, restaurant owner Bobby Moore has amassed an incredible motorsports collection. Racecars, race hoods, race helmets, race suits, race tires, racing artwork -- if you can imagine it, Moore probably owns it.

All that stuff was on display at his Florida racing-themed restaurant, Race Rock Orlando, which recently closed. It also took up a significant amount of storage, which is why Moore is auctioning off his entire collection, starting Friday.

"I've been trading and buying for years," Moore said. "I didn't realize I had so much. In fact, I forgot I had so much."

There are more than 600 items up for sale, ranging from $100 to the highlight of the auction: the No. 46 Superflo Chevrolet Lumina driven by Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder. That's expected to bring in between $50,000 and $100,000.

If you've got a wad of money and a hankering to own something to show off in your driveway, Moore might interest you in a NASCAR show car, like a 1992 STP racecar driven by Richard Petty. Moore also has a Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet, Rusty Wallace's Miller Ford, Sterling Marlin's Kodak car, Joe Nemechek's Burger King ride and Kyle Petty's Coors Light car for auction.

In addition, Moore is auctioning off a Bigfoot monster truck, an Andretti Lola Indy-car, a Joe Amato dragster, several racing motorcycles and Mike Skinner's Goodwrench truck.

If you're a fan of Dale Earnhardt, a race-worn driving suit that's estimated to be worth between $15,000 and $25,000 is up for bid. If that's a little pricey, there are a couple of Dale Earnhardt Jr. uniforms for auction.

So how much is it all worth? Estimates range in the millions of dollars, but Moore said it will all depend on what people are willing to pay.

"I couldn't even begin to tell you," Moore said. "Some things might sell for nothing. Or two people might want the same thing and drive the price up."

Moore acquired most of his collection through his extensive connections within the sport. He lists the Pettys, Gordon, Wallace, Ernie Irvan and Geoffrey Bodine among the "celebrity owners" of Race Rock. In addition, he purchased many items at the NASCAR wives auxiliary auctions in North Carolina.

"I've been trading and buying for years," Moore said.

The stories behind how Moore acquired his collection are almost as interesting as the man himself. A Michigan native, Moore purchased a local Detroit tavern when he was 20. That evolved into ownership of a couple of restaurants with a nautical theme. With the money he made, he began racing offshore powerboats.

But his real interest was in training elephants. At one point, Moore owned 13 elephants and leased them to circuses, movies and television commercials. Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey borrowed his pachyderms for their first Far East tour.

But the real poop on the elephants? They didn't work for peanuts. They made Moore a millionaire. However, the travel -- he was on the road for up to six months at a time -- finally wore him down.

He returned to the restaurant management business in 1992, opening the first Race Rock in Detroit, then moving the entire business to Orlando four year later. He said business was good, but the property on International Drive became too valuable, forcing him to close the doors at the end of March.

Moore sold the property to The Tavistock Group for a reported $7.5 million on March 26. According to county records, he paid $3.3 million for the land in 1995 -- and it was recently assessed for $4.9 million.

"Who knows what they'll put there, maybe a hotel or something," Moore said.

Two items from the restaurant won't be up for auction. A 1996 No. 3 Goodwrench road course car driven by Earnhardt is heading to the Orlando Motorsports Museum, and Moore said Anheuser-Busch wants the Miss Budweiser unlimited hydroplane back.

"The Dale Earnhardt car? I bought that from Richard Childress Racing a while back," Moore said.

The auction begins with live bidding Friday at the former restaurant site and continues throughout the weekend. An online auction begins Saturday at http://liveauctioneers.com/browse/seller/racerockauctions for interested buyers who can't make the trip to Orlando.

"We expect quite a turnout," Moore said. "More than a thousand people, I'll bet. It'll be interesting to see.

"Still, it's sad to see it all go."