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Oswego Kartway Gas Stockers (June 5th-12th, 2008):

On 6/5 heat, #83 Eric Raponi won the Clockwise Gas Stocker heat in his 6.5hp OHV handicap motor after drawing the pole for a FOURTH STRAIGHT TIME!  This led to the whole class agreeing to just race via handicap for every race.

 
Eric was followed by Joe Hayden (#5) who used his powerful OHV 6.5hp motor to pass Matt Stevens (Galletta's #33) on the difficult outside groove at the checker. They were followed by Dave Melfi (#22 w/ OHV), Russ Hockey (#00 FH), Oscar Berry (#11 FH) and last was Chris Stevens (#4 FH) with a DNF after Oscar Berry spun out in front of him and wrecked his chain. 
 
The June 5th show rained out after the heat races for every class. The following Thursday's race had TWO features per class, opening with the postponed 6/5 show, then the regular full night of racing.

The first feature on 6/12/2008, which was the make-up for the postponed 6/5/2008 show went to Dave Melfi (6.5hp #22) and Eric Raponi (6.5hp #83) and Joe Hayden (6.5hp #5) swept the top three positions in their 6.5hp OHV handicap motors, which has led many observers to believe that the handicap is now overdoing it a bit. The rest of the field was all 5hp flatheads. Matt Stevens (5hp #33) settled for fourth, Russ Hockey (5hp #00), and Oscar Berry (5hp #11). Chris Stevens again got a DNF when the chain again fell off the #4 kart, and he lost 2-3 laps in the infield before going back out.

The 6/12 heat went to Eric Raponi (OHV #83) and Joe Hayden (6.5hp OHV #5) defeated Matt Stevens (5hp FH #33). Dave Melfi (6.5hp OHV #22), Chris Stevens (5hp FH #8), Russ Hockey (5hp FH #00) and Oscar Berry (5hp FH #11) rounded out the field. Particularly noticeable in the last feature and this heat was the takeoff power of the 6.5hp karts.

 

 

The 2nd Feature went to Joe Hayden (6.5hp OHV #5), who was followed by Matt Stevens (5hp Flat-Head Galletta's #33), and Chris Stevens (5hp Flat-Head Galletta's #8), Dave Melfi (6.5hp OHV #22), Eric Raponi (OHV #83), who claimed to have motor problems and was now going to get some more work done. Russ Hockey was black-flagged due to 3 cautions in each the heat and the feature. Oscar Berry failed to start the Feature due to more unique-to-Oscar motor shenanigans - losing dogs in his recoil.
 

Additional pictures to all kart classes from this week in racing on Mike Johnson's Photobucket.

Concern about kart count at Oswego is growing. When Chris Stevens (racer, points man of all Oswego Gas Stockers, and webmaster of this site), asked fellow Galletta's Kart Club members to join us at Oswego, there are complaints that range between 1 - "No, those *blankety-blanks* use 6.5hp OHVs (bigger motors)." 2 - A handful of complaints about such a high entrance price for so few green flag laps, 3 - some complaints about fastest guys always starting in the front when we run a draw for heats and at money races, 4 - one complaint for getting thrown out, and finally, a few said, 5 - Thursdays at 6pm is not good because of work, but maybe Fridays would be. Several just prefer racing at Galletta's, (and one just prefers racing at Oswego) and we want them racing at both. Plus, rules must be clarified to avoid accusations of cheating. So for now we must deal with the low kart numbers until we can either talk a few more drivers into running or solve the problems with laps ran, make incentives for racing at both tracks, or separating the motors into two classes, which is what everybody in the Galletta's Karting Club has requested of the Oswego track operator. More.

This week again began to raise concerns about the fairness of 6.5hp OHV karts racing with the Galletta's 5hp flathead karts. So far in 2008, only Matt and Chris Stevens - the inventors and 18-year-veterans of Galletta's Go-Kart racing - have been able to compete with them, but recently it has become even more apparent that the 6.5hp OHVs have been getting faster and faster, especially in terms of restarts and raw cornering/passing power. There is no way for a stock 5hp flathead to remain stock and continue to keep up. Continued requests have been made towards track operator Jim Losurdo to allow us to either split the motors into two divisions or enforce the stock-only rule with the 6.5hps and some racing enhancements for the 5hps to keep up. Every driver in the Galletta's Karting Club has felt disrespected by both the track officials and the OHV kart group, which is why every week there has been less and less Galletta's 5hp karts down there. The following week will be the final test.

2008 Gas Stocker Kart Point Standings at Oswego Kartway 
After 5 events at Oswego Kartway from 5/8/2007 -thru- 6/12/2008:

Rank	Driver	Karts Piloted	Motor Type	Total Points (Place)	Average Points Per Event	Events	Heat Wins	Feature Wins
1	Matt Stevens	Galletta's #33, 3	5hp Flathead	417.00	83.40	5	2	2
2	Joe Hayden	Hayden #5	6.5hp OHV Handicap	415.00	83.00	5	0	2
3	Eric Raponi	Raponi #83	6.5hp OHV Handicap	388.00	77.60	5	3	0
4	Chris Stevens	Galletta's #8, 4	5hp Flathead	369.00	73.80	5	0	0
5	Dave Melfi	Melfi #22	6.5hp OHV Handicap	356.00	71.20	5	0	1
6	Russ Hockey	Hockey #00	5hp Flathead	310.00	62.00	5	0	0
7	Oscar Berry	Oz #11	5hp Flathead	291.00	58.20	5	0	0
8	Dick Dann	Dann #86	5hp Flathead	216.00	72.00	3	0	0
9	Gary Miller Sr.	Miller #24	5hp Flathead	138.00	69.00	2	0	0
10	Nick Dann	Dann #68	5hp Flathead	111.00	55.50	2	0	0
11	Mike "MC" Howell	Galletta's #6	5hp Flathead	78.00	78.00	1	0	0

Next race at the Galletta's Kartway is Sunday, June 15th, 2008.
Next race at the Oswego Kartway is Thursday, June 19th, 2008.

THE 2008 OSWEGO GAS STOCKER KARTS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE:
1. OSWEGO: Thursday, May 8th, 2008: 25-Lap Race (Winner: Matt Stevens)
2. OSWEGO: Thursday, May 15th, 2008: 25-Lap Race (Winner: Joe Hayden)
3. OSWEGO: Thursday, May 22nd, 2008: Regular Race (Rained out)
4. OSWEGO: Friday, May 30th, 2008: 35-Lap MONEY RACE! (Winner: Matt Stevens)
5. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, June 1st-June8th, 2008. Clay track Maintenance week. More.
6. OSWEGO: Thursday, June 5th, 2008: 20-Lap Race held on 6/12 (Winner: Dave Melfi)
7. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, June 8th, 2008. 45-Lap Galletta's Opener (Winner: Matt Stevens)
8. OSWEGO: Thursday, June 12th, 2008: 25-Lap Race (Winner: Joe Hayden)
9. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, June 15th, 2008. Regular Race.
10. OSWEGO: Thursday, June 19th, 2008: Regular Race (Double-Point Night!).
11. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, June 22nd, 2008. Regular Race.
12. OSWEGO: Thursday, June 26th, 2008: Regular Race.
13. OSWEGO: Saturday, June 28th, 2008: T.B.A.
14. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, June 29th, 2008. Regular Race.
15. OSWEGO: Thursday, July 3rd, 2008: Practice for Friday show.
       OSWEGO: Friday, July 4th, 2008: MONEY RACE!
16. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, July 6th, 2008. Regular Race.
17. OSWEGO: Thursday, July 10th, 2008: Regular Race.
18. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, July 13th, 2008. Regular Race.
19. OSWEGO: Thursday, July 17th, 2008: Regular Race.
20. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, July 20th, 2008. Regular Race.
21. OSWEGO: Thursday, July 24th, 2008: Regular Race – TWIN 20s!
22. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, July 27th, 2008. Regular Race.
23. OSWEGO: Thursday, July 31st, 2008: Practice for Friday Show.
24. OSWEGO: Friday, August 1st, 2008: MONEY RACE!
25. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, August 3rd, 2008. Regular Race.
26. OSWEGO: Thursday, August 7th, 2008: Regular Race.
27. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, August 10th, 2008. Regular Race.
28. OSWEGO: Thursday, August 14th, 2008: Regular Race.
29. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, August 17th, 2008. Regular Race.
30. OSWEGO: Thursday, August 21st, 2008: Regular Race.
31. GALLETTA'S: Sunday, August 24th, 2008. Regular Race.
32. OSWEGO: Thursday, August 28th, 2008: 2nd ANNUAL OSWEGO SPEEDWAY DIRT TRACK CLASSIC!!!
33. GALLETTA'S: LABOR DAY WEEKEND OPEN DATE: May race on one day, possibly Sept. 1st, T.B.A.. Oswego Kartway is also T.B.A. after this date.
34. GALLETTA'S: Saturday, September 6th, 2008. Regular Race.
35. GALLETTA'S: Saturday, September 13th, 2008. 12 lap heats, 45 lap feature. (Possible bye-week/open date)
36. GALLETTA'S: Saturday, September 20th, 2008. Probable date for the 13th Annual Galletta's Kart Klassic! Probable 1pm start, between 175-200 laps.
37-up. OPEN DATES/RAIN DATES/FALL CHALLENGE SERIES after this date.

Key:
GALLETTA’S = Race located at John J. Galletta Memorial Gas Stocker Kartway (Behind Galletta’s Greenhouse in the Town of Oswego, NY).
OSWEGO = Race located at Oswego Kartway (Behind Oswego Speedway in Oswego, NY).

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