Above are highlights of the Twin-30 races on 6/14/2009 at John J. Galletta Memorial Backyard Karting Speedway.
Below is a report on our racing club by Zachary James, taped during these races on 6/14/2009.

---

The Galletta's Kart Club 2009 Volume #2 DVD:
Two camera angles of the races held on June 14th, 2009. Eleven drivers, rookie heat and twin 30-lap features. One hour & 15 minutes in highest-quality resolution. 16:9 Anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Surround, and two camera angles of all of the action.  Price $5.

Twin 30s night was in store for a beautiful June day at Galletta's Greenhouse's at John J. Galletta Memorial Karting Speedway - the original and still the biggest, most banked, most fun, least PC-butt-kissing, and best dirt karting track in Oswego, NY. We had 11 karters today, including two 1st-time rookies and a returning veteran driver! And unlike other puny tracks, we don't set 10-kart limits nor make 50 different divisions so that each class only has a handful of karts. 20 with the same motor and a reasonable weight show up, 20 get on the track. Oh, by the way, Sorry for taking so long to update the website folks, webmaster has a day job and produces some books (from scratch to publication) to boot, but I will not fail my loyal website readers!

(Left) This weekend we had a special guest reporter covering our racing and giving interviews, Zach James Janiszewski, a Syracuse University student/NCC News reporter. His report is on this blog. (Right) A nice shot of Gary Miller, Buddy Cottom, and Russ Hockey in warm-ups.

The two rookies were granted a free practice followed by a rookie heat race. Todd  Sharp won (in the Galletta's #9), followed by Tony Gonyeau (Galletta's #1). One of the all-stars of Galletta's Karting history is Jason "Hammer" Mills, who returned from taking a year and a half off to drive the recently re-built Galletta's #2. The first thirty lap feature then followed, which saw Larry Phillips charge out to an early lead before Gary Miller worked him over to take the lead from him. At Galletta's, we don't draw from a hat, which is unprofessional, can be rigged, and is unfair for pretty much everybody - fast or slow, experienced or inexperienced, those that won and those who never have. We handicap via inverting the points-per-event and total wins, which ensures that the race will be fair to all at hand - giving the guys and gals who haven't won a good chance at getting some wins, and making the people who have won to work for it.

The racing was close in both features, as one can see in our above YouTube video. Nobody really pulled away, and there was a lot of bumper-to-bumper racing between the most experienced vets, showing how close the competition is once you get enough races under your belt. Russ Hockey, Jason Mills, Buddy Cottom, and Chris Stevens all had some great shots at winning, but in the end, the wins went to...

The first 30-lapper went to Gary Miller Sr. (Galletta's/Gary Miller #24), who won his first feature since opening weekend in 2007! Gary was followed by Buddy Cottom (Galletta's #6), Chris Stevens (Galletta's #8), Matt Stevens (Galletta's #3), Jason Mills (Galletta's #2), Nick Dann (Galletta's #7), Melissa Stevens (Galletta's #80), rookie Todd  Sharp (Galletta's #9), Russ Hockey (Hockey #00- DNF), rookie Tony Gonyeau (Galletta's #1 - DNF), and Larry Phillips (L&K Engine #04 - DNF).

The second 30-lapper started as an inverted field from the first feature, which shook up the very close, bumper-to-bumper action. The early going saw Russ Hockey storm off to a commanding lead in his #00, really only challenged once by Jason Mills, who nearly passed him in the Galletta's #2. However, Russ saw his night come to an end when his chain broke for the 2nd time in two features, and he sat the rest of the way. The train was then Matt Stevens, Chris Stevens, Buddy Cottom, and Gary Miller for nearly all of the way until Buddy also lost a chain when his tire went flat on the Galletta's #6. He resumed in the Galletta's #4 and stormed back as many positions as he could before the checked flag fell.

The second 30-lapper went to Matt Stevens (Galletta's #3 - even with weight, he still emerges on top, so take that doubters at "der Kartway" that always say "he's too light"), followed closely by Chris Stevens (Galletta's #8), Gary Miller Sr. (Galletta's/Gary Miller #24), Buddy Cottom (Galletta's #6/4), Jason Mills (Galletta's #2), Nick Dann (Galletta's #7), Melissa Stevens (Galletta's #80), rookie Todd  Sharp (Galletta's #9), Russ Hockey (Hockey #00- DNF), rookie Tony Gonyeau (Galletta's #1 - DNF), and Larry Phillips (L&K Engine #04 - DNF).

2009 Gas Flathead Dirt Karting Championship of Oswego Point Standings: 
After 2 combined events at John J. Galletta Memorial Go-Kart Speedway  from 7/8/2009 -thru- 7/14/2009.
Our complete Points Standings from the prior eight seasons are found on this webpage.

Rank	Name (Go-Karts Piloted)	Years Pro	Total Points (Place)	Average Points Per Event	Events	Features	Heat Wins	Feature Wins	Feature Win %
1	Matt Stevens (Galletta's #33, 3)	14th	350.0	175.00	2	3	0	2	67%
2	Chris Stevens (Galletta's #8, 5)	14th	316.0	158.00	2	3	0	0	0%
3	Buddy Cottom (Galletta's #6, 4)	3rd	292.5	146.25	2	3	1	0	0%
4	Russ Hockey (Hockey #00)	3rd	290.0	145.00	2	3	1	0	0%
5	Gary Miller Sr. (Galletta's/Miller #24)	5th	276.0	138.00	2	3	0	1	33%
6	Larry Phillips (L&K Small Engine #04)	2nd	232.5	116.25	2	3	0	0	0%
6	Melissa Stevens (Galletta's #80)	3rd	232.5	116.25	2	3	0	0	0%
8	Nick Dann (Galletta's #7, 4)	4th	213.5	106.75	2	3	0	0	0%
9	Jason Mills (Galletta's #2)	9th	148.0	148.00	1	2	0	0	0%
10	Todd Sharp (Galletta's #9)	®	135.0	135.00	1	2	1	0	0%
11	Tony Gonyeau (Galletta's #1, 7)	®	118.0	118.00	1	2	0	0	0%
12	Andrew Miller (Galletta's #0)	®	108.0	108.00	1	1	0	0	0%
13	Ray Castaldo (Galletta's #7)	®	88.0	88.00	1	1	0	0	0%

NOTE: All karts are 1-WD and all Motors are 1-WD 5hp-type Gas Flatheads with Stock '90s Carb, shaved head, and select pre-approved "Hot Stock" Dyno Racing Cams. Our karts can reach speeds close to a $4,000 go-kart for ten times less the cost. If "tap" wants to mock, he has no balls and would never dare to race us on our own terms... because he is a punk.
® = Rookie driver.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Report on our 6/14/2009 event:

Greenhouse or Go-Karts?

From Singapore (above) to Oswego, Go-Kart racing is a popular fastime


OSWEGO, N.Y. -- On Sunday nights in Oswego beautiful beds of flowers bite the dust. Literally.

Surrounded by a go kart track, Galletta’s greenhouse moonlights as a place to put the pedal to the metal.

“Sometimes, people will come up and be looking at the plants and see a go kart track and be like, ‘Look at this thing!’” said Chris Stevens, co-founder of Galletta’s Go-Karts.

Stevens and his brother Matt started racing Go-Karts in the 1990s but after Oswego speedway drove them off its track last year, the brothers took matters into their own…feet.

Every Sunday night, Galletta’s plays host to Go-Kart races. The Stevens brothers don’t charge for track time, only rentals, and prefer keeping the Kart track a place for fun, friends and fast racing.

“We like it the way it is now. Although we always leave the door open to something bigger,” said Matt Stevens.

And though the races rev on, the owners say it’s not about winning, but about whipping around corners, and having fun.

“We don’t have trophies…nothing like that. None of us will ever drive NASCAR or anything like that, probably, but we still have fun,” said Russell Hockey a regular Galletta’s racer.


NCC News reporter Zachary James reports on a Sunday-night sport that takes place in Oswe-GO

Posted by Jessica Nahmias at 11:26 AM
Also on YouTube here.

 

The next Galletta's Go-Kart Speedway Race
MONDAY JUNE 22nd, 2009->!
<-PREVIOUS RACE | NEXT RACE->