But first, let's see a recap of the entire 2009
Galletta's Karting Season so far...
Race #1
- June 7th, 2009: Matt Stevens started the 2009 karting season with a bang winning a ten driver, 45-lap feature
in his Galletta's #33 kart. The track was as smooth as silk, and being a
little slick due to the winter and spring's precipitation, provided for some excellent power slide racing, as
especially seen in the new camera angle in turns 3 & 4. This was the
first club race since
our class was disrespectfully banned from the Oswego Kartway during the
off-season despite all of the support our club gave to the Kartway
(3 years of 5-15 weekly karting customers in addition to free promotion
and affordable $5 weekly DVDs produced), and lifelong weekly customers
at the Kartway's parent track, Oswego Speedway.
Considering how the
track was built shortly after the operator visited and
raced on our track in 2005, how the operator forced our club to race
against bigger motors (that he sold parts to) then banned us when we
still won, yet asked for our own class, how they didn't pay us for logos and banners,
and how many problems they have with their customer base over their
first four years, I think all of these classy things just speak for
themselves. Race
#2 - June 14th, 2009: Twin 30s night was in store for a beautiful June day
that saw eleven drivers battle it out. Gary Miller Sr. won the 1st
feature in his Miller/Galletta's #24 kart, and Matt Stevens won the 2nd
in his trusty ol' Galletta's #3 kart. Our club had an interview from a
Syracuse University news reporter as well to cap a great night of
racing!
Race
#3 - June 22nd, 2009:
Jason "The Hammer" Mills won the eleven
driver, 45-lap feature in dominant fashion, putting both himself and the
refurbished Galletta's #2 in victory lane for the first time in years.
It was his 3rd career win.
Race #4
-
July
5th, 2009:
The '09 Independence Day Event had thirteen
drivers. First, a rookie powder-puff Go-Kart race won by Nazeha
Al-Hanini. Then,
Buddy Cottom took the 1st 30-lap feature
in the Galletta's #6, and Chris Stevens took the 2nd one in his
Galletta's #8.
Race #5
-
July
12th, 2009: Eight veteran drivers battled it out in a 50-Lap Feature
which saw Russell Hockey take the
convincing win in his 2nd career feature in his third season driving his
Hockey #00 kart.
Race #6
-
July
19th, 2009.: Larry Phillips won his first ever feature in his 2nd season
in his #04 kart, proving that the flexible motor/weight rules that
Galletta's Karting Club enabled a much heavier man to race with lighter
guys and still win fair and square. Nine veteran drivers dueled it out
in the 45-Lap Feature.
Race#7
-
July
27th, 2009: A tremendous streak continues of new winners every week.
Wavin' Nick Dann won the 1st 30-lapper (his 3rd career win), and
Flippin' Fred Collins, after 5 years of horrible flips and last place
finishes, finally won his first feature! With 15 drivers, we had a ball.
Race #9
-
August 9th, 2009: Chris Stevens became the 2nd winner in a row to win a
feature with a stomach bug. He took the 10-driver, 50-lap feature in his
Galletta's #4 kart.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the 3-way tie for 3rd place with Matt
Stevens, Russ Hockey, and Kenny Lindsley III! Again, we prove on a
near-weekly basis that our karting is as exciting as any, and only
snobby karters that throw thousands of dollars into their go-karts
disagree.
Race #10
- August 16th, 2009: Twelve competitors, three heats, and a rough 45-lap feature were
in store. Matt Stevens, Russ
Hockey and Ken Lindsley all broke while leading, and it
was Chris Stevens who emerged as the winner in a war of attrition in
his Galletta's #8 kart.
YouTube video here.
Race
#11 -
August
23rd, 2009: Fourteen competitors, two heats, the 1st "ALL-GALLETTA"
Feature race and a regular veteran 40-lap feature! Brian Galletta
took the All-Galletta race in the Galletta's #5, and Matt Stevens
took the regular veteran feature in the Galletta's #3.
YouTube
video.
Race
#12 -
August
31st, 2009: Thirteen competitors, a rookie heat, and Twin-35-Lap Feature
races. Russell Hockey took the first feature and Fred Collins taking
the second. We are having our most diverse amount of winners this
season at Galletta's! Predictable considering our amount of regular
veterans has not eroded as much as in past seasons.
YouTube preview
of our DVDs, as always.
Race #13
-
September 7th, 2009: Nine competitors, two heats, and
a 45-Lap Feature race.
This one was taken by Matt Stevens in his Galletta's #3, but
Chris Stevens was staying with him in the Galletta's #4. Matt is
showing that the closer it comes to Klassic time, the more he tunes
up all of the karts, especially his own. As always, he is going to
be tough to beat (and only his father Wes and brother Chris have
ever beat him in a "Classic" race in the previous 13 years and 15
"Classics" on two tracks!)
YouTube preview.
Race
#14 - September
13th, 2009:
Matt
Stevens won a tough, 12-kart, 45-lap feature in his
Galletta's Greenhouse #33 kart, surviving two wrecks between 4 karts in
front of him. Tim Galletta, Russ Hockey, Gary Miller and Buddy Cottom all
wrecked together battling for the
lead after that, leaving Matt clear sailing for his 5th feature win of the
season, looking tougher as the 14th Annual Klassic approaches.
Race #15 -September 19th, 2009:
Due to a freak occurrence where only 5 karters could
make it, we only held a short, 25-lap race. But what was odd is that one
of them was a mysterious creature from the woods.
"The Mysterious
Professor Speedmonkey" whooped everybody's butts with his Monkey
Super-Powers. NOW... for our CLASSIC / AKA
KLASSIC!!!!!
Galletta's Karting Club - 2009 Season,
Race
16: The World Championship of Gas Flathead Karting
Points Series continued on Saturday,
October 3rd, 2009 at John J. Galletta Memorial Backyard Speedway The 14th Annual Galletta's Go-Kart Klassic 200:
The 2009 Galletta's
Klassic Time Trial Results & Starting Order:
Starting
1st:
Russ Hockey - Hockey #00
16.56, 16.22
(3 timeouts earned)
* 3rd Galletta's Klassic.
Starting
2nd:
Chris Stevens - Galletta's #4
16.45, 16.47 (3 timeouts earned)
Also timed 16.60 in the #8
* 14th Galletta's Klassic
(3 prior wins).
Starting
3rd:
Matt Stevens - Galletta's #33
16.59, 16:47
(3 timeouts earned)
Also timed 16.58 in the #3
* 14th Galletta's Klassic (9 prior wins).
Starting
4th:
George Russell - Galletta's #2
16.64, 16.94
(1 timeout earned)
* 1st Galletta's Klassic.
Starting
5th:
Melissa Stevens - Stevens #19
16.93, 17.03
(3 timeouts earned)
Also timed 16.94 in the #80
* 3rd Galletta's Klassic.
Starting
6th:
JD Davis - Miller #24 17.22, 17.09
(1 timeout earned.)
One of the best Klassic races in Galletta's Backyard Speedway's
history was held on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009! The 14th Annual
Klassic was started at 5:30pm. Originally scheduled for around 4pm,
we waited a over an hour for four regular drivers that were
scheduled but didn't make it; Buddy Cottom, Larry Phillips, Jason
Mills, and Brian Galletta - all of whom were prior feature winners
this season and projected to do very well in the Klassic. Plus, Gary
Miller missed the Klassic due to being out of town (although he
hand-picked a replacement driver for his kart, 1st-timer JD Davis).
This meant that instead of the projected 14 driver race, we only got
9. Although only a 9 kart race was underwhelming in total
drivers, it did not take away from the racing itself, which
was excellent, with no major wrecks and very clean racing. Hopefully
next season, we can have another 14-16 kart Klassic, which were totals
that we had in the 2005-06 seasons.
Russ
Hockey scored the pole with a 16.22 and set a very fast pace while
dominating the vast majority of the race, pulling away from everybody during
the first half of the event. Although he received some
challenges by George Russell and Jesse Vivlemore, he led 152 of the first
162 laps of the race, with only Jesse catching both Russ and Chris
sleeping on a restart and leading 10 laps in the 40s. Chris Stevens-this year driving the Galletta's #4 in a Klassic for the first time
since 1997 because of the bad luck of the #8 in the Klassics-stayed in the top
3 for the first, knowing that it is crucial to both stay ahead of
Matt and also score as many top-3 bonus points as he possibly could
to maintain his lead in the point standings, not to mention being in
range for a win as the race progressed. Russ put a couple people
down one lap in his quest. Matt, per usual, used his 9-time-Klassic-Winning formula: fade to
the back early, save his kart and come on strong during the latter stages of
the marathon event, hoping that the front-runners would burn more fuel and
also tire their motors out. JD Davis retired the Miller #24 kart on
lap 41 after the front wheel bearings broke for the 2nd time (he had
already used a timeout on lap 21 to repair them once).
At the first caution after 130 lap point, each kart
was given the choice of refueling. If you refuel, you go to the rear
of the pack, so people in the rear had nothing to lose and refueled.
However, there was a gamble at this point, as starter Mike "mc"
Howell instructed that if you ran out of gas, he would not throw the
caution for you, and you'd have to pit and gas up ASAP. The top-4
at this point--Russ, Chris, George, and Matt--all declined and decided
to go for all 200 laps off 1 tank of gas. Matt started the decision,
gambling that he saved more gas than the top 3. With around more than
a third or so to go, Chris started to work on Russ for the lead until
a nut fell of his drive-wheel on the #4, and Chris had to go to the
rear, wondering when his Klassic bad luck would ever end. That
set up a battle between Matt Stevens and Russ Hockey, and with Russ'
#00 getting loose on lap 162, Matt again put his #33 in the lead in
the latter stages again, putting himself in prime position for his
10th Klassic victory. Chris, steadily worked his way back to the front,
and moved up to 4th, and battled impressive rookie George Russell
for countless laps, until George and his son Shadoe (by then multi-time
lapped traffic) wrecked together in turn two, moving Chris back up
to 3rd. Russ then ran out of fuel on lap 191, which took him out of
the lead lap (going down 2 laps before he made it back out in time
to save himself from going down a third. The decision was made by
flagman Mike "mc" Howell, to not throw the caution for any
driver that ran out of fuel. This was the only controversial moment
in the Klassic, as Russ could have called a "pit stop timeout"
and refueled without losing a lap. Russ had earned 3 timeouts during
the regular season (depending on how many races attended, unused,
and carried over), and had 3 to burn.). This set up a battle between
Matt and Chris for the same epic battle that has occurred
throughout the early days of Klassic history. Per usual, between
the equally-matched competitors in speed and experience, the edge
will usually go to the one ahead of the other; this time Matt. Although
Chris stuck with his brother, there was no way around, and Matt inched
away slightly every lap as the checkered flag approached. Finally,
after successfully holding off his brother after a couple of of late
caution restarts, Matt emerged in victory lane for his 10th Galletta's
Klassic win -- only Chris (3) and Wes Stevens (1) have won the four
others. George Russell was extremely impressive in only his 3rd time
ever in a Galletta's go-kart, scoring 3rd and racing with the leaders
nearly from start to finish in the Galletta's #2, a kart that went
un-used in the last handful of Klassics. George proved how all Galletta
karts are fast, it's just a problem of finding good drivers to fill
the machines on a weekly basis.
Matt becomes the first driver to win a Klassic without
a refuel in the modern era. This race
now sets a new standard and instantly became legendary for the
fact that the top three karts did not pit and went all 200+ laps on one tank of pump
gasoline! Yes, that
is 200 laps, over 20+ miles of racing on one 5hp gas tank! With the
fastest times ranging between 45-50mph, this is extraordinary to say
the least, and again points to how our brand of racing - though occasionally
looked down upon by more conventional, organized WKA-type methanol
karters - is second to none in terms of pure racing skill and value
for the money. The race finished precisely at 8:00pm, and that was
after three driver timeouts used (JD, Jesse, and Chris). Thank you
to all who have raced with us this year, and check back periodically
with us (via phone or email) to see if we will have any Fall races
(weather, track conditions and driver interest, as always, determine
any races after the Klassic; anywhere between 0-3 could be raced).
Notes: The Galletta's #1, 3, 5, 6, 7 (a handicap
kart for drivers over 200 lbs.), 8, and 80 all went initially unused
at race's beginning, although the #5 was used by Jesse after the #0's
rear axle bolt broke, and Melissa used her #80 after the head on the
#19 cracked. Chris' backup, the #8, sat out of its first Klassic since
it was built right after the the 2003 Klassic. Matt's backup, the
#3 - which he drove for most of the '09 season and won 7 Klassics
in - went unused as well.
However, despite Matt's
Klassic triumph, Chris did break his 8-year-straight Track Championship
winning streak by consistently racing in and finishing in the top-3
all year long, despite Matt having more total wins. In fact, in this
8-year period (2002-2008), Matt won 8-straight Galletta's Track Titles,
and 3-straight Oswego Speedway's Dirt Kartway Gas Division track titles
(a record that will forever stand as unbeaten, as the track operator
swore Matt would never win again on his track again and stuck to his
word as he banned the entire class from competition, and it will take
years of the replacement 'Gas Clone/Pro Stock' classes to match Matt's
win total in his 3 years there, particularly impressive as Matt even
defeated bigger motors, an obstacle that the current clones don't
have to work around). This is Chris' first track championship since
2001, where he won 3-straight himself. He now has won four overall.
Still, Matt wins, as he is the head mechanic on all Galletta's karts,
and everybody knows that when Matt gives your kart a tune-up, it is
usually the fastest on track that very next race. Fact is, he hurts
himself when he tunes his competition's karts to be faster than his
own, which happens a lot. Many times, our backups can be time-trialed
faster than his two karts!
Galletta's Kart Club 2009 Volumes #16-17
- "2009 Klassic 200" DVD: The
14th Galletta's Go-Kart Klassic 200: Our 14th
Annual Klassic went 200 laps (technically 210 after counting cautions
and green laps on tape). Russ Hockey scored the pole with a
16.22 and set a very fast pace while dominating the vast majority of
the race, holding off challenges by Jesse Vivlemore, George Russell,
and Chris Stevens. That was until late in the race
Matt Stevens
took the lead in his #33 on lap 162 and then held off his brother
Chris--who had to come back from the rear after being in the top-3
all race and losing a drive-wheel nut late--to take the win, his
10th Klassic victory. However, Chris did break Matt's
8-year-straight Track Championship winning streak by racing and
finishing consistently in the top-3 all year long, despite Matt
having more total wins. This race became legendary for the fact that
the top three karts did not pit and went all 200+ laps on one tank of pump
gasoline! Russ, despite
leading 152 laps, finished 2 laps down due to running out of fuel.
Also contains the raw footage of the Bigfoot attack!Price $10
for 2-DVD set.
Final Order of
Finish for the 14th Annual Galletta's Klassic 200 of 2009:
9th - JD Davis (Gary Miller
Racing/Galletta's #24*; DNF) = Earned 390 points!
KEY:
* = Used 1 timeout (Earned via amount of races run during the season).
Multiple karts = Lose -15 points per kart change.
Each lap led = +1 point per lap.
Each lap in 2nd or 3rd = +0.5 point per lap.
Meanwhile,
Professor
Speedmonkey's appearance, victory, and vicious smack-talk last race lured his arch nemesis,
"CM Bigfoot" to
the track, seeking to destroy him. CM did not have very nice things to say about Speedmonkey in general.
In fact, all of the karters were upset with Speedmonkey's "Soupy $#it trap" that he
left in the middle of the back stretch. However, Professor did get the last
laugh, as seen below. Damn, that Speedmonkey.
This concludes the 2009 Points Season at Galletta's Backyard
Karting Speedway, the biggest and most rewarding race at Galletta's every single
year. Fall races (if any) will count as a separate series and also be added to
the all-time totals. Chris wins his 4th track championship, breaking Matt's
8-year reign as track champion. But, Matt still won the Klassic Championship and
total Feature wins. Here is the order:
Name (Go-Karts Piloted)
~ Colored Border Pics have Profiles ~
Years Pro on Track
Total Points (Place)
Average Points Per Event
Events
Raced
Features
Entered
Heat Wins
Feature Wins
Klassic
Win | In
Feature Win %
1
Chris Stevens
(Galletta's #4, 8, 5)
14th
2,821.5
176.34
16
20
0
3
0|1
15%
2
Matt
Stevens
(Galletta's #33, 3, 1, 7)
14th
2,770.5
173.16
16
20
2
7
1|1
35%
3
Russ
Hockey (Hockey #00, Galletta's #9)
3rd
2,571.0
171.40
15
18
4
2
0|1
11%
4
Melissa
Stevens
(Stevens #19, 80)
3rd
2,369.0
148.06
16
20
2
1
0|1
5%
5
Buddy
Cottom
(Galletta's #5, 6, 4, 1, 2)
3rd
1,934.0
138.14
14
18
2
1
0|0
6%
6
Gary
Miller Sr.
(Galletta's/Miller #24, 0)
5th
1,711.5
122.25
14
18
1
1
0|0
6%
7
Larry
Phillips
(L&K Small Engine #04)
2nd
1,225.0
122.50
10
13
0
1
0|0
9%
8
Fred
Collins (Galletta's #9)
5th
1,117.0
139.63
8
11
1
2
0|0
11%
9
Tim
Galletta
(Galletta's #7, 9, 2)
1st
1,096.0
182.67
6
7
1
0
0|1
0%
10
Jesse
Vivlemore
(Galletta's #0, 5)
3rd
773.0
193.25
4
4
1
0
0|1
0%
11
George
Russell (Galletta's #2)
1st
726.0
363.00
2
3
1
0
0|1
0%
12
Shadoe
Russell (Russell #26, Galletta's #1)
1st
539.0
269.50
2
3
0
0
0|1
0%
13
Jason
Mills
(Galletta's #2)
9th
482.5
160.83
3
5
1
1
0|0
20%
14
Nick
Dann
(Galletta's #7, 4, 0, 1)
4th
460.5
115.13
4
6
0
1
0|0
17%
15
Mike
"MC" Howell (Galletta's #2, Russell #26, Hockey #00)
3rd
443.0
221.50
2
2
0
0
0|0
0%
16
JD
Davis
(Miller #24)
®
390.0
390.00
1
1
0
0
0|1
0%
17
Kevin
Galletta
(Galletta's #9, 0)
1st
370.0
123.33
3
3
0
0
0|0
0%
18
"CM
Bigfoot"
(Galletta's N/A)
N/A
360.0
360.00
1
1
0
0
0|1
0%
19
Kelly
Miller (Galletta's #7, 4)
3rd
320.5
106.83
3
5
1
0
0|0
0%
20
Brian
Galletta (Galletta's #5, 4)
4th
277.5
138.75
2
2
1
1
0|0
50%
21
Dick
Dann (Dann #68)
1 = Methanol
4th
241.0
120.50
2
3
0
0
0|0
0%
22
Kenny
Lindsley III (Galletta's #2, 1)
2nd
240.5
120.25
2
2
0
0
0|0
0%
23
Tony Gonyeau (Galletta's #1, 7, 0)
®
226.0
113.00
2
3
0
0
0|0
0%
24
RaYzor
_______ (Last name
withheld via paranoia)
(Galletta's #7, 2)
1st
147.0
73.50
2
2
0
0
0|0
0%
25
Soliman
Barakat (Galletta's #4, 1)
®
144.0
144.00
1
2
0
0
0|0
0%
26
Bob
Galletta (Galletta's #4)
®
139.0
139.00
1
1
0
0
0|0
0%
27
Asaad
Al-Hanini (Galletta's #2, 7, 1)
®
137.0
137.00
1
2
0
0
0|0
0%
28
Todd
Sharp (Galletta's #9)
®
135.0
135.00
1
2
1
0
0|0
0%
29
Jeff
Tetro (Galletta's #6)
1st
132.0
132.00
1
2
0
0
0|0
0%
30
Justin
Bonacquisti (Galletta's #5)
®
130.0
130.00
1
2
0
0
0|0
0%
31
Josh
Chetney (Galletta's #1)
®
124.0
124.00
1
2
0
0
0|0
0%
32
Justin
Galletta (Galletta's #1)
®
123.0
123.00
1
1
0
0
0|0
0%
33
Austin
Hicks (Galletta's #24)
®
118.0
118.00
1
2
0
0
0|0
0%
34
Dan
Woodard
(Woodard #w5) * =
Stock 6.5hp
1st
118.0
118.00
1
1
0
0
0|0
0%
35
Gary
Galletta (Galletta's #6)
®
115.0
115.00
1
1
0
0
0|0
0%
36
Andrew
Miller
(Galletta's #0)
®
108.0
108.00
1
1
0
0
0|0
0%
37
Nazeha
Al-Hanini (Galletta's #7)
®
108.0
108.00
1
2
1
0
0|0
0%
38
Terry
Miller (Galletta's #5)
®
106.0
106.00
1
2
0
0
0|0
0%
39
Jesse
Newcombe (Galletta's #4)
®
106.0
106.00
1
2
0
0
0|0
0%
40
Neaiamh
Al-Hanini (Galletta's #1)
®
104.0
104.00
1
2
0
0
0|0
0%
41
Ron
Rowe (Galletta's #2)
®
101.0
101.00
1
1
0
0
0|0
0%
42
Josh
Herscha (Galletta's #0)
1st
100.0
100.00
1
2
0
0
0|0
0%
43
Zack
Sawyer
(Galletta's #1)
®
95.0
95.00
1
1
0
0
0|0
0%
44
Eddie
Scruton (Galletta's #6)
1st
93.0
93.00
1
1
1
0
0|0
0%
45
Brian
Paul (Galletta's #1, 7, 2)
®
87.0
87.00
1
1
1
0
0|0
0%
46
Ken
Pierce (Galletta's #7)
®
86.0
86.00
1
1
0
0
0|0
0%
47
Brandon
Matott (Galletta's #0)
®
84.0
84.00
1
1
0
0
0|0
0%
48
"Professor Speedmonkey"
(Galletta's #1)
N/A
73.0
73.00
1
1
0
1
0|0
100%
NOTES: All karts are 1-WD and all Motors are 1-WD 5hp Gas Flatheads with Stock '90s Carb, shaved head, and select pre-approved Dyno Racing Cams
(different weight requires different ones allowed; 94-SS is the
standard for light/medium weight groups - AKA anybody under 220 lbs.). This means fast, equal speeds and, cheater-free engine-builders, all for low prices.
Two karts so far this season were not gas flatheads (a methanol
flathead with raptor carb and a gas stock 6.5hp OHV), and
although they were allowed to run and scored their full points, but their placement did not penalize anybody else with
the same gas flathead motor, who were scored as if the other
motored kart was not there.
Comments, questions, and additional info with Galletta's Kart Club drivers and officials can be found on
our message boards. ->
Our karting club's home track is located in back of: Galletta's Greenhouses 60 County Route 20 Oswego, NY 13126-6512 (315) 343-0879 or (315) 343-4281 Need directions? Here they are!
Please visit Galletta's Speedway racer/co-founder/co-owner
Chris "Crusher Comics" Stevens's other websites containing his new graphic novel, children's book, and his old old cartoon strips & comic books:
Galletta's Greenhouse Backyard Karting Club & Speedway 60 County Route 20 Oswego, NY, USA 13126-6512 Telephone: (315) 343-0879 or (315) 343-4281 (Ask for Matt or Chris only!) Directions