Galletta's Karting Club - 2010 Season, Event #1 - Monday, June 7th, 2010 at Galletta's:

DVD Highlights to Galletta's Backyard Karting Club 2010 Volume 1 (Part 1 of 2):

...and now for  part 2 of 2 of DVD Highlights to Galletta's Backyard Karting Club 2010 Volume 1:
 

Gary Miller Sr. came out of his 29th self-imposed retirement to hop into the Galletta's Greenhouse #0 before the 2nd heat and sweep both the heat and the feature. He promptly retired for the 30th time during the victory photo session. Stay tuned, as something tells me he will come out of retirement yet again. Apparently, I have powers that enable me to foresee such things because my prediction has come true several times before.

The original opener scheduled for Sunday, June 6th, 2010 ran into an early-morning rain - the first solid rain we had in weeks - which soaked the track. Head track-maintenance-man Matt Stevens wanted to still hold the event, as the track was race-able, but due to the wet lower groove and chilly temperatures, enough veterans voted for the option of having a rain-date on Monday. That we did.

Heat 1 saw the debut of Dick Dann's new #86 (above and in this message board thread) which he built almost entirely from scratch out of spare parts and a nearly brand-new motor block that we found for him on ebay for less than $100. His whole kart cost only in the $500 range total, and it is a thing of beauty - hopefully it will stay that way, but our races do take a toll on these ironman machines as all of the karts look spectacular until they'd been in a  few wrecks dinging up paint jobs. Dick is running double-duty, as he is also running with the clones all over central NY this season. However, some bugs need to be worked out in the new #86, as he scored 2nd to Matt Stevens. Not that Matt dominated - he started scratch and everybody in front of Matt's Galletta's Greenhouse #3 either spun out or wrecked. Matt passed nobody and still won. They were followed by Gary Miller Jr., George Russell and Russ Bartlett.

The 2nd Heat saw Melissa Stevens put her brother-in-law Chris into the woods going into turn 3 (above). Gary Miller Sr. banzai-dropped Larry Phillips in turn 1 en route to the heat win, although he was docked points for the move (see our message board debate and penalty about the 1st-turn banzai drop). Tim Galletta scored 2nd, while Chris came back strong after his trip into the brush to take 3rd. Larry, Melissa, and Shadoe Russell rounded out the field.

Chris eluded to the fact that due to him breaking Matt's 8-year-straight reign as Undisputed Track Champion of all Oswego Dirt Karting on two Oswego tracks, that people will be gunning for him this season. And sure enough, he was right. People want his Championship belt!

An excellent opening feature for 2010 began with 11 karts and 45 laps! What many people do not know, is that the Galletta's Karting Club & Speedway started as a friends-and-family club back in the early 1990s. Because we were not a part of the normal karting circuit, some local karters (though not all, as some have raced with us and know how tough the racing is at a Galletta's club event) have sneered at our brand of economical karting. We evolved differently than other forms of karting. Although they are different - 1-wheel-drive vs. 2-wheel-drive; gas vs. methanol; homemade rules vs. WKA rules; right-turn chassis vs. left-turn chassis; higher ground clearance vs. none - they certainly are not better, just simply higher priced to field. Our class fields 10-15 karts on a regular basis, has done so for many years now, and our 11-kart opener - that includes 15-year-veterans of the sport Matt and Chris Stevens - continued this tradition of affordable racing action with talented drivers throughout. And people who have driven everything have told us just how much fun it is to race in our club. All of this, and we are still seeking ways to both equalize the competition and make the racing even safer and more fun. New for this year, we are adding chest pads for those who want them (contact me about ordering them), and improving our horsepower-to-weight scale. Some have questioned why we added this to the race details, but it is because we have been attacked from time to time, and we simply want to set the record straight. Anybody who doubts the club's racing skills is invited to join anytime and find out.

 

 As our YouTube video shows, there was a very close race from start to finish. In act, the only thing that prevented putting a blanket over the entire field from lap first to last was Gary Miller Sr. taking the lead on lap 11 and pulling away from the pack for the entire race. Behind him, tons of bumper-to-bumper racing took place, which shows how good our class is. Gary was running light - the Galletta's #0 is set up for heavier drivers, and since enough people brought up a problem with this, a 10-point mulligan penalty was retroactively enacted for this. Next race if a lighter driver wishes to drive the #0 (or #7 or #9, as they are handicap karts set up specifically for drivers exceeding 225 lbs.), weight must be placed to weigh the machine down. At Galletta's, we have more powerful, gearing, cam and headers in the Galletta's #0, 7 and #9 for larger people. We enacted and tinkered with our horsepower-to-weight scale to equalize the races and it has worked very well in the last few years, so everyone must abide by it. Gary didn't like losing points, but he still keeps his win and the next time he selects to race the #0, it must be weighed down.

6/7/2010 45-Lap Order-of-Finish:
1st. Gary Miller (Galletta's #0)
2nd. Tim Galletta (Galletta's #7)
3rd. Chris Stevens (Galletta's #4)
4th. Matt Stevens (Galletta's #3; #33)
5th. George Russell (Galletta's #2)
6th. Melissa Stevens (Stevens #19)
7th.Russ Bartlett (Galletta's #6)
8th. Gary Miller Jr. (Miller #24) [DNF]
9th. Shadoe Russell (Doe #26) [DNF]
10th. Dick Dann (Destroyer #86) [DNF]
11th. Larry Phillips (L&K Small Engine #04) [DNF]
[DNF] = Did Not Finish