11-karts, 60-Laps of bumper-to-bumper action throughout.

Galletta's Karting Club - 2010 Season, Event #5 - Monday, July 5th, 2010:

FEATURE 1:
 

2010 Season, Event #5- Monday, July 5th, 2010 - Independence Day Twin-30s Night: Michael "MC" Howell finally won his first feature win in his 4th season of racing at Galletta's in the Galletta's Greenhouse #0 kart. He promptly demolished the kart's steering column when he flipped it (again!) in the 2nd feature after a collision with a rookie! The said 2nd feature went to Melissa Stevens in her Scissors N' Fur #19 kart, keeping her streak of at least one feature win per season alive, and she has now won in three karts - her husband's Galletta's #3, and her own Scissors & Fur #80 and #19 karts.  Both drivers won from their pole starting positions, as the karts and driver experience are so close this season that passing is rare and wins are hard-earned.

[LEFT] AJ Nason (#89) tries to get under Jeff Tetro (#9) in the 1st Feature. It was highly humorous because AJ jumped the gun twice and had to be instructed that there is to be no passing until the starter sees a good line coming out of 4 and drops the green. AJ just bought the former Dick/Nick Dann Destroyer #68 kart, which Eric Howell re-numbered #89, but it will now become the Hammered #35 after it's trek to Cortland for AJ's wife to help decorate. [RIGHT] Russ Hockey (#00) passes MC Howell (#0) in turn 3 for the lead momentarily before going on two wheels and then falling off the track in turn 4, relinquishing the lead back to MC.

[LEFT] The racing has been so close all season that the drivers starting at or near the front via our handicap system have had the highest percentage of winning. Bumper-to-bumper, passing has been at a premium all season so far, and even the 4-to-15 year veterans have been fighting hard for every inch of track and every point. [RIGHT] MC Howell (#0) fends off challenges from AJ Nason (#89) and Jeff Tetro (#9) in the 1st Feature and holds on for the win.

FEATURE 1:
 

The 2nd feature started as an exact invert of the 1st feature's finish, a tradition we have done since we started doing Twin-30s a few years ago. With Randy Platt selecting to start in the rear as it was his 1st race since 2003 (and back then the karts were box stock and the track was less banked) and Russ Bartlett electing to get 1 lap in for points and then help flag, the pole went to Melissa Stevens, who's dirt-tracking style of driving in the turns along with her strong motors in both of her karts makes her a very difficult pass.

The top-5 pulled away in a 5-kart train in the 1st half of the race. Here Timmy Galletta peeks back to see his little cousin Matt Stevens swoop low and show a wheel to Russ Hockey, while Chris Stevens looks for a way around his hard-charging brother.


More views of this impressive line of 5-karts battling it out, with Melissa (#19) holding strong against Tim Galletta (#7), Russ Hockey (#00), Matt Stevens (#33) and Chris Stevens (#8).


How close was this finish, folks? Russ Hockey pulled alongside Melissa and took 2nd, Chris Stevens was staggered on Russ for 3rd, and Matt was staggered on Chris for 4th. Tim scored 5th only after he tried to pass Melissa, couldn't get the kart to stick and got trained by 2nd, 3rd and 4th! After a mid-race restart following a wreck between MC and AJ when MC's kart momentarily slowed and AJ pulled along-side of him,  (which got MC's temper flared with AJ, but we talked it out and they shook hands afterward), the rest of the pack stayed with the top 5 to make the finish even closer yet! I can't exclaim enough how impressive our races have been this year!

1st 30-Lap Feature Order-of-Finish: 1st. Michael "mc" Howell (Galletta's #0) 2nd. Jeff Tetro (Galletta's #9) 3rd. Arnold "AJ" Nason (Hammered #89) 4th. Dick Dann (Dann #86) 5th. Chris Stevens (Galletta's #4) 6th. Matt Stevens (Galletta's #3) 7th. Russ Hockey (Hockey #00) 8th. Tim Galletta (Galletta's #7) 9th. Melissa Stevens (Stevens #19) 10th. Randy Platt (Galletta's #5) 11th. Russ Bartlett (Doeman #26) DNF Points Make-Up B-Main Credit: 12th. Shadoe Russell (Doe #26) via 7/11/2010 13th. Jesse Vivlemore (Galletta's #5) via 7/11/2010 14th. George Russell (Galletta's #2) via 7/11/2010

2nd 30-Lap Feature Order-of-Finish: 1st. Melissa Stevens (Stevens #19) 2nd. Russ Hockey (Hockey #00) 3rd. Chris Stevens (Galletta's #8) 4th. Matt Stevens (Galletta's #33) 5th. Tim Galletta (Galletta's #7) 6th. Dick Dann (Dann #86) 7th. Randy Platt (Galletta's #5) 8th. Jeff Tetro (Galletta's #9) 9th. Arnold "AJ" Nason (Hammered #89) 10th. Michael Howell (Galletta's #0) DNF 11th. Russ Bartlett (Doeman #26) DNF Points Make-Up B-Main Credit: 12th. Shadoe Russell (Doe #26) via 7/11/2010 13th. Jesse Vivlemore (Galletta's #5) via 7/11/2010 14th. George Russell (Galletta's #2) via 7/11/2010

We hope that George Russell and Larry Phillips are feeling better, as both of them could not make it due to feeling under the weather. Points, race results and pictures are up and videos are catching up and will be up to date soon! Thanks for reading! Now for the....