Racing points championship racing from 1996-current at Galletta's Greenhouse's Go-Kart Speedway Sundays from June-August & Saturdays from September-October, and summer
Thursdays (or Fridays) at Oswego Speedway Kartway. We race exclusively with limited-modified 5hp Briggs and Stratton flat-head motors all with affordable 100% stock parts
at Galletta's, & 5-8hp motors at Oswego.
DRIVER PROFILE
- CHRIS "CHRUSHERCOMIX" STEVENS (1990-2009)
Chris Stevens posing with the Galletta's Greenhouse
#4 before the 2009 Galletta's Klassic (10/3/2009).
Name: Christopher John Stevens
Chris with his wife Rungnapha "Aoo" Stevens
after a 10-kart, 45-lap race win at Galletta's on
7/18/2008.
Nicknames: "Chris", "Crusher"; "Chrusher"; "Chrusher Comix"; "Chrush"; "CJ"; "Triple C"; "ChrisChrusher"; "Galletta's Boy"; "Somkid" (wife's name
for him);
"The Cerebral Chrusher"; "Smooth Chrusher"; Pen name of "Chris Galletta"; "The kid that draws comics";
"'Disgruntled''s
Owner & Master"
Hometown: Oswego, NY, US of A.
Social Networking:
Karts: Co-owner all of the Galletta's Go-Karts with Matt
Stevens (driven the #8 from 2004-up, driven the #2 and #5 to championships; all Ogre Chassis.
Has raced most of the Galletta's Team Karts and won feature races in the
Galletta's #2, 4, 5, 8, 01, and 0, and came close to winning in the
Galletta's #1, 3, and 7. Chris and Matt often like to hop into karts that
some drivers reject as slow and win in them. Has driven the #4 from
mid-2009 on as his main kart, with #8 as his backup.).
Points-leader Chris Stevens survives The Night of a
Thousand Cautions, AKA The Accidental Winner 45
on
August 16th, 2009 and took a win that fell right into his lap!
12 drivers using 15 karts, 15 cautions, and only 5 made it to the
end in this war of attrition.->
Chris loves to win in many different
karts, proven by many of these victory lane pictures:
<-What is it with having the flu and
winning? For the 2nd straight week, someone with a stomach bug won
the feature at Galletta's. On
August 9th, 2009, Chris Stevens took the checker in the
Galletta's #4, his 2nd of the season, and padded his lead in the
points standings - the first time Matt has not had command of
the standings in around 8 years.
On a chilly
Friday, October 24th,
2008 night, Chris Stevens won the first of two 30-lap feature
races in his trusty ol' Galletta's #5, which he won the 2000 &
2001 Galletta's Klassics & Track Championships in.->
<-On Sunday
August 17th, 2008,
Buddy Cottom and Chris Stevens won the Twin 30 Features.
Chris and his wife Au after the
Oswego Speedway Dirt Kartway's 2007 Classic, where Chris scored
the 5hp/6.5hp Gas Stocker Division's Classic win in the 5hp
Galletta's Greenhouse #8 Kart. The race is generally known as
the biggest and most exciting race in the history of that track
judging by the kart count (15), laps (50), the racing, a few
funny crashes, and the "oohs & aahs" from the crowd. Chris wanted
his brother Matt to pose as well - as he is the master mechanic
of all Galletta's karts AND the 2006-08 Track Champion of that
track - but they hurried us off. View more on this race here. More->
DOB: 5/22/1974
Marital Status:
Married; wife Rungnapha or Au (pronounced "Ooh?"). [Damn, she's hot!]
Chris and his wife after another
trophy won the 2008 Oswego
Kartway Classic, the final race there before the insane track
operator barred our class from competition the following year.
Occupation: Galletta's Greenhouse Florist, freelance graphic artist, cartoonist (his mature-teen-and-up Chrusher comic book/graphic novel & Towner his family-friendly comic strip), illustrator (his children's book named Tee & Wee) & website builder and webmaster (Galletta's Greenhouse, Galletta's Go-Karts & above cartooning sites).
Years Racing Go-karts at Galletta's: 1991-current.
Career highlights: Track Championships in 1999, 2000 & 2001 (2nd place to his brother every other year
- nobody has finished higher than Chris and his brother in any
year of point standings, a record that many local kart drivers
in other divisions hate and fear us for.). "Klassic" Championship Race Victories in 1999, 2000 & 2001. Oswego Speedway's 1st Annual Dirt
Gas Stocker/Supermodified Yard Kart Classic in 2007. 2006 Feature victory at Oswego Speedway's mixed-class dirt go-kart track. Countless career victories, including over 22 feature wins since 2002 season. Won in several different karts throughout career.
2nd ALL-TIME on GALLETTA'S
GO-KART SPEEDWAY AND
OSWEGO KARTWAY
ALL-TIME
POINTS AND ALL-TIME WINS STANDINGS! * = Includes Galletta's Go-Kart Klassic Victory ** = Includes Oswego Speedway Gas
Stock Kart Classic Victory
On August 30th, 2007, Chris "ChrusherComix" Stevens won the Oswego Speedway Classic Weekend's Dirt Supermodified Yard Kart Classic 50, his 1st Feature at Oswego since 2006, and his 3rd overall feature of 2007 in his Galletta's #8. His father Wesley Ogre Stevens took 2nd in the Galletta's #4, and his brother and head mechanic Matt Stevens got 3rd in his Galletta's #33. This makes the three originators of Oswego-area Yard Kart racing taking 1-2-3 in the first ever Oswego Yard Kart Classic!
Chris and his wife Au after the 2007 Classic win. Chris wanted Matt to pose as well, but he was nowhere to be found. Picture courtesy of
Mike "MC" Howell, LocalTrax.com and XtremeFotoz.com! View more on this race here. More->
Chris "ChrusherComix" Stevens (posing with his #1 fan & wife, the lovely Thai tower camerawoman Rungnapha "Au" Phengpataew Stevens) after he won an exciting 50-Lap, 14-kart Feature event on June 10th, 2007. (Sorry we had to Mosaic out Chris's #1 sign, as he accidentally used the wrong finger!)
Chris at the 2008 Galletta's Klassic 200 Lapper in
the Galletta's Greenhouse #8!
<-Chris "The Cerebral Chrusher" Stevens won his fourth overall feature of the 2007 Oswego Karting season (three at Galletta's and one at Oswego), The Gary Miller/Ogre Retirement 45-Lapper on 11/4/2007. Chris won in the Galletta's #4, which used to be his regular kart in 1996 until he started using the Galletta's #2, the same time that Wes "Ogre" Stevens switched to the #4 permanently. However, Ogre is now retired due to his bone-crushing accident during the Klassic, and Chris's sore back needed the #4's soft cushy seat. First win for Chris in the #4 since the 1990s.
On August 26th, 2007, Chris "ChrusherComix" Stevens wins his 2nd feature of the year in his Galletta's #8, a 45-lap, 12-kart event. But the motor won 3 straight races, as the previous week Kyle Reuter
won with it when it was on Chris' own backup, the Galletta's #5, and the following week, Chris won the Oswego Speedway Gas Kart Classic with it! Chris thanks his brother Matt and Melissa Gabel for their diligent work on the track and karts during the week, as he could not have done it without them.
(Left) Chris before winning the 1999 Klassic in the Galletta's #2 and
(right) after winning the 2000-2001 Klassics in the Galletta's #5.
Favorite drivers
(from big race divisions): Himself; his brother (to beat - HA!); Oswego Supermodified drivers Doug Didero, Bentley Warren, Doug Heveron, Joe Gosek
(although some of his fans annoy me),
Dave McKnight, Kelly
Miller*, and Randy Ritskes* among others.
Other past/present Oswego drivers who raced with us and I cheer for when they
race are Cameron & Fran Rowe*, Buddy Cottom*, and Ryan Coleman*. Everybody who regularly races Go-Karts with us, has a great time,
respects what we do, doesn't whine
is also in this list! I can't name you all, thanks! * = Oswego regulars that have raced with us at Galletta's!
Least-Favorite Drivers: Drivers that can't race clean. Drivers who bump and ram. Drivers who lose their temper too easily. Drivers who think that a bigger motor means a better racer. Overly boastful winners.
People who will only race with bigger motors than you. Guys that race with us a few times, lose badly, then accuse us of cheating
(some of whom also copy all of our ideas and build & race their own tracks).
But the worst are drivers in other more expensive classes who
think that our affordable brand of karting that we invented and
built from scratch is "retarded" or inferior to them, look down on
us, and think they're the $#it. Please. Enter our class at any time
and see if you got what it takes. You'll either respect what we do
and have a ton of fun, or get really annoyed that you get beat. ;-)
Occupation: Chris' Art Studio:
Chris' artist profile:
Please buy Chris's new children's book (co-created and written by Robert Buchanan) named, Tee and Wee: Health and Nutrition for Young Earthlings, ON SALE NOW: Buy it or get a sneak-preview.
Chris' kid-friendly/family-friendly comic strip named Towner (with over 10 years of comics):
Chris' 2007 Graphic Novel,
a drama; Chrusher - End Cycle:
Chris's 1988-1999 teen-to-adult-humor comic book
named "ChrusherComix" (with over 20 years of comics):
Those that don't like his comics are subject to sore defeat in them and on the track.
Hobbies & interests: Being with family & friends; His
graphic art and cartooning websites (Chrusher and Towner); his Children's book (Tee and Wee) Judeo-Christian apologetics (favorites are Dr.RaviZacharias and KGOV'sBob Enyart Live); Fan/collector of composer John Williams' filmscores with over 400 CDs and DVDs with his music; favorite movies include the Star Warssaga, Indiana Jones movies, and several other Spielbergfilms; fan of San Antonio Spurs basketball and NY Jets football; loves visiting Thailand (his wife's native country); Collector of 1980s Transformers "G1" collectibles & animation and 1980s G.I. Joe. Crushing people who cross him in his comics (and occasionally his go-kart site),
hence his nickname, "ChrusherComix." Loves and owns countless pets,
including cats, turtles, toads, frogs, and fish. Loves computers, and home theatre systems,
and debating outspoken whiney atheist/leftist-liberal/anti-Christian
types. And, of course, karting!
More of Chris & Matt's complete racing history is found here:
More Q&A with Chris:
Chassis: Galletta's #8 and #5 are both Ogre Chassis. Driven the other Galletta Karts too.
When my father "Wesley Ogre" retired from weekly competition
(mainly because his wife, my mom, will not let him anymore), I
have also re-taken the Galletta's #4 as my backup, as it was
originally mine when we bought it new out of the box. Engine: Stock Briggs & Stratton 5hp
flatheads tuned "Galletta's style" by Matt Stevens. I
would have nobody else work on my motor. Crew Chief: Myself and Matt Stevens. Pit Crew: Matt Stevens, Wesley Ogre Stevens, Melissa
(Gabel) Stevens,
myself. Sponsors:
Galletta's Greenhouse,
ChrusherComix Inc., Emperor Sidious Palpatine, yo' mama.
How and where did you become involved in racing? As the history section shows, my brother and I have been watching Supermodifieds at Oswego Speedway since early childhood, and used to play race with pedal karts and matchbox cars as toddlers. In our teens, we bought a couple of yard karts, raced them in our backyard with friends and family and then it slowly it took off from there
by modifying them into hybrid racing karts - half yard kart, half
race kart. Oddly, I am incredibly bored by other classes and forms of racing other than what runs at Oswego Speedway and our own
brand of incredibly affordable and competitive karting.
Why do you race at Galletta's Greenhouse Go-Kart Speedway? Because it is my home track in my back yard. Duh! What a dumb question. Idiot.
But seriously, we created our own class because not only we made a
karting track in our backyard, but to keep costs down. To build a
WKA kart, you're talking about thousands of dollars for a
competitive machine. Similar for Champs. Other racing vehicles are
the same, but even more costly. Our karting is regulated in order to
be able to make a competitive machine that can win races for just a
few hundred dollars. $200-500 and you got yourself a kart that can
race with us. People always tell us to jump into other classes,
change our rules to allow methanol or expensive racing parts, but
they just don't get it. We do our class to keep an exciting race
with 10-15 karts on a track bumper-to-bumper close with one mistake
being the difference between a win and last. Try that in today's
economy on any other track in the local area. We almost always have
the closest and biggest shows, mainly thanks to my brother's
diligence in making every motor as close to equal as he can make it,
and our friends for sticking to it and developing into good racers.
We're always looking for more, so if you're reading this and like
the idea of weekly racing for just a few hundred dollars, then
please join us. No other class is more affordable and competitive
from first to last place.
Why do you race at
Oswego Kartway? We grew up watching the races at Oswego
Speedway (the Kartway's parent track and behind where the track is
located), so it's fun to race where we saw so many great races
through the years. Not to mention it is a vastly different track to
Galletta's and it makes for a fun change up. Our track has long
straights and narrow, highly banked corners; Oswego has almost no
straights, nice clay, and very little banking in their turns, so it
is a different racing experience. Plus, we have friends who race
there, volunteer, and have a good time as long as we can keep our
kart counts up, and as long as we aren't forced to race people who
only race us if they can use different, bigger horsepowered, and
much more expensive motors than us (which for some stubborn and
irrational reason, the track operator forces us to do). They've been called cheaters by
some, but I 'd rather just say that it is just poor sportsmanship
when the playing field isn't equal. (This was written before
the Galletta's Karting Club's banishment from the Oswego Kartway,
in addition to their
hate-filled insults and written threats of violence aimed at
all of Galletta's, but even more so specifically and maliciously
towards Chris.)
What do you do when you are not racing and/or in the off-season?
I'm a
graphic artist and I publish
my own books. I create, illustrate, color, and self-publish
graphic novels, comic books, comic strips, and children's books while I'm not doing freelance projects.
This is something that apparently
shovel-wielding stalkers from the Oswego Kartway do not
like, which is odd, but oh well. In the last couple of years, I've taught myself how to build and maintain websites in order to help get my comics and our go-karting noticed.
It worked, however, I get more insults and personal attacks
aimed at me (from cowards who hide behind internet names, I
might add, and never to my face) than success.
Primarily, I'm a florist for my family's
small business,
and the Greenhouse work pays the bills, but it's more Matt's
passion than mine. The rest of the time, I just spend with my wife, brother, mom and dad.
(Right) Chris "Chrusher" Stevens
with the Galletta's Greenhouse #8 at the Galletta's 2006 Klassic (9/23/2006).
(Left) Chris "Chrusher" Stevens
with the Galletta's Greenhouse #8 at the Galletta's 2007 Klassic (9/23/2007).
Comments / Is there anything else you would like the fans to know about you, the team, or your sponsors? My sponsors are
Galletta's Greenhouse (my family's greenhouse) and pimping my own graphic artwork projects (ChrusherComix, Towner Comics, and Tee & Wee Children's Book ). And
Emperor Palpatine, because he's my idol. So, that means I have no sponsors. Haha... don't need any for
gas stocker kart racing! That's the fun of it, because it's low cost (a couple of hundred dollars a year) and high return of fun provided that everybody plays by the rules (Too bad that some don't). We love racing go-karts and we love racing good drivers. Over the last fifteen or so years, we lost track of the hundreds of people who have raced with us and then stopped.
Of the hundreds we've raced with, I can think of anywhere around twenty really good drivers that just gave up and stopped racing us. We always hoped that all the guys that raced with us for a year or two and stopped would come back, and we'd have some highly competitive 20 kart races.
We would put on the best kart races anywhere, bar none - and as it
is, our 10-15 kart races are already the most competitive and
exciting in the local area. But either they get bigger motors,
jump divisions, race elsewhere or they stop racing entirely. That kind of stinks, but hopefully from here on out we can gain more drivers than we lose.
We usually have a trade-off and stay around 10-15 karts. But... in closing... we know that the guys who give up just admit that they
can't beat us. Ha!
