Galletta's Karting Club

7/12/2014 – Matt Stevens wins Fast 40-Lapper in Galletta’s Greenhouse #5!

SATURDAY, JULY 12th, 2014, OSWEGO, NY –  Matt Stevens did it again! He hops in a backup kart that is available for rent every weekend (and usually sits idle) and DOMINATES the field en route to another Feature victory, padding his total feature wins again – a total that no karter in Oswego (and points beyond) can touch. But it wasn’t easy to get into the lead. In fact, Brian Galletta, Chris Stevens and Kelly Miller all got trapped behind some zany lapped traffic to get picked off en route to Matt’s win, which means that Matt has now taken 3 straight feature triumphs in 3 different Galletta’s Greenhouse racing karts. More details coming later this week.

HEAT ONE (8-Laps)

START:
1. Adam Lytle (Lytle Racing #33c)
2. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)
3. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
4. Kevin Galletta (Platt-num/Galletta #28)
5. Keith Raymond (Galletta’s Greenhouse #1)

Retcon Racers:
-. Brian Galletta (Plattnum/Galletta #42) = racing for 11th in 6/14/2014 40-lapper
-. Grover Sixberry Jr. (Galletta’s Greenhouse #2) = racing for 12th in 6/7/2014 40-lapper

Melissa Stevens led start to finish for her 2nd heat victory of 2014.

FINISH:
1. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)
2. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
3. Kevin Galletta (Platt-num/Galletta #28)
-. Brian Galletta (Plattnum/Galletta #42) = makeup earned 11th in 6/14/2014 40-lapper
4. Keith Raymond (Galletta’s Greenhouse #1)
-. Grover Sixberry Jr. (Galletta’s Greenhouse #2) =  earned 12th in 6/7/2014 40-lapper
5. DNS – Adam Lytle (Lytle Racing #33c)

DNS = Did Not Start: Adam Lytle was set to start, but a developing knock in the motor in the pre-race warm-up meant he didn’t want to chance it and pulled off the track. Since he took the track for warm-ups and was in line on the track and set to go, he is credited points-wise with a start and a DNF.

HEAT TWO (8-Laps)

START:
1. Brian Galletta (Platt-num/Galletta #42)
2. Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #0)
-. Keith Raymond (Galletta’s Greenhouse #1) = racing for 12th in 6/14/2014 40-Lapper
3. Matt Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5)
4. Grover Sixberry Jr. (Galletta’s Greenhouse #2)

Heat two begins with the return of Brian Galletta, back from his week 1 crash (and kart-builder Randy Platt’s slowness in repairing the kart) and set handicapped up front with his offset Plattnum/Galletta chassis.

Brian Galletta (Platt-inum/Galletta #42) – running as good as he could with a malfunctioning (AKA near non-functional) brake – spins out and hits the inside wall in turn 2 after leading almost the entire heat in his radically redesigned Platt-inum #42. If only the M.I.A. and presumed dead Bobandinator showed up to view and/or race his creations.

After that, Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #0) – who had a ear-nose-throat cold himself – held off Matt Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5) for the rest of the way, giving Chris his 1st heat win since 2013.

FINISH:
1. Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #0)
2. Matt Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5)
-. Keith Raymond (Galletta’s Greenhouse #1) = earned points credited for 12th in 6/14/2014 40-Lapper
3. Brian Galletta (Platt-num/Galletta #42)
4. Grover Sixberry Jr. (Galletta’s Greenhouse #2)

40-LAP FEATURE

The feature begins!

START:
1. DNS – Adam Lytle (Lytle Racing #33c)
2. Brian Galletta (Platt-num/Galletta #42)
3. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)
4. Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #0)
5. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
6. Keith Raymond (Galletta’s Greenhouse #1)
7. Kevin Galletta (Platt-num/Galletta #28)
8. Matt Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5)
9. Grover Sixberry Jr. (Galletta’s Greenhouse #2)

DNS = Did Not Start: Adam Lytle was set to start, but a developing knock in the motor meant he didn’t want to chance blowing it and pulled off the track. Since he was in warm-ups and lined up on the track but pulled it as a precaution, under Galletta’s Karting Club scoring rules, he is credited point-wise with a start. At Galletta’s, if you practice, warm-up, race in a heat/semi/consi/B-Main, or line up for at least the start of one feature, you are credited with a race start in every feature held that night.

Kelly Miller (Galletta’s #7) was moving along until his bumper got hooked into the #0 (of Chris), and he lost a few spots.

Matt’s helmetcam again picked up some fine action. Here he is behind his brother Chris (#0) and wife Melissa (#19), with Brian Galletta (#42) stretching the lead early on. In all of the years of racing, this may be the very 1st time Matt raced the Galletta’s Greenhouse #5 in an actual race (the kart originally was Chris’ 2-time Points & Klassic championship kart in 2002-03), and then became a rental kart that also won features with the likes of Rob Jimenez, Kyle Reuter, Randy Platt and Joe Sereno behind the wheel)!

Four-wide during the feature! Lapped traffic led to not only Brian Galletta getting trapped and passed for the lead by Chris Stevens, but also this shot where Brian Galletta, Kelly Miller, Grover and Matt Stevens all passed the stripe wheel-to-wheel. And since we are open-wheel, we respect each other, race each other clean and don’t crash. You can’t learn that with bumper/kiddie-kart bodies, which is the primary reason we do not use them (also, we think it makes the karts cookie-cutters and it also weighs them down and adds another layer of expense that isn’t needed). Chris then checked out and took a half track lead on the rest of the pack. Matt also used the lapped traffic to pass Kelly Miller as well.

Matt Stevens did it again! Usually Chris Stevens considers himself a master of traffic, as a good percentage of his wins have come via tremendous comeback wins via lapped traffic. However, one could also say that when you’re in the lead, traffic is your worst enemy, and when you are behind, it’s your best friend. This was the case, as Matt Stevens trapped Chris on the lapped kart of Grover Sixberry Jr (Galletta’s Greenhouse #2) and once in the lead he just plain checked out. Matt proved the Galletta’s #5 is one of the fastest karts in the fleet, and the mere fact that it sits idle most weeks at track-side open to be rented shows how many empty sacks we have in an alleged racer’s town such as Oswego, NY.

Matt was pulling away from the pack with nearly a stretch lead until he ran into that pesky lapped traffic. It slowed him down enough to Chris to reel himself back into the race. However, what traffic giveth then taketh away… Keith Raymond (in only his 2nd race at Galletta’s) spun out after Matt passed him, and he then collected Chris. Grover Sixberry (in his 1st race at Galletta’s) then added insult to injury when he then drove into the prone Chris and broke a rim. Hilarious accident, really, except for it took Chris out of 2nd with only a few laps to go, so he didn’t laugh. Indeed, he was only able to advance past one kart in those last few laps and settled for 5th, his lowest finish in a long time. All while Matt wins his 3rd straight feature in his 3rd different kart (Galletta’s #33, #6, and #5), adding the #5 to his list of karts that he won a feature in. Going away. Trust me when I say it that no karter in Oswego can do what Matt just did. Not because he cheats, but because (1) they don’t have the balls to try and (2) they aren’t good enough if they did. And yep, we don’t care about pricey cookie-cutter karts and overcrowded, herd-mentality rush-on/rush-off 5-minute race kiddie tracks. Been there/done that/won that. *flush*

Matt wins in a kart many say sucks. Who really sucks then?

FINISH:
1. Matt Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5) 
2. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)
3. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
4. Brian Galletta (Platt-num/Galletta #42)
5. Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #0) 
6. Kevin Galletta (Platt-num/Galletta #28)
7. Grover Sixberry Jr. (Galletta’s Greenhouse #2)
8. DNF – (R) Keith Raymond (Galletta’s Greenhouse #1)
9. DNS – Adam Lytle (Lytle Racing #33c)

Now to the 19th Annual Season Gas Flathead Karting World Championship at Galletta’s Greenhouse Backyard Speedway Points!

2014 Gas Flathead National Championship / 2014 Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Speedway Point Standings

(As of completion of 7/12/2014’s race event.

Position	Name (Go-Karts Piloted) ] ®=Rookie *=Makeup, # =Timeout (*$ makeup not cashed)	Total Points (Place)	Average Points Per Feature	Features	Feature Wins	Win %	Heats Won/Entered	Years Pro at Galletta’s	All-Time Feature Wins
1st	Matt Stevens  (Galletta’s #3, 74, 33, 6, 5)	795.00	132.50	6	3	50%	0/4	19th	122
2nd	Chris Stevens  (Galletta’s / Chrusher.com / R&C Sushi #4, 8, 0)	739.50	123.25	6	0	0%	1/4	19th	70
3rd	Melissa Stevens  (Scissors ‘n Fur #19, 80)	657.50	109.58	6	0	0%	2/4	8th	7
4th	Kevin Galletta   (Galletta / Platt-Num #28) * ##	593.00	98.83	6	1	20%	1/3	2	2
5th	Eric Woolworth (The Raven #88, 78)	569.50	113.90	5	2	40%	0/3	3rd	4
6th	Adam Lytle  (Lytle #33c)	561.00	93.50	6	0	0%	1/3	3rd	1
7th	Kelly Miller  (Galletta’s #7, 9)	496.50	124.13	4	0	0%	0/3	7th	2
8th	David Turner  (Plattnum-Turner #43, Galletta’s #9) ®, *, #	478.50	95.70	5	0	0%	1/2	®	0
9th	Keith Raymond  (Galletta’s #1) **	356.00	89.00	4	0	0%	0/3	®	0
10th	Brian Galletta  (Galletta / Platt-Num #42) *, #	302.50	100.83	3	0	0%	0/3	8th	6
11th	Alex Bennett (Galletta’s #9, 2) ® (*$)	159.00	79.50	2	0	0%	0/0	®	0
12th	Cliff Crowe  (Galletta’s #1) ® (*$)	143.00	71.50	2	0	0%	0/0	®	0
13th	Grover Sixberry Jr.  (Galletta’s #2) ® *	120.00	60.00	2	0	0%	0/1	®	0
14th	Matthew Daniels  (Galletta’s #1)	91.00	91.00	1	0	0%	0/1	®	0

NEXT WEEK’S HANDICAP STARTING ORDER –
[Scheduled for Saturday, 7/19/2014 at 6:30 newbies & 7pm vets]:

Post-race Commentary

More Attacks?! A YouTuber named “Jeff S.” Mocks Karting and Attacks Matt Stevens in Particular!

Some weak-ass, low-IQ swollen baboon pussy attacked us!

Anybody who knows “Jeff S.” tell us more about him. We think we’ve narrowed it down to the guy based on the local race fan drunks, and if it is who I think it is, he’s gonna’ need a lot of facial cream when we are done with his drunk wanna-be ass. Watch yourself, lowlife loser clown.

UPDATE: The person in question later identified himself and passed along his apologies for being both unfair and cruel to Matt. He was actually a high school classmate of his (and Matt professes that he barely knew him and never had a problem with him). We won’t publicly out his name because we accepted his apology and wouldn’t want some that love Matt (and know what kind of a selfless person he) is may come for the guy. Keep in mind, Matt didn’t have the best time in school and his bad asthma — including multiple occasions that required hospitalization and one where he nearly died and was placed into an induced coma to breathe — forced him to miss his graduation.

In addition, this Jeff claimed that he actually enemies with people who raced with us (who that is, we have no idea, but hell, in our history, some of the people who raced with us even seem to treat us like enemies now, for reasons unbeknownst to us, so… what can we do? Why do some people misjudge us for who race with us? If someone wants to race, we never turn them away unless they’d be a danger or a confirmed cheat, which is rarely to never).

However… while we forgave this person (in reality, we are very understanding and forgiving people, and anybody who doesn’t race with us anymore for reasons totally unknown to us… as we never hate anybody and want EVERYONE racing! Whenever we lash out, it’s ALWAYS in self-defense. Always!) we can never quite figure out why people who we either barely know or often have never even met feel the need to attack us so viciously. Matt never attacks anybody, it isn’t in his constitution. It takes a LOT to get him mad, and most people have never seen it, as he’s fairly introverted. Yet, he gets attacked randomly on YouTube because he’s having fun doing what he loved to do — race. We’ve been called paranoid delusions (former pay kart track site operator back in the day), but when this stuff floats around, what do YOU call it? Was that a paranoid delusion?