Galletta's Karting Club

7/2/2016 – Week 4 of Galletta’s Backyard Karting Season!

Chris Stevens with his lovely wife (and heroic camerawoman) Rung “Aou” Stevens, and their daughter Faith Marie Stevens!

Saturday, July 2nd, 2016 – A refreshing change of pace for our racing this week, as we ran 2 heats and 45-lap feature with zero accidents and only a few breakdowns. Unfortunately, we had a HUGE dropoff of drivers (but in a way, that does usually mean less cuations). And also unfortunate for two 1st season drivers in search of their 1st regular season career wins – Josh Arnold and Jason King – had the lead and lost it when they broke (and a third – David Hall Jr. lost a piston rod to boot). Behind Josh and Jason, the racing consisted of a lot of passing, with points leaders Kelly Miller, Matt Stevens and Chris Stevens going back and forth after both failed pass attempts and hitting a few bumps that developed on the track. But after the two initial leaders broke down, it was Chris Stevens who inherited the lead late and survived the bumps to hold on for the win. The YouTube Video (with a 2nd angle thanks to Eric Woolworth) will be up as soon as it finishes uploading, editing and processing (likely Monday morning), so hold tight and keep coming back to see when it is up! UPDATE: It’s up!

Heat #1 – START:
1. Jason King (King #12J)
2. Josh Arnold (Arnold #93)
3. Eric Woolworth (Galletta’s #78) […but elected to start last]
4. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
5. Matt Stevens (GallettasGreenhouse.com/Chrusher.com/OswegoSushi.com #74)
6. ® Lee Gleason (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5)

Passing was rare in Heat 1. Matt and Kelly made moves, but only Matt advanced one position while Eric Woolworth elected to start in the rear instead of 3rd. Points leader Kelly made moves, but finished where he started.

Heat #1 – FINISH:
1. Jason King (King #12J)
2. Matt Stevens (GallettasGreenhouse.com/Chrusher.com/OswegoSushi.com #74)
3. Josh Arnold (Arnold #93)
4. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
5. ® Lee Gleason (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5)
6. Eric Woolworth (Galletta’s #78)

Heat #2 – START:
1. David Hall Jr. (Hall #29)
2. Adam Lytle (Lytle #33c)
3. Chris Stevens (GallettasGreenhouse.com/Chrusher.com/OswegoSushi.com #4)
4. ® Lee Gleason (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5)
5. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)

If passing was a rare in Heat 1, it was non-existent in Heat 2. The dry track probably had a lot to do with it, not to mention how close we all are in speed. Of note, rookies, if not in a make-up race, will be allowed in both heats and earn points in both. Oh… this reminds me…

NOTE: I made an unannounced rule this offseason. As for make-up/retcon races, they will not be done by default this year. They will only be done PER REQUEST OF A REGULAR DRIVER WHO MISSED AT LEAST ONE RACE. THEY WILL NO LONGER OCCUR FOR ONE-AND-DONE RACERS. This will save the statistician a LOT of headaches doing tedious point work for people who show up maybe once or twice and put less effort into racing here than I do recording tedious points and putting them on the website, not to mention hurts those who do show more than they do. The rule was created to help regular drivers who miss one or two or a few races stay in the points hunt, not for the endless droves of mindless one-and-done drivers who try it once and never come back, who wound up abusing the rule and not giving a $#!t anyways one way or another. In those cases, I was literally, no joke, spending more time and mental energy counting and caring about their points than they were racing with us, and they probably never even looked at the website anyways! So, an amendment had to be made to save my sanity over the tedious scoring. Much time saved for me. And if they care? Race more than once or twice in your life! This does NOT have any effect on regular drivers (1st year drivers or veterans), who can request a makeup race any week, as THAT is what the rule was made for. Thanks!

Heat #2 – FINISH:
1. David Hall Jr. (Hall #29)
2. Adam Lytle (Lytle #33c)
3. Chris Stevens (GallettasGreenhouse.com/Chrusher.com/OswegoSushi.com #4)
4. ® Lee Gleason (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5)
5. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)

45-Lap Feature – START:
1. Jason King (King #12J)
2. Josh Arnold (Arnold #93)
3. David Hall Jr. (Hall #29)
4. Adam Lytle (Lytle #33c)
5. Eric Woolworth (Galletta’s #78) [DID NOT START: Had to leave before dark]
6. Chris Stevens (GallettasGreenhouse.com/Chrusher.com/OswegoSushi.com #4)
7. Matt Stevens (GallettasGreenhouse.com/Chrusher.com/OswegoSushi.com #74)
8. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
9. ® Lee Gleason (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5)
10. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)

Josh Arnold vaulted into the lead at the drop of the green flag and proceeded to run away with the race for over 30 consecutive green flag laps, with Jason King holding off the points leaders Kelly Miller, Chris Stevens and Matt Stevens, who passed each other back and forth after failed pass attempts and hitting some nasty bumps. However, during the last few, the bumps began to take their toll on Josh, as lead began to dwindle and the Arnold #93 broke down in 1st place due to a severely bent left-rear axle. Jason King then also broke down in the lead, a similar failure of his drive wheel left rear. After that, it was Chris, Kelly and Matt for the last few laps to the stripe. As Kelly said, if he didn’t hit a bump, he’d be in victory lane, and indeed this is the case. We are all so close that hitting one bump or getting passed after a failed pass attempt or breaking down are the leading reasons for position changes and just one error means the difference between 1st and 4th. Unfortunately, David Hall Jr. lost a motor on the Hall Racing #29 when a piston rod gave out around mid-race, which sucks… it wasn’t an old motor at all, with a relatively fresh block, one of the newest ones in the fleet of karts. Also, a 1st-time-on-track rookie named Lee Gleason survived all 45 laps without causing a caution or getting lapped, finishing 5th! That is highly impressive and if only all 1st-time-on-track rookies could pull that off! Meanwhile, 1st-season-drivers King, Arnold and Hall all have been steady but bad luck keeps striking them, but just ask several veteran drivers… that 1st feature win is always so elusive, and once you think you have it, that’s when something breaks or someone sneaks by you on a restart or in traffic. But steady driving will eventually pay off with wins. Could be any week now!

45-Lap Feature – FINISH:
1. Chris Stevens (GallettasGreenhouse.com/Chrusher.com/OswegoSushi.com #4)
2. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
3. Matt Stevens (GallettasGreenhouse.com/Chrusher.com/OswegoSushi.com #74)
4. Adam Lytle (Lytle #33c)
5. ® Lee Gleason (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5)
6. DNF – Jason King (King #12J)
7. DNF – Josh Arnold (Arnold #93)
8. DNF – David Hall Jr. (Hall #29)
9. DNF – Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)
10. DNS – Eric Woolworth (Galletta’s #78)

MAKEUP RACE CREDITS:
11. Mike Patak (Galletta’s Greenhouse #2)  – via 6th in a 7/24/2016 Makeup Heat Race #1
12. Kevin Galletta (Galletta Bros. #28) – via 7th in a 7/24/2016 Makeup Heat Race #2
13. Keith Raymond (Galletta’s Greenhouse #0) – via 1st in 8/7/2016 Makeup Heat Race

Key:
®  = Rookie / 1st-Race on Track 
DNF = Did Not Finish
DNS = Did Not Start

Lap Counter:

KEY:
Points = Points earned from final finishing position.
Heat = Points Earned from Heat finish (* = 1st-Timer Rookie raced in both heats. All others only one.)
1st = Earning 1 point per lap led.
2nd/3rd = (Laps in 2nd or 3rd place) earning 0.5 points per lap.
Penalty = Penalties for kart changes, timeouts, or infractions for disobeying rules.
Total = Total points earned this event.

2016 World 1-WD Gas Flathead Backyard Karting Championship Point Standings

After the 6/12/2016 – 7/2/2016 Races:

NEXT RACE HANDICAP

KEY: