7/14/2019 – 3rd Set of Twin-25s Go To… [+YouTube]

20190714_210720 Galletta's Karting - Matt Stevens and Josh Arnold win!

20190714_210720 Galletta's Karting - Matt Stevens and Josh Arnold win!

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Sunday, July 21st, 2019 – After a week off for the fireworks of Independence day, the racing resumed at Galletta’s. And twin-25s made for another two winners: In the 1st feature, Josh Annold led all 25 laps from pole position in his #93 in a race that saw almost no passing. In the 2nd, Chris Stevens led almost the entire race until the Galletta’s #78 slipped off the track into some grass which enabled his brother Matt Stevens to capitalize and scoot by his brother in the Galletta’s/Chrusher.com/OswegoSushi.com #74 for the win.


Twin 25-Lap Feature #1

1st feature is handicapped by inverting wins and points-per-race for the season.

START:
1. Josh Arnold (Arnie Racing #93)
2. Chris Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #78)
3. Matt Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #33)
4. Steve Sixberry (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
5. Tony Hemingway (Team Galletta Boys #28) [Rookie]
6. Melissa Stevens (SNF #19)

Unedited Race Footage from both features from the Galletta’s Greenhouse Race Scoring Tower

Josh Arnold started on the pole and held off every competitor for all 25 laps en route to the win. Matt Stevens challenged his brother Chris for 2nd but had the door slammed shut on him and got passed by Steve Sixberry. That was basically the story of the entire race.

FINISH:
1. Josh Arnold (Arnie Racing #93)
2. Chris Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #78)
3. Steve Sixberry (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
4. Matt Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #33)
5. Tony Hemingway (Team Galletta Boys #28) [Rookie]
6. DNF – Melissa Stevens (SNF #19)

    RETCON BONUS MAKEUP POINTS:
7. 6/30/2019: Andrew Hook (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #5) [R]
8. 8/25/2019: Nicolas Olivares (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #1) [R]
9. 8/25/2019: Randy Baldwin (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7) [R]
10. 8/25/2019: Greg Blanchard (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #5) [R]
11. 8/25/2019: Zachary Blanchard (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #28) [R]
12. 8/25/2019: Adam Lytle (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #33c)


Twin 25-Lap Feature #2

2nd feature inverts the finish of the 1st except current season’s non-winners get priority.

START:
1. Chris Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #78)
2. Matt Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse/Chrusher.com/Oswegosushi.com #74)
3. Steve Sixberry (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
4. Josh Arnold (Arnie Racing #93)
5. Tony Hemingway (Team Galletta Boys #28) [Rookie]
6. DNS – Melissa Stevens (SNF #19)

Unedited Race Footage of both features from R&C Sushi’s Helmet-mounted GoPro driven by Chris Stevens

2nd feature always inverts the finish of the 1st minus the caveat of non-winners up front. Chris Stevens, who hasn’t won since the 2017 Klassic 200, started on the pole in the Galletta’s #78 kart (formerly owned by 7 or 8 drivers) and looked to end his now 21-month winless streak — the longest drought of his 24+ year karting career!

But as his helmet cam video showed, the #78 was very fast but was also very loose, and Matt pressured him nearly every lap in their co-owned #74 kart until with 5-to-go, when the kart momentarily slipped into the grass coming out of turn 4. That was all Matt needed to shoot by like a rocket, hold off Chris on the last restart and pick up his 2nd win of the season, his 144th win at Galletta’s since 2000! The #78 badly needs a fresher drive wheel tire.

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YouTube Splash Pic

FINISH:
1. Matt Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse/Chrusher.com/Oswegosushi.com #74)
2. Chris Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #78)
3. Josh Arnold (Arnie Racing #93)
4. Steve Sixberry (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7, 6)
5. Tony Hemingway (Team Galletta Boys #28) [R]
6. DNS – Melissa Stevens (SNF #19)

    RETCON BONUS MAKEUP POINTS:
7. 6/30/2019: Andrew Hook (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #5) [R]
8. 8/25/2019: Nicolas Olivares (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #1) [R]
9. 8/25/2019: Randy Baldwin (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7) [R]
10. 8/25/2019: Greg Blanchard (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #5) [R]
11. 8/25/2019: Zachary Blanchard (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #28) [R]
12. 8/25/2019: Adam Lytle (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #33c)

[R] = Rookie


2019 Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Speedway Point Standings

After 6/23/2019 through 7/14/2019 events:


KEY:
m = Makeup points race run
® = Rookie/1st Season Driver

Notes on the points:

  • Adam “AJ” Lytle was the point leader going into the event, but getting called into work on Sunday badly hurt him in the point standings, going from 1st to 8th! I am unsure I have ever seen a drop THAT bad in a single week of racing, ever. Both Adam and Josh need a makeup race to put them back into the thick of things, and if they both come next week, we can rectify that. Gary Miller Jr. as well… if we can contact him.
  • Andrew Hook also missed this week’s race as he was out of town, but he was helped by the fact that he had a banked makeup race in the form of last week’s 6/30/2019 Makeup Points/Rookie/Refresher Heat Race.
  • Chris Stevens was the benefactor of the handicap system that puts non-winners up front ast 1st priority, as he scored every lap in either 2nd or 1st this week. People have a problem with Chris starting up front? Blame Matt! Matt stole what would have been Chris’ 1st feature win since 10/13/2017 when he passed his elder bro with a handful of laps to go in the 2nd feature — a drought of now 21 months, his longest dry streak of his career! This will also ensure him starting up front next race as well — at least until he wins one!

Handicap for next race:

Handicap start via inverting via tiebreakers in this order of importance: (1st) Seasonal Wins, (2nd) Seasonal Points-per-race, (3rd) All-Time Wins, (4th) All-Time Points, then (5th) weight.

Driver Average Features Wins
Tony Hemingway 51.00 6 0
Gary Miller Jr. 54.63 4 0
Andrew Hook 56.67 6 0
Chris Stevens 73.67 6 0
Adam Lytle 74.13 4 1
Josh Arnold 74.88 4 1
Steve Sixberry 68.17 6 2
Matt Stevens 69.50 6 2
Returning Vets 00.00 0 0
New Rookies 00.00 0 0
Melissa Stevens 50.00 6 0

More Points on… Points?

  • Why do we put a priority of inverting by wins before points-per-race? It wasn’t always that way. We had to adapt the rules to favor non-winners over just points-per-race because of the Gary Miller Sr. rule (Gary would quit many of the races that he didn’t win, meaning he had a low points-per-race average despite the fact that he was able to pick up many wins because kept starting up front, which many felt was an abuse of the handicap system). However, a weakness in this is drivers who don’t win get a lot of bonus points starting up front every week. Until someone thinks of something better, we’ll stick with it. Perhaps alternate between PPR and wins? If anybody has any ideas, let us know.

Next race is scheduled for Sunday, July 21st, 2019 at 6:30 pm, oops no 7:30 pm, argh no, finally 8:30 pm!