11th. Russ Hockey

8,003.0 Points | 3 Wins (5%) | 64 Feature Races [2010 Last Active Update]

Name: 
Russ Hockey

Nicknames:
Rapid Russ and Roarin’ Russ (due to his bugle horn header he utilized in 2009).

Motto:
“My last name is Hockey, but I don’t puck around!”

Years Racing at Galletta’s: 
2007-2010.

Karts Raced: 
Raced the Galletta’s Greenhouse #0 before debuting his own Hockey-Mobile #00 at the 2007 Klassic.

Career Feature Victories:

Career Rundown and Highlights:

• Russ improved steadily every year he raced, and amassed an impressive points and wins record that still holds up in our All-Time Points & Wins list!
• He was one of the only competitors who raced with us regularly at both Galletta’s and Oswego Kartway in this span. Even though he only raced three seasons, he raced more races in those three years than many others do due to us racing full time on two tracks. If we combined the two track point tallies, Russ would be higher on the All-time points list than he is.

• 

  Russ won three feature events at Galletta’s once he got a handle on his kart’s handling during his 2nd season. However, some of his most impressive races he did not win, as he broke down while leading on more than one occasion (including here for example), and perhaps his most impressive race in his career was when he led almost the entire 2009 Klassic 200 before running out of fuel late!
• While he was a threat to win any race he entered at Galletta’s, he unfortunately could not find any success at Oswego Speedway’s Dirt Track. He never won one race at Oswego Kartway, a combination of reasons: the weird handicap starts, competition with OHV Outlaws with more horsepower, and most prevalent was he was never quite able to get his kart to handle very well on the smaller, less banked race surface during the very short races).
• Russ’s son Richard Hockey raced on (rare) occasion as well.
• Russ retired and sold his kart after health issues forced him to compete regularly after the 2010 season. We miss him.

The Sweetest Victories!

Below are shortcuts to Russ’ feature victories and Klassic 200 profile pictures at Galletta’s. Each picture will lead to complete coverage AND complete race videos! Enjoy!

2009

While Russ didn’t win it, perhaps his most impressive race in his career was when he dominated most of the 2009 Klassic 200 (he led 152 out of 200 laps and many by a wide margin) before running out of gas late! With a little better fuel management he may have well become the 1st visiting driver to ever win a Galletta’s Klassic 200 (a feat later accomplished by Kyle Reuter the following season, and then duplicated by Kelly Miller a few seasons after that).

Monday, August 31st, 2009 – 70 green-flag laps, 13 karts, and two feature winners were in store for a Twin-30s Night! Rapid Rollin’ Russell Hockey took the first feature of the night, followed by Furiously Fast Fred Collins taking the second.

Russell Hockey won a 50-lapper on July 12th, 2009, his 2nd career win. Russ dominated most of the event. YouTube video highlights of the July 12th, 2009 event that Russ won, or follow the regular link to watch the full races on YouTube.

2008

Russ before the 13th Annual Galletta’s Klassic 200 on 9/21/2008 at Galletta’s.


Russ after his 1st career feature win on October 12th, 2008 – includes FULL RACE VIDEOS! Wait… Why didn’t he look happier?!

Russ unfortunately could not find any success at Oswego Speedway’s Dirt Track despite racing two full seasons there with our club (2007-2008). But while he never won single race at Oswego Kartway for a variety of reasons, but was there putting on a show every week.

2007

Rookie Russ Hockey posing with the Hockey-Mobile #00 at the 12th Annual Galletta’s 2007 Klassic (9/23/2007).

COMPLETE LISTINGS OF ALL GALLETTA’S AND OSWEGO KARTWAY RACES ENTERED BY RUSS HOCKEY

Galletta’s documents every race in our history, and with complete video coverage whenever possible. All of Russ’s races on both Galletta’s and Oswego Speedway’s Kartway were video recorded and can be watched in their entirety via the below links:

Retirement from racing:
Russ had to retire from racing in 2011 due to a handful of unrelated medical issues. He misses it, as we miss him. 

His kart will go on and on!
Russ sadly sold his kart when medical issues forced his retirement from the sport. It was lost as it apparently got bought and sold a handful of times.

… But then … without warning, it wound up showing up as the #x00 years later, driven by Tyler Buskey in the 2015 Klassic 200! It is part of the Buskey race team, but unfortunately, they race only very sporadically.