47th. Ryan Coleman
2,044.5 Points | 3 Wins (21%) | 14 Feature Races [2007 Last Active Update]
DRIVER PROFILE FOR RYAN COLEMAN (2007-08) |
Ryan Coleman with the Team Galletta’s Gas Stocker #9 Kart after he won the Galletta’s The Independence Day 50 on July 6th, 2008.
Name: Flyin’ Ryan Coleman
(although according to Buddy Cottom, Cryin’ Ryan)
Hometown: Oswego, N.Y.
Birthdate: August 14, 1987
Year Started Racing at Galletta’s: 2007; Previous Divisions: Quarter Midgets, Half Midgets, Small Block Supermodified #29, Team Galletta’s Gas Stocker Karting #9, Heavy Methanol Flatkart Division at Oswego Kartway
Ryan Coleman has one of the highest win percentages in Galletta’s Karting Club history — on par with and/or higher than the very best drivers that have ever raced on our track — but quit after… one race when a carb sputtered. After that, Buddy’s nickname for him finally made sense!
Ryan Coleman with his SBS #29 at Oswego Speedway in 2007.
- Past Accomplishments:
1999 – OCQMC & SQMC Track Champion, New York State Series Champion
2000 – New York State Series Champion
2001 – New York State Series Champion
2002 – OCQMC & SQMC Track Champion, New York State Series Champion
2003 – New York State Series Champion
2004-2008 – Limited Supermodified/SBS #29, Feature Winner (and winning in the tough SBS division is truly an accomplishment).
2007-2008 – Galletta’s Karting Club Driver. Won several Features (and has one of the best win-percentages of all Galletta’s Karting History).
2009 – Heavy Methanol Flatkart Division at Oswego Kartway
Ryan’s Galletta’s Karting Club highlights:
The Independence Day 50 was held on July 6th, 2008. Flyin’ Ryan Coleman took his second straight feature of 2008, which was his third feature win at Galletta’s since his rookie 2007 season. Ryan Coleman not only won, but pulled away in dominant fashion for his most convincing Galletta’s karting win to date. Unfortunately, Gary Miller psyched him out by lying to him and he retired for the rest of the 2008 season. Odd considering he is one of the most successful visiting Galletta’s Karters in our history (one of the best points-per-race and win percentages of All-Time on our track), was getting better every week, and we love racing with him.
The Galletta’s Karting Club held a Twin-30s night on June 22nd, 2008 Races at John J. Galletta Memorial Speedway, both having 11-karts each! And all *gasp* with 5hp flathead motors, Jimmay! With each feature having several different leaders in close races all night, it was Matt Stevens and Ryan Coleman that took the checkered flags to both using both great driving skill and a little luck. More details and pictures will come later in the week.
On Monday, September 10th, 2007, Flyin’ Ryan Coleman swept his heat and the Buddy’s Story 40 Feature in the Kelly Miller/Galletta’s hybrid 9-Lives, holding off several charging competitors. Posing with him is giddy-as-a-schoolgirl Kyle Reuter, who was absolutely thrilled that the kart, originally designed for him, actually didn’t flip in a race let alone win one. Ogre, under the tutelage of Matt, can be thanked for the successful operation on the #9-Lives kart.
Race Video Pages Tagged Flyin’ Ryan Coleman win
Ryan posing at the Galletta’s Klassic on 2007/09/23 – Photo by Chris Stevens
2007/08/26 before the Galletta’s #9 was rebuilt. – Photo by Chris Stevens
Karts Raced:
A few different Galletta’s Karts. Currently the only living master of the Kelly Miller/Galletta’s #Super9Lives kart. (Update: Since it’s rebuilds, now more drivers have mastered the kart).
Fun Facts:
- Ryan has a lot of racing experience for his age, and has raced the #29 (formerly Limited Super) Small Block Supermodified at Oswego Speedway. Here is an older Coleman Racing website featuring pictures and information during his Quarter-Midget days.
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Ryan is statistically one of the best drivers in Galletta’s Karting History, as evidenced by his standing on our All-Time Points and All-Time Wins lists, especially win percentage-wise. Since he is a slightly heavier driver than most, his win percentage refutes people who believe you can’t win at Galletta’s unless you are as light and compact as Matt Stevens.
Sad Facts:
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However, in 2008 after a dominant win, Coleman abruptly quit the club after winning 2 out of his last 3 features run. Why, after such an impressive streak, would he do that? Well… this is how:
– A few drivers (Gary Miller Sr., Nick and Dick Dann) actively complained that he was racing too aggressively in above noted victory, expressing that he was bumping a bit too much in the turns (which is dangerous on our track and for safety reasons, it is frowned upon and the driver can be penalized if done often enough according to our rules). Matt and Chris did indeed experience this themselves in the same race, and while we understand some bumping does happen in racing, we just let Ryan know to not ram people off of the track. Ryan agreed and said it was because of the brakes, which Matt then immediately tended to.
– HOWEVER… after this, Gary Miller played a mind-trick on Ryan. He told Coleman that we gave him a slower motor on the #9, which is patently false and untrue. At Galletta’s, we play musical motors with all of the house karts, and motors were swapped between the #9 and #5. Both motors are equally fresh, equally fast, and both motors have won around the same amount of features before and after this switch (and the one in question may have even won more, although it’s close). But Ryan fell for Gary’s psych-out because of a temporary carb blockage the very next race (an occurrence that happens from time to time to every driver, every motor, and every kart — Matt and Chris as well). Ryan obviously got paranoid over it and believed we intentionally screwed him by giving him a slower motor, but this absolutely wasn’t the case, as the motor was even fresher and has since won more features than the other! We NEVER screw people, we want EVERYONE competing and winning, and Ryan won 2 features in a row before the carb blockage and to this day has one of the highest win percentiles in club history, so that alone stuns us as to why he felt that way. Matt goes out of his way to make every kart capable of winning any feature it’s in, and many times other karts can be timed faster than his on any given weekend.
– Ryan never returned to see the truth over a temporary setback such as a blocked carb, which disappointed us (well, Gary was happy though). It’s too bad that Ryan never came back, because we love good, competitive drivers, and he definitely is one (even if he indeed need to not bump so much in the turns for safety purposes), we’re sad he never came back. His friend Buddy Cottom did warn us however, that while he was often known as “Flyin’ Ryan”, he was also occasionally monikered “Cryin’ Ryan” as well.
– To prove that Ryan quit over nothing, SEVERAL other drivers — both immediately and years after — got to dominate in the #9 after he abandoned the same ride. Amongst them were Fred Collins, Jared Halstead, Russ Bartlett, Jeff ‘The Chet’ Tetro, Kevin Galletta, Adam Lytle, Matt Stevens, Kelly Miller, Tim Galletta, Steve Sixberry
and Greg Blanchard for example. It has also time-trialed fastest on track on multiple occasions as well! -
After abandoning us, Ryan went on to race at Oswego Kartway for a few years, but seemed to stop racing altogether after that. Sad, but — as any long lost Galletta’s club driver — he is welcome to race with us anytime.
