2019 Season
The 24th Season of Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Speedway — 2019
2019 200-Lap Klassic Start!
The 24th season at Galletta’s Greenhouse Backyard Karting Speedway was held on 10 weekends between June 23rd to October 20th, 2019 consisting of 25 drivers racing in 15 regular features (and a handful of makeup point races for those who missed the regular events). 9 of the 25 drivers won features and another 2 won makeup features as well! Here is the season in review!
Watch the entire 2019 Season from 1st lap to last in this YouTube video playlist! Why on earth do we — a low-budget backyard go-kart racing club in Oswego, NY — cover our races so in depth and with complete, free-to-watch race videos? Because we can and we LOVE it. And maybe just maybe, we can get more drivers to join us. That’s all we want — to have fun racing with friends and family without blowing our life savings on a race car. Enjoy with us!
COMPLETE 2019 SEASON VIDEO PLAYLIST:
You can auto-play this race video playlist to watch every lap of our 2019 season here. Or, view each weekly event’s race pages individually via videos below. Enjoy!
2019 WEEK #1:
6/23/2019 – Our 24th Annual Season Opener’s Twin-25 Wins Go To Adam Lytle & Steve Sixberry
Sunday, June 23rd, 2019 – Our 24th Annual Season Opener had been postponed three weeks week for several reasons — late growing/selling season in the greenhouse, track not ready, karts not ready, driver availability was spotty, Father’s Day, and the weather (needless to say all the rain), all played their part in the delays. But conditions wound up being excellent for some Twin-25s that finally kicked off our 2019 Season on Sunday, June 23rd, 2019! Complete Tower-cam race video and helmet-cam race videos will be forthcoming! Stay tuned on this page for complete race video and points!
2019 WEEK #2:
6/30/2019 – Steve Sixberry & Matt Stevens Take Twin-25s [+YouTube]
Sunday June 30th, 2019 – Two very competitive 25-lap features went to Steve Sixberry and Matt Stevens, although neither had it easy. But don’t take my word for it — go ahead and watch the video and view the point standings on this page here to find out!
2019 EVENT #3:
7/14/2019 – 3rd Set of Twin-25s Go To Matt Stevens & Josh Arnold [+YouTube]
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. MORE INFO, POINTS & FULL RACE VIDEOS HERE.
2019 WEEK #4:
7/21/2019 – Man Run Over during Twin-25s as Stevens Bros. Sweep [+YouTube]
Sunday, July 21st, 2019 – Our Mr. Galletta’s Speedway (AKA 10,000-**cks-To-Win) was won by GKC founders Chris and Matt Stevens. For Matt, this makes 3-events-in-a-row where he won the 2nd of a Twin-25 in the #74 kart. Chris however, finally snapped a 21-month-and-8-days winless streak by taking the 1st checker of the night in the #4 kart. To judge how long that’s been, his-1-year-old daughter Celeste either didn’t even exist yet, or was just conceived around the time of his last feature win — the 2017 Klassic 200! Oh, and two rookies got into a scary wreck when Tony Hemingway literally kamikaze drove over fellow rookie Andy Hook in turn 1. Ouch! But look… why read my typing about it when you can just go and WATCH THE VIDEOS HERE?
2019 EVENT #5:
8/4/2019 – All-Rookie Nite! Twin-15s & Another Flying Kart! [+YouTube]
Sunday, August 4th, 2019 – For some reason, ZERO regular veteran drivers showed up this week. While this would normally be a pretty big bummer, we had SIX 1st-timer rookies ready for action, so an all-rookie night it is! And they put on an entertaining show, with some good racing and a few funny incidents that include ANOTHER kart-hop accident right in front of our camera for the 2nd race event in a row. We may have gotten a few new regulars joining the veterans… that is… if the regular vets show up! Complete edited video with some contrast fixes and a 2nd camera from the rear turn and updated points are now up. More here!
2019 EVENT #6:
8/11/2019 – Twin-25 Feature, 10-Kart Battle Royale SWEPT by Matt Stevens; Steals both from bro, Chris! [+YouTube]
Sunday, August 11th, 2019 – Oswego, NY – In what was the most populated race in the past year (and could have been the most in a few seasons if just a couple more vets just simply showed up), 10-drivers started and battled it out. And the racing was close and fun to behold. A LOT of side-by-side racing and more passes than usual. A handful of rookies that joined the club last weekend are getting the hang of it, and it made for some exciting race footage! However, the more things change, the more they stay the same, as win machine Matt Stevens stole BOTH features from his point-scoring, but win-starved brother Chris! TWO race videos (Tower Cam and Helmet Cam) with an edited video containing both cameras synched. Read & watch more on this page!
2019 EVENT #7:
8/25/2019 – Twin-25 Features won by rookies Zach Blanchard and Randy Baldwin!
Sunday, August 25th, 2019 – Rain unfortunately set us back last weekend (and it was really a shame, as the track looked to be in better shape than it had been for maybe over a year). But it certainly held up reasonably well this week as well, as we had some nice, even racing in store! Again had a handful of rookies but… oh so scarce on vets. With only a few of ’em, the rookies have been getting a lot of track time in and two of them picked up feature wins! More here!
2019 EVENT #8:
9/2/2019 – Labor Day Twin-25 Features won by rookies Nicolas Olivares & Greg Blanchard!
Monday, September 2nd, 2019 – We held a rookie make up race followed by a regular Twin-25 Lap Features for Labor Day ’19. And the two rookies who won the twin-25s — Nicolas Olivares and Greg Blanchard! The batch of rookies that have joined mid-summer are making big improvements weekly and any returning vets that mysteriously disappear will find that they will be hard-pressed to get any easy wins. Enjoy here!
PRE-KLASSIC POINTS:
2019 Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Speedway Point Standings
After 6/23/2019 through 9/2/2019 events:
KEY:
m = Makeup points race run
® = Rookie/1st Season Driver
2019 EVENT #9:
2019/9/29 – 24th Annual Galletta’s Greenhouse Go-Karting 200-Lap Klassic [+YouTube]
Sunday, September 29th, 2019 – The 24th Annual Galletta’s Go-Kart Klassic 200 Lap 1-WD Championship of the Galaxy! Watch past Klassic Champions Chris Stevens, Matt Stevens and Kelly Miller battle it out for 200-laps with hard-charger newcomers Steve Sixberry, Nic Olivares, Zach Blanchard and several more! In addition, the Klassic usually determines the Annual Track Point Champion as well, which Chris needing to hold off Matt long enough and finish high enough to seal it. And we have it all here: Time Trials & The 24th Annual Galletta’s Go-Kart Klassic 200!
SPOILER ALERT- Klassic Top-5:
Unsurprisingly, the top 5 of the Klassic were the top 5 in points as well, although a bit skewed.
- Matt Stevens used a late-stages pass of his brother Chris and rookie Nic Olivares to secure his 14th Galletta’s Klassic 200 win, which was his 5th Feature win in the 2019 Season at Galletta’s, but only 2nd in the Points race.
- Chris Stevens secured his 10th Galletta’s Track Championship despite only winning a single feature in ’19! He did so by racking up the most bonus laps and pedestal finishes during the entire season, despite finishing only 4th in the 200.
- Rookie Nic Olivares took full advantage of utilizing our makeup race option at Galletta’s to not only secure Rookie-of-the-Year (over an impressive group of rookies), but also take the Visitor’s Points Title as well (3rd Overall).
- Nic snuck by last year’s champ of both of those tites, Steve Sixberry, who took 3rd in the 200 and 5th in overall points! He had the Visitor’s Title wrapped up until he missed a few late-season races, which let a couple of rookies by him.
- Zach Blanchard was steady in both the 200 and all year to net an impressive 2nd in the Klassic, and 4th in overall Points!
2019 EVENT #10 BONUS:
10/20/2019 – Fall Twin-25 Makeup Features for Fall Bonus Points
Kelly Miller won the 2nd.
Travis Bartlett won the 1st Fall Bonus Race.
Sunday, October 20th, 2019 – Kelly Miller was unable to race all summer, but brought a few friends up to race a rare makeshift post-Klassic Fall event. These post-Klassic races count as bonus/makeup points races for those who missed out on some of the Summer events. Due to Chris and Aou being at work, there was nobody available to volunteer to video-record the event, so there is no race video nor victory pictures (see why Chris and Aou have to be there? At least as far as the website and video is concerned). Travis Bartlett (in the Galletta’s #5) and Kelly Miller (in the Galletta’s #9) took the makeup feature wins, the 2nd of which utilized Supermodified tires blocking the torn-up main groove in the 1st turn, an idea we may utilize in the future. This makeup race was tacked on the final points tally, which Chris Stevens barely held off his brother Matt despite scoring four less wins simply by earning so many bonus points via spending so many laps in the top-3 all season.
POST-KLASSIC POINTS:
Galletta’s Greenhouse Speedway 2019 Point Standings [Final]
All races from 6/23/2019 – 10/20/2019 – Final for the year.
After the final run of the season, we talley up the all-time stats. Here they are after the 2019 season:
ALL-TIME GALLETTA’S KARTING CLUB & SPEEDWAY ALL-TIME (2000-19) POINT STANDINGS:
Drivers all-time stats at two of Oswego, New York’s Dirt Karting Tracks: Galletta’s Greenhouse Backyard Karting Speedway (2000-2019), and the Oswego Kartway [1-WD Mixed Motor Gas Division] (2006-2008). You can scroll the chart left, right, up and down to see all 371 different drivers on record. NOTE: In-season points are not added to this total until season ends and pre-2000 Points & Wins are currently lost in storage (they will be added if located).
ALL-TIME WINS (POST-2019)
Highlighted columns show driver name and feature wins on Galletta’s and Oswego Kartways in 1-WD Divisions (some drivers have substantial Oswego Kartway Win totals in other kart class divisions, such as Kyle Reuter, Dick Dann, and others. Go to their website to see them… that is, if they even keep those records.).
TIE-BREAKER: When there is a tie with feature wins, total points is the tie-breaker. If there is a 2-way tie, they can settle it in a kart race or… hell, a MMA match, whatever one they wish.
TIE-BREAKER: When there is a tie with feature wins, total points is the tie-breaker. If there is a another tie, points-per-race-average. If it is a third tie by some sort of freakish reason, then they can settle it in a one-off kart race or… hell, a MMA match, whatever one they wish.
We hope you enjoyed this season of racing with our unique brand of 1-Wheel Drive Karts at Galletta’s Greenhouse’s Backyard Go-Kart Speedway and thank all of you — racers and website spectators alike. We look forward to our 25th Season in 2010! See you all there!
PS – Postseason Tragic News
12/29/2019 Update: On Christmas day, the Galletta family got some terrible news. Brian Galletta — longtime, 1st generation driver, kart-owner, occasional flagger, and cousin to club founders Chris and Matt Stevens, brother to semi-regular racer Kevin Galletta and friend and/or family member to COUNTLESS current and former club drivers — passed away.
In Memoriam of Brian J. Galletta
Brian J. Galletta: March 13, 1977 – December 25, 2019
March 13, 1977 – December 25, 2019
With great regret and sadness we wish to pass along the unexpected news that one of the original and longest-running members of our karting class has passed away. Brian Galletta was a 1st cousin to club founders Matt and Chris Stevens, a nephew of current Galletta’s Greenhouse owners Wes and Mary Stevens, brother to semi-current driver Kevin Galletta, cousin to several other cousins who have raced on and off through the years, grandson of late Galletta’s Greenhouse’s founder John Galletta, and family member and/or friend to many racers and spectators to our races here over the years.
Brian Galletta’s Driver profile, which contains pictures and links to race videos of his triumphant wins and funny crashes — both of which he enjoyed sharing with all who cared to watch.
Many who knew Brian knew that he had medical issues related to kidney disease — including a kidney transplant in his youth along with regular dialysis and seemingly countless related surgeries — throughout most of his life. Despite his health issues, he shook them off like they were nothing, something that always inspired us due to his bravery, cheerfulness, positivity, and unassuming toughness in the face of it. He was one of the 1st people to join our racing club in the early 1990s when it was only 1, 2, or 3 karts large, and basically only his health problems kept him away from racing on a weekly basis for decades like he wanted to. Brian didn’t have the best of health, so the fact that he was out there at all racing these karts on a semi-regular basis — which takes a certain amount of physicality and endurance — was quite a feat in and of itself. Winning feature races — which he was able to do on multiple occasions — races was just gravy.
His brother Kevin Galletta is also a long-time racer as well, and after Brian injured his legs in a fall (that sadly forced him to fully retire from racing), he maintained ownership of some of his karts and motors for his sibling to run weekly. Even when he could not race, he often would help flag, count laps, and could be seen and heard cheering his brother on (along with occasional heckling of his cousin, yours truly, Chris).
Brian always brought a smile to everyone’s face, as he had a great sense of humor and would always see the bright side of almost any situation. He won a handful of races during his sporadic career, but he was also known for having the misfortune of being in many wrecks that he, himself found humor in and enjoyed showing to everyone — so much so that he requested the site have them all posted in one place. Thus, his driver profile collects links to his victories AND his crashes (nearly all with full race videos) per his request. He was quite proud of the videos and would always enjoy viewing them (thus putting them all on his profile just made things easier). He really could put a smile on our faces when he would bounce up from a crazy accident with a smile and a joke.
We at Galletta’s share profound grief and overwhelming loss with everyone who knew him — friend and family alike. He is a rare soul, and we have no doubt he is smiling down from heaven with his no worries smirk and make us smile. We will miss him greatly. God bless.
Visitation will be Sunday, December 29, 2019, 1-3 PM at Nelson Funeral Home followed by a funeral service at 3-3:30 PM. More info here.
Sincerely,
Chris Stevens
2019 Race Video Page Grid
Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Club & Backyard Speedway 2019 – Our 24th Season!
Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Club & Backyard Speedway 2019 – Our 24th Season! Our 24th race season was held on a near-weekly basis from 6/23/2019 – 9/29/2019, with 24 drivers racing…
![2019/9/29 – 24th Annual Galletta’s Greenhouse Go-Karting 200-Lap Klassic [+YouTube]](https://karting.gallettasgreenhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2019-09-29-klssic-200-start.jpg)
2019/9/29 – 24th Annual Galletta’s Greenhouse Go-Karting 200-Lap Klassic [+YouTube]
2019/9/29 – 24th Annual Galletta’s Greenhouse Go-Karting 200-Lap Klassic [+YouTube] Sunday, September 29th, 2019 – The 24th Annual Galletta’s Go-Kart Klassic 200 Lap 1-WD Championship of the Galaxy! Schedule of events:…
![9/2/2019 – Labor Day Twin-25 Features won by Nicolas Olivares & Greg Blanchard! [+YouTube]](https://karting.gallettasgreenhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/48695432292_101857a87c_z.jpg)
9/2/2019 – Labor Day Twin-25 Features won by Nicolas Olivares & Greg Blanchard! [+YouTube]
9/2/2019 – Labor Day Twin-25 Features won by Nicolas Olivares & Greg Blanchard! Monday, September 2nd, 2019 – We held a rookie make up race followed by a regular Twin-25…
![8/25/2019 – Twin-25 Features won by Rookies Zach Blanchard & Randy Baldwin [+YouTube]](https://karting.gallettasgreenhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/48628567976_1d11662bbf_o-870x570.jpg)
8/25/2019 – Twin-25 Features won by Rookies Zach Blanchard & Randy Baldwin [+YouTube]
8/25/2019 – Twin-25 Features won by….. Sunday, August 25th, 2019 – Rain unfortunately set us back last weekend and it was really a shame, as the track looked to be in…
![8/11/2019 – Twin-25 Feature, 10-Kart Battle Royale SWEPT by Matt Stevens; Steals both from bro, Chris! [+YouTube]](https://karting.gallettasgreenhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/48564706891_eb9a069f27_o-870x570.jpg)
8/11/2019 – Twin-25 Feature, 10-Kart Battle Royale SWEPT by Matt Stevens; Steals both from bro, Chris! [+YouTube]
8/11/2019 – Twin-25 Feature, 10-Kart Battle Royale SWEPT by Matt Stevens; Steals both from bro, Chris! [+YouTube] Sunday, August 11th, 2019 – Oswego, NY – In what was the most…
![8/4/2019 – All-Rookie Nite! Twin-15s & Another Flying Kart – Nicolas Olivares & Greg Blanchard Win! [+YouTube]](https://karting.gallettasgreenhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/48493618297_45ce129639_z.jpg)
8/4/2019 – All-Rookie Nite! Twin-15s & Another Flying Kart – Nicolas Olivares & Greg Blanchard Win! [+YouTube]
8/4/2019 – All-Rookie Nite! Twin-15s & Another Flying Kart! [+YouTube] Sunday, August 4th, 2019 – For some reason, ZERO regular veteran drivers showed up this week. While this would normally…
![7/21/2019 – Man Run Over during Twin-25s as Stevens Bros. Sweep [+YouTube]](https://karting.gallettasgreenhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/48345634061_8e77aa1343_o.jpg)
7/21/2019 – Man Run Over during Twin-25s as Stevens Bros. Sweep [+YouTube]
7/21/2019 – Man Run Over during Twin-25s as Stevens Bros. Sweep [+YouTube] Sunday, July 21st, 2019 – Our Mr. Galletta’s Speedway (AKA 10,000-**cks-To-Win) was won by GKC founders Chris and…
![7/14/2019 – 3rd Set of Twin-25s Go To Josh Arnold & Matt Stevens [+YouTube]](https://karting.gallettasgreenhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/48297063212_f180143831_o-870x570.jpg)
7/14/2019 – 3rd Set of Twin-25s Go To Josh Arnold & Matt Stevens [+YouTube]
7/14/2019 – 3rd Set of Twin-25s Go To… [+YouTube] Sunday, July 21st, 2019 – After a week off for the fireworks of Independence day, the racing resumed at Galletta’s. And…
