Galletta's Karting Club

THE 2001 GALLETTA’S BOX STOCK GAS KARTING LEAGUE SEASON

2001 Regular Season: In 2001, we raced 22 regular season point events between June 10th & October 13th, 2001. Again, this season was another 100% box-stock gas 5hp flathead Briggs & Stratton motors, as we still hadn’t met local race folk who cheated raced hard and forced us to upgrade our motor rules yet.

2001 Opener Video!

This season, we started having big track guest-star racers join us and have a ball! We raced with brother Oswego Speedway Limited Supermodified drivers Fran Rowe, Cameron Rowe and Gordon Smallidge, Supermodified driver Randy Ritskes, Street Stock driver Joe Miller, in addition to Supermodified co-owner Eric Syrell, and some of his pit crew members Sean Stevens (no known relation), and (our cousin) Brian Galletta. Cam helped Matt create stagger on the karts, which in past seasons, we had absolutely none. This increased the speeds about one second. Cam also won a feature (becoming the 1st visitor to ever do so in our 1990-2001 history) but was plagued with an undiagnosed hairline fracture of the drive wheel axle all season, which prevented him from securing more wins (and must’ve frustrated him so much that he didn’t come back after the ’01 Summer season’s completion). Here are the points standings after the Summer series and going into the ’01 Galletta’s Kart Klassic…

2001 Regular Season Point Standings for the Galletta’s Karting Season Box stock 5hp gas go-kart championship of Oswego, NY

1¹ = Granted a feature win despite breaking in the lead with 1/2 lap to go.

2001 Galletta’s Go-Kart Klassic

This season saw an 80-Lap, seven kart Klassic race on October 24th, 2001; our latest Galletta’s Klassic in history because it is usually in mid-to-late September annually. Long lost, it was recently located on VHS-C, digitally transferred and is now available for public consumption!

6th Annual Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Klassic 80 on October 24th, 2001

2001 Time Trials & B-Main Video!

’01 Klassic START:
1st. Brian Galletta # [Galletta’s Greenhouse #1]
2nd. Eric Syrell ® # [Galletta’s Greenhouse #7]
3rd. Sean Stevens ® # [Galletta’s Greenhouse #2]
4th. Chris ‘Chrusher’ Stevens [Galletta’s Greenhouse #5]
5th. ‘Mighty’ Matt Stevens [Galletta’s Greenhouse #6]
6th. Wesley ‘Ogre’ Stevens [Galletta’s Greenhouse #4]
7th. Justin _______? [Galletta’s Greenhouse #3]
8th. Cameron Rowe* ® [Galletta’s Greenhouse #2]
9th. Fran Rowe* ® [Galletta’s Greenhouse #01]

KEY:
* = QUALIFIED ON 9/30/2001 but DID NOT SHOW UP TO KLASSIC. :'(
® = Rookie/1st Season Driver
# = Handicap Start

Most of the season, Limited Supermodified Team Rowe (Cameron, Rowe, Fran Rowe, and Gordon Smallidge) filled our ranks in these humble beginnings that we built from scratch. But by the time for our Klassic, Team Rowe outright abandoned their guaranteed rides for the Klassic, which actually deeply hurt us, as we loved racing with them (maybe the hunting, Limited Supermodified and family took all their time, but still… they never came back which always made us wonder?). Luckily, we got bailed out by Supermodifed Team Syrell! This left us with only had 7 entrants instead: three Syrell team members (Eric Syrell, Sean Stevens, Brian Galletta), a rookie named Justin (last name unknown) and three originators of the club (Chris Stevens, Matt Stevens and Wes Stevens). But we ALMOST could’ve had more.

Pic of the Syrell Team by–as seen in the picture itself–Robert Clark Photography. 3/5ths of the team joined us for our 2001 Galletta’s Go-Kart Klassic!

This was the season where three of the five members of the Syrell Supermodified racing team raced with us (as seen in this great pic from Robert Clark Photography, complete with lightning strike over Lake Ontario!).

Chris won the 2001 Galletta’s Klassic & clinched the points standings! This was BEFORE the local pay tracks even existed. Yep, the same ones he won more Classics at than you too, son.

One reason it was held so late is that nobody could make it until October. Galletta’s Karting Club 2001 Rookie of the year Cameron Rowe shocked everybody by not showing up for the Galletta’s Klassic, even though he and his brother Fran (also a Limited Super driver) qualified the weekend before (and nobody else showed up for that). Stunned by the no-shows (but this would be first in a LLLLOOOOOONNNNNNG line of such no-shows/no-thanks/felt-like-betrayals at the hands of friends/co-racers… we’re kind of used to it by now). The Syrell team thankfully bailed us out where the Rowe team just… well, sadly bailed and never came back, no reason ever given.

Eric Syrell led a good portion of the Klassic early, but Chris Stevens took the lead on lap 29 and led the remainder of the show by holding off Matt’s repeated attempts to pass him to win his third of three straight Klassics and earned points in the Klassic. He also BARELY passed and clinched his third straight Track Championship that year, in his orange Galletta’s #5 kart. Now the finalized points standings: 

2001 – 6th Annual Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Klassic 80
on October 24th, 2001 | Final Order of Finish:

* Videotape twenty years later revealed a 7th driver named Justin also started and raced in our 2001 Klassic. We have no recollection of him, but it was noted that the other drivers believed he “was a hazard out there” and broke more than one kart. He is forever unknown and did not get credited for this race until 2021! Go figure!

2001 FINAL Point Standings for the Galletta’s Karting Season Box stock 5hp gas go-kart championship of Oswego, NY

KEY:
* = Klassic Win!
1¹ = Granted a feature win despite breaking in the lead with 1/2 lap to go.
** = After locating the 2001 Klassic videotape and digitally transferring it for viewing here TWENTY YEARS AFTERWARDS, we realized that a Justin (last name unknown) raced in the Klassic, and it was said that the drivers were noting that he broke a few karts down. In hindsight, we retroactively scored him in last place of the starters in the 80 lapper and placed him in his proper spot both here ad in the All-Time points. We just don’t even remember him, late alone his last name.

Note: We also held a November Fall race that did not count in the points this season. Matt Stevens won it. Technically, if we counted that one for points, Matt may have been able to edge back into the overall points lead. But since I (Chris) am the statistician and I won the Summer + Klassic points, I didn’t count it, haha! However, all joking aside, traditionally we do not count post-Klassic “Fall Exhibition” races in the points standings, so my overall Track Championship is legit.

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