![2003 Season & 8th Annual Klassic 100 [+YouTube Video!]](https://karting.gallettasgreenhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2003/10/2003kartklassic.jpg "2003 Season & 8th Annual Klassic 100 [+YouTube Video!]")
2003 Season & 8th Annual Klassic 100 [+YouTube Video!]
THE 2003 GALLETTA’S BOX STOCK GAS KARTING LEAGUE SEASON
This season only saw 13 regular-season events before Klassic, the fewest in the modern era of Galletta’s Super-Yard-Kart racing. The reason being that Matt, Chris and Wes started to get bored of just racing each other (and being at each other’s throats because of the rabid competition between the three) and raced only when visitors came. After this ’03 season, driver shortages didn’t happen for years to come. The 8th Annual Galletta’s Kart Klassic wound up being our longest to date, as we made the jump to 100 laps. Our first triple-digit lap race in history!
The 8th Annual 2003 Galletta’s Go-Kart Klassic 100:
Our cousin, Brian Galletta, again joined us for a good chunk of the season, and due to mysteriously retiring regular drivers, did a great job getting new recruits for us just in time for our big show. They invaded our 2003 Klassic to make it our biggest to date. Yes, he is flipping you the bird, quitters and cowards! Here they are posing for the camera before the 100-Lap event!
(Left) The group posing for the national anthem. (Right) The green flag drops, Brian Galletta takes an early lead.
Above: The opening pace lap of the event. 8 karts, but 4 rookies with little experience due to some experienced 2nd year drivers moving away for work or school, but then some being pussies and flat-out quitting. Last minute replacements made for a fuller field, but not a terribly potent one like the prior year’s Klassic.
(Left) Opening lap saw Brian Galletta set a fast pace leading over time-trail-winner Chris, Matt, and Ogre. He dominated the early portions of the race in the Galletta’s #7. Brian is one of the most experienced Karters, and of all the visiting drivers, he was the only one in this Klassic that wasn’t a rookie. This showed as he drove a strong race. However, he may have beat up his kart a too much early, as he broke a drive wheel system and wound up with a DNF after being so dominant early on.
(Below) Wesley Ogre Stevens, again taking an early lead in the Klassic… his usual strategy in the annual Galletta’s Championship race. Matt and Chris again faded to the rear of the pack to save their karts for the endurance event. Wes was followed by rookies Antion “Choch” Thomas, Randy Platt, Matt Frey, and Mike Donoghue. They raced well and did not wreck much (a huge plus for rookies), but they needed more experience to be competitive in this Championship event. Some returned the following year and did just that.
This Klassic had a tremendous, fierce 3-way battle between Matt, Chris, and Wes (the originators and veterans of the Galletta’s Karting Club), battling for the top spots back and forth for the entire 2nd half of the race going from 1st to 3rd and 3rd to 1st several times. However, it was Matt who continued his Klassic and Points Standings Championship winning streak after he passed Chris with 16-laps to go when Chris’s foot fell off the gas pedal due to dewy grass. Chris’ foot slipped off a 2nd time, which was enough for Ogre to get him for 2nd on the very last lap. Chris was extremely frustrated by the fact that a slippery shoe was the difference between a hard-earned victory and tough luck 3rd place. Again, Matt used a strategy of babying the kart in last place for more than half the race before turning up the heat and stomping everybody late when their karts are tired and beat. Now for the finalized points standings, which includes Klassic points earned:
2003 Final Point Standings for the Galletta’s Karting Season
Box stock 5hp gas go-kart championship of Oswego, NY
|
Rank |
Name (Main Kart Piloted; Some more than one)Some names were spelled so poorly in our listings that they were illegible & could not be translated to type. People who can’t spell their own names may be mentally challenged. |
Total Points (Place) |
Average Points Per Event |
Events |
Feature Wins |
* = Klassic Win |
|
1 |
|
1356.00 |
96.8 |
14 |
7* |
1* |
|
2 |
|
1183.50 |
84.5 |
14 |
4 |
0 |
|
3 |
|
924.40 |
66.0 |
14 |
1 |
0 |
|
4 |
|
549.50 |
78.5 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
|
5 |
|
353.50 |
88.4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
6 |
|
317.00 |
158.5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
7 |
|
274.00 |
274.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
8 |
|
210.00 |
210.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
9 |
|
198.00 |
49.0 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
|
10 |
|
180.50 |
45.1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
11 |
|
152.50 |
38.1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
12 |
|
136.50 |
45.5 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
13 |
|
114.00 |
28.5 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
14 |
|
63.00 |
63.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
15 |
|
37.00 |
37.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
16 |
Jamie Stevens (Galletta’s #?) |
37.00 |
37.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
17 |
Matt Markowski (Galletta’s #?) |
37.00 |
37.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
18 |
Lou LeVea Jr. (Galletta’s #?) |
36.50 |
37.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
19 |
Brian Osetek (Galletta’s #?) |
36.00 |
18.0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
20 |
Brian “_______?” #1 (Galletta’s #?) |
31.50 |
31.5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
21 |
Brian Mills (Galletta’s #?) |
30.00 |
30.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
22 |
Ricky Piazza (Galletta’s #?) |
29.00 |
29.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
23 |
Eric Cortright (Galletta’s #?) |
26.00 |
26.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
24 |
Adam McIntyre (Galletta’s #?) |
26.00 |
26.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
25 |
Leo Manford II (Galletta’s #?) |
26.00 |
26.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
26 |
Adam “________”? (Galletta’s #?) |
23.00 |
23.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
27 |
Samuel G. “Hencluseaw”? Jr. (Galletta’s #?) |
19.00 |
19.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
28 |
Dave Wahrendorf (Galletta’s #?) |
19.00 |
19.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
29 |
Anthony Master (Galletta’s #?) |
19.00 |
19.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Check where these guys are on the… ALL-TIME POINTS STANDINGS AT GALLETTA’S!
Again, this group of drivers (at least the top 10-13 with more than 2-3 races under their belts) were starting to get pretty good, but then all of the sudden, most of them stopped coming. Re-occurring theme throughout the history of Galletta’s Racing Club: People start terrible, keep at it, then start to improve and be in competition with the big guns and start to win races… and then just give up and never come back with no explanation given. Even Tom Culeton, the 2002 rookie-of-the-year did return for four races in 2003 (winning two of them – which is a win ratio on par with Matt), and then mysteriously retired after a race where he crashed repeatedly (and seemingly purposefully) with others enough to raise the ire of the property owner. Okay, no problem, let’s find and groom more new drivers! Onto another season…
The 7th & 8th Annual Galletta’s Go-Karts Klassics from 2002 & 2003 DVD:
This disc contains TWO Galletta’s Go-Kart Klassic Championships from September 2002 and another from 2003! Includes bonus coverage from other races. Price $7.
PS – Some snapshots from our 2003 Klassic DVD:
The Galletta’s Go-Karting Club was founded by brothers Matt and Chris Stevens in the early 1990s when they modified yard karts for racing purposes. They are the inventors of “clockwise 5hp flathead gas stocker kart” racing, and have a 13-kart race team that includes several backup karts available to be rented and raced at both Galletta’s and Oswego Speedway all summer. Invented with specifically “gas stock 5hp motor” rules so that a person doesn’t have to spend thousands of dollars to race in extremely competitive racing events, the class grows in talent and competition every single year. Join us by building your own kart for around $200-500, or rent one of our team karts on two tracks all Summer & Fall in Oswego, NY!
The Oswego Gas Stocker Kart Club races at Galletta’s Greenhouse Kartway & Oswego Speedway Kartway.
Due to the fact that the karts are so affordable and the oldest veterans have been racing for nearly two decades, it is one of the most difficult karting divisions to win at, but yet you can be instantly competitive for just a couple hundred dollars IF you’re a good driver. You can’t outspend your opponent due to our gas-powered stock-only rule, so you must out-race them and out-setup them. In fact, nobody has ever defeated Matt & Chris in the open challenge: race a stock 5hp flathead and stop them from scoring 1st & 2nd in a points season. Though hundreds of people have tried in hundreds of races since the early 1990s, Chris and Matt have scored 1 & 2 every year. But it’s not just them you have to race. Our regular drivers are all talented and experienced. You can prove your skills against the winningest karters in the local area AND you won’t even have to spend a lot of money to get started! We dare you to try! Make your own or rent one of our racing team karts. Sound like fun? Read on, explore the website, and join us!
More Galletta’s Go-Karting flips, crashes and tight racing carting highlights on:
YouTube And the complete and high quality races found on this site and YouTube can be purchased in our Galletta’s Go-Kart DVD store!
Comments, questions, and additional info with Galletta’s Kart Club drivers and officials can be found on our new message boards. ->
Click Here for Facts, Questions & Answers.
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