Galletta’s Go-Karts at Oswego Speedway’s Dirt Track on 7/5/2007:

 

Galletta's Go-Karts at Oswego Speedway

Four members of the Galletta’s Go-Karts Racing Group again ventured to Oswego Speedway’s dirt track out back.

Gallettas @ Oswego Kartway 7/5/2007

The race was won by Joe Hayden in his OHV 6.5hp #5, leading the entire race from his handicapped pole starting position as many battles and wrecks occurred behind him.

Lee Bartlett and Joe Hayden in the front row.

Gallettas @ Oswego Kartway 7/5/2007

Team Galletta’s: Matt Stevens #33; Chris Stevens #8; Kyle Reuter #0; Wes Stevens #4; Xtreme Photos pic.

All four Galletta’s Go-Karts that raced were rammed and wrecked by the same OHV 6.5hp guy (who then verbally assaulted Kyle Reuter after the race), who was not reprimanded by the track operator, which prompted this webmaster/karter (Team Galletta’s #8 Chris Stevens) to stop going to Oswego Speedway on a weekly basis. (Xtreme Photos pic.)

On 7/5/2007 at Oswego Speedway’s dirt track, 4 members of the stock 5hp Galletta’s Go-Karts Club (including its 3 founders) raced in the Oswego Speedway dirt yard kart class and all got wrecked by one driver, who then also verbally assaulted Kyle Reuter in the pits after the race. This YouTube video clip and pictures by Xtreme Photos (please visit their website and buy prints of these great pics!) shows most of the incidents. All we want is this driver to race clean and don’t ram others. He already is allowed a bigger motor, so he shouldn’t need to ram anybody.

Joe Hayden (Team OHV Outlaw #5), leads Wes Stevens, Kyle Reuter, Mat Stevens and Chris Stevens (of Team Galletta’s Greenhouse FH #4, 0, 33 and 8 respectively), with Eric Raponi (OHV Outlaw #83) trailing.

Chris in the Galletta's #8, using his breaks in order to not get into the Hayden #5, tries to go for the lead, waiting for an opening under the Hayden #5.

Chris in the Galletta’s #8 was able to get under his Galletta’s teammates and looked to the lead, using his breaks in order to not get into the Hayden #5, tries to go for the lead, waiting for an opening under the Hayden #5.

Eric Raponi (Outlaw OHV #83) trailing Chris Stevens (Galletta’s FH #8).

Chris had good handling in the #8 and looked for the lead.

Eric Raponi followed Chris by Wes Stevens, Kyle Reuter and Matt Stevens.

Chris is seen here winding up for an attempted slingshot pass on the Hayden #5.

Outlaw #83 takes out Galletta's #8 and stares at his handiwork. Track operator chuckles and says Galletta's #0 did it.

Outlaw #83 takes out Galletta’s #8 and stares at his handiwork. Track operator chuckles and says Galletta’s #0 (of Kyle Reuter) did it.

In hindsight, it did appear as if #83 was working to help his teammate hold the lead.

The spin was significant enough for the #8 to do a near 360! While accidents do happen in racing, the stare-down as it happens does make it appear as if it was purposeful and malicious. Track operator disagreed.

Team Galletta’s have been racing go-karts since the early 1990s, and that is not how people race “naturally”… turning backwards to see a kart you “accidentally” spun out.

#83 also spun out admiring what he did.

#83 also spun out admiring what he did.

Kyle Reuter, a veteran of possibly hundreds of karting and Quarter-Midget victories in his young career,  is like, “Seriously?”

Reuter and Matt Stevens had to take evasive action to not get collected in the near-pileup. Kyle hadn’t seen an illegal pick like that in 4 years of starting shooting guard for the Oswego State Lakers!

Outlaw #83 took out Wes in the Galletta's #4, which chain-reaction-wise took out Kyle in the Galletta's #0.

Outlaw #83 then took out Wes Stevens in the Galletta’s #4, which chain-reaction-wise took out Kyle Reuter in the Galletta’s #0.

While some spectators may think it is fun and games “wreckin’ and racin'”, wes Stevens injured his leg when Reuter hopped it during the crash. It’s all fun and games until people get hurt. Then, just kick them off the track, apparently.

After #83 succeeded in taking out Wes Stevens and Kyle Reuter, his wife and daughter were heard (and caught on the above videotapes — just listen if you want proof) cheering and making fun of Reuter’s race suit and getting mad that Team Galletta’s were wondering why #83 kept taking them out to the track operator who apparently didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, and to him it just looks like Team Galletta’s were just having a bad day. One could say they were either playing dumb, or…?

The same driver of the #83 then spun Wesley “Ogre” Stevens in the Galletta’s #4 out and plowed him off of the track. Kyle Reuter (in the Galletta’s #0, who #83’s family hurled insults at from the sidelines about his fire suit), had nowhere to go and ran over Wes’ front end (and legs). #83 took out two Galletta’s Karts in one fell swoop. He then argued with track officials when the correct decision was made to place him at the rear of the track. I had a few things to say about the wrecks and inconsistent rules, but I didn’t want to clutter the page with my diatribe other than I’m personally not going to go every week anymore because of the recklessness and temper of one driver in particular, and the lack of the track operator to properly punish people who purposefully wreck others – friend or not. If he and his family remained calm and he raced clean and fair, nobody would have a problem. Comments and exchanges about this race can be found on the message board here.

 

Champion Matt Stevens in the Galletta's #33

Kyle Reuter in the Galletta's #0 and Lee Bartlett in the former Shane Miller kart.

Joe Hayden gets his first win in the Outlaw #5 - one of the best looking karts on the track of any division!

Oswego Speedway Gas Stocker Kart 2007 Points Standings:
After 4 races between 6/15/2007 through 7/5/2007

Rank

Name & Go-Karts Piloted & Motor Used
(OHV= Over Head Valve; FH = Flat Head)

Total Points (Place)

Average Points Per Event

Events

Feature Wins

1

Matt “Mush” Stevens (5hp FH Galletta’s #33)

396.00

99.00

4

1

2

Eric “The Spinner” Raponi (6.5hp OHV Raponi #83)

353.00

88.25

4

2

3

Chris “Chrusher” Stevens (5hp FH Galletta’s #8, #G5)

343.00

85.75

4

0

4

Wesley “Ogre” Stevens (5hp FH Galletta’s #4)

338.00

84.50

4

0

5

Joe Hayden (6.5hp OHV Hayden #5)

307.00

76.75

4

1

6

Kyle Reuter (5hp FH Galletta’s #0)

258.00

86.00

3

0

7

Mark Miller (6.5hp OHV M-Miller #00)

169.00

84.50

2

0

8

Lee Bartlett (6.5hp OHV Bartlett #924)

144.00

72.00

2

0

9

Mike Billion (6.5hp OHV Billion #57)

105.00

105.00

1

0

10

Dick Dann (5hp FH Dann #86)

85.00

85.00

1

0

11

Oscar “Flyin’ Oz” Berry (5hp FH Oz #11)

80.00

80.00

1

0

12

Gary Miller Sr. (5hp FH G-Miller #24)

76.00

76.00

1

0

13

Nick Dann (5hp FH Dann #68)

63.00

63.00

1

0

Oswego Speedway Gas Stocker Karts Inverted Points Per Race (Starting order):

Start

Name & Go-Karts Piloted

Average Points Per Event

Total Points (Place)

Events

Feature Wins

1

Nick Dann (5hp FH Dann #68)

63.00

63.00

1

0

2 Lee Bartlett (6.5hp OHV Bartlett #924)

72.00

144.00

2

0

3 Gary Miller Sr. (5hp FH G-Miller #24)

76.00

76.00

1

0

4 Oscar “Flyin’ Oz” Berry (5hp FH Oz #11)

80.00

80.00

1

0

5 Wesley “Ogre” Stevens (5hp FH Galletta’s #4)

84.50

338.00

4

0

6 Dick Dann (5hp FH Dann #86)

85.00

85.00

1

0

7 Chris “Chrusher” Stevens (5hp FH Galletta’s #8, Galletta’s #5)

85.75

343.00

4

0

8 Kyle Reuter (5hp FH Galletta’s #0)

86.00

258.00

3

0

9 Mike Billion (6.5hp OHV Billion #57)

105.00

105.00

1

0

10 Joe Hayden (6.5hp OHV Hayden #5)

76.75

307.00

4

1

11 Matt “Mush” Stevens (5hp FH Galletta’s #33)

99.00

396.00

4

1

12 Eric “The Spinner” Raponi (6.5hp OHV Raponi #83)

88.25

353.00

4

2

13 Mark Miller (6.5hp OHV M-Miller #00) [DQ-start at end]

84.50

169.00

2

0

Galletta's - 7/8/2007 & Oswego - 7/5/2007

2007 Volume #6 DVD:
Contains the July 5th, 2007 races from Oswego Speedway, and the July 8th, 2007 races at Galletta’s. 2 hours & 20 minutes of racing action.

Galletta’s 2007 Race #6: 7/8/2007 40-Lapper:

Matt Stevens wins the Oswego County stock 5hp event for 7/8/2007!

Matt Stevens again showed why he is the all-time winningest go-kart racer (stock 5hp or otherwise) in Oswego County and probably points beyond during this 15 driver event. Matt passed six karts in four laps and held off challenges from front-runners Kyle Reuter, Chris Stevens and Dick Dann to win his second feature of the season at Galletta’s. Read on!

Galletta's - 7/8/2007 & Oswego - 7/5/2007

2007 Volume #6 DVD:
Contains the July 5th, 2007 races from Oswego Speedway, and the July 8th, 2007 races at Galletta’s. 2 hours & 20 minutes of racing action.

Read below to see what is on this DVD:

Tight, close racing in our Kart feature!

The first heat was won by Oscar Berry and followed by Chris Stevens, Dick Dann, and Kelly Miller.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

The second heat was won by Gary Miller Jr., followed by Andy Berry, the returning Barrelin’ Brian Bortel in his first race since 2006, and 1st-time racers Saun Berry, and Francisco Colon.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

The third heat was won by Matt Stevens followed by Kyle Reuter, Wes Ogre Stevens, Fred Collins, Melissa Gabel, and Missy Berry.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Thirteen karts qualified for and started the feature. The racing is clean, close, and highly competitive with all 5hp stock motors!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Here is a nasty wreck where Gary Miller Jr. wrecks with (yours truly) Chris “ChrusherComix” Stevens, who both then get hit by Flyin’ Fred Collins (who then falls out of his kart). Chris then pulls Fred (who is still recovering from a broken hip) on his kart to avoid oncoming traffic. Video below. Other than this wreck, Gary Jr. drove a great race in his dad’s kart.

Late in the race, after Kyle Reuter retired the Galletta’s #0 (because the frame was literally breaking in half while he was racing), he jumped into his Super9 kart that Kelly Miller left. Kyle then flipped it on the first lap after hooking tires with Melissa Gabel. This kart simply must be retired until it is rebuilt to be more stable. It has flipped 4 or 5 times in 4 or 5 races with two different drivers. The video shows it all. I also have additional pics of the damage on the message board.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

All pictures and video clips are lo-res captures from the DVD in anamorphic widescreen 16:9 format (looks awesome on a widescreen TV). Now for the results followed by the updated points standings.

July 8th, 2007 “Barrelin’s Return 44-lap*” Feature Final order of finish:

Position

Name (Go-Karts Piloted)

1st

Matt Stevens (Galletta’s #33)

2nd

Dick Dann (Team Dann #86)

3rd

Wes “Ogre” Stevens (Galletta’s #4)

4th

Gary Miller Jr. (Miller #24)

5th

 Oscar “Flyin’ Ozz” Berry (Team Oz #11)

6th

Melissa Gabel (Galletta’s #3)

7th

Chris Stevens (Galletta’s #8) DNF *

8th

Kyle Reuter (Galletta’s #0, S9, #2) DNF

9th

 Missy Berry (Team Oz #11m) DNF

10th

Andy Berry (Galletta’s #6) DNF

11th

Saun Berry ® (Galletta’s #7, #1) DNF

12th

Barrelin’ Brian Bortel (Bortel #15) DNF

13th

Freddy Collins (Galletta’s #2) DNF

14th

Kelly Miller (Reuter #S9) DNS

15th

Francisco Colon ® (Galletta’s #7) DNS

KEY:
DNF = Did Not Finish.
DNS = Did Not Start Feature (Ran Heat and retired.)
^ = Charged a time-out.
® = Rookie 1st-time racer.
Notes: * Due to a lap-counter mistake, the race was supposed to be 40 laps, but we instead ran an odd 44 under green. At the real last lap (lap 40), Chris was 2nd place, but the flagman did green/white/checker kept resetting the last two laps due to spins at the rear of the field. On the third extra lap counted as 39 (but it was really 43), Chris’ chain broke, so he was officially scored 7th even though he was technically 2nd on the real lap 40. The points scale was then enhanced to the 45 lap bracket since we ran 44 greens. However, I penalized nobody for the incident and everybody got their fair share of scored points. The flagger did a good job, we just ran 3 too many laps.

Galletta’s Go-Kart Club 2007 Point Standings
(for the 2007 Stock 5hp Championship of Oswego County)
After 6 events from 6/3/2007 to 7/8/2007:

Rank

Name & Go-Karts Piloted
^ = Timeouts used

Total Points(Place)

Average PointsPer Event

Events

Feature Wins

1

 Matt “Matty-Jo” Stevens (Galletta’s #33, #3)

906.00

151.00

6

2

2

 Chris “Chrusher” Stevens (Galletta’s #8, #5)

894.00

149.00

6

1

3

 Dick “The Destroyer” Dann (Dickhead #86)

760.00

126.67

6

0

4

 Wesley “Ogre” Stevens (Galletta’s #4, #1)

714.00

119.00

6

0

5

 Kyle Reuter (Galletta’s #0, Super9, 7, 2) ^

677.50

112.92

6

1

6

 Oscar “Flyin’ Oz” Berry (Team Oz #11) ^

664.50

110.75

6

0

7

 Nick “Of Time” Dann (Dickhead #68)

566.50

113.30

5

0

8

 Gary “I’m not having fun” Miller Sr. (Miller #24) ^

564.50

112.90

5

1

9

 Melissa “Slow & Steady” Gabel (Galletta’s #3, #2)

495.00

99.00

5

1

10

Missy Berry (Berry #11m, Galletta’s #10, 2) ^^

480.50

96.10

5

0

11

 The Flyin’ Hip Freddy Collins (Galletta’s #2, 7)

381.00

95.25

4

0

12

 Kelly Miller (#Super9, #7, #1) ^

354.00

88.50

4

0

13

Wayne Milliken (Team Oz #11M) ^^

286.00

95.33

3

0

14

Andy Berry (Galletta’s #6)

221.00

110.50

2

0

15

Gary Miller Jr. (Miller #24, Galletta’s #6)

220.00

110.00

2

0

16

William Hardy Jr. (Galletta’s #1)

122.00

61.00

2

0

17

 Ed “Where’d he go?” Maynes (Team Maynes #9)

117.50

117.50

1

0

18

 Jason “Where’d he go?” Mills (Team Maynes #38)

108.00

108.00

1

0

19

Saun Berry (Galletta’s #7, #1)

92.00

92.00

1

0

20

Barrelin’ Brian Bortel (Bortel #15)

89.00

89.00

1

0

21t

Joe Miller (Galletta’s #1)

71.00

71.00

1

0

21t

 Josh Schute (Galletta’s #7)

71.00

71.00

1

0

23

Francisco Colon (Galletta’s #7)

70.00

70.00

1

0

24

Scott Evans (Galletta’s #6)

69.00

69.00

1

0

25

David Evans (Galletta’s #0)

66.00

66.00

1

0

26

Ben Rodriguez (Galletta’s #0/#6)

65.00

65.00

1

0

27

Edward Boyzuck (Galletta’s #6/#1) ^

61.00

61.00

1

0

Points system is in Rules section. Each race awards points on a scale dependant with the amount of laps ran. In addition, Feature Laps led (and top 3 positions in fact) award points. ^ = timeouts. A timeout is a break in the action for a repair that takes more than a few minutes or if you bring out more than 3 cautions in one race. You are only allowed 4 timeouts all year, so conserve them!