Galletta's Karting Club

OSWEGO KARTWAY GAS STOCKER KARTING 2008 RACES #4 & 5 
~ June 5th-12th, 2008 Races at Oswego Speedway ~

Oswego Kartway 2008: 1-WD Gas Stockers – Team Galletta’s Greenhouse Flatheads vs. Team OHV Outlaws

The Galletta’s Kart Club 2008 Volumes #4 & 5: These discs contain the complete Oswego Kartway shows from Thursday, June 5th and June 12th, 2008. Disc has all heats and features to all karting classes AND the first two races of the Galletta’s Karting Club’s season (6/8 & 6/15) as an added bonus. Nearly 5 hours total on two discs. Special price on this 2-disc sets. Price $10.

Welcome! We are a highly competitive Karting Club that races affordable “Clockwise Gas Stocker” karts for a Points championship every summer at Galletta’s Greenhouse Backyard Kartway and a Gas Stocker division at Oswego Speedway‘s Clay Kartway.

This website covers the Galletta’s Karting club, which is a group of racing-modified yard karts founded in in the early 1990s. We race exclusively box-stock 5hp flathead Briggs & Stratton 90’s-and-up style motors without any racing parts, shaved heads, and run on pump gas-only. We are also staggered to turn right instead of left due to the single-wheel drive system found on most yard karts. This enables us to corner faster without using a live axle like found on WKA-style karting leagues. We document our race descriptions, points standings, and video captures from our DVDs. When we venture to Oswego Kartway, we also record the other karting divisions as seen in the below pictures and also include them in our DVDs:

DVD Menu:

Oswego Kartway Gas Stockers (June 5th-12th, 2008):

On 6/5 heat, #83 Eric Raponi won the Clockwise Gas Stocker heat in his 6.5hp OHV handicap motor after drawing the pole for a FOURTH STRAIGHT TIME!  This led to the whole class agreeing to just race via handicap for every race.

 
Eric was followed by Joe Hayden (#5) who used his powerful OHV 6.5hp motor to pass Matt Stevens (Galletta’s #33) on the difficult outside groove at the checker. They were followed by Dave Melfi (#22 w/ OHV), Russ Hockey (#00 FH), Oscar Berry (#11 FH) and last was Chris Stevens (#4 FH) with a DNF after Oscar Berry spun out in front of him and wrecked his chain.

The June 5th show rained out after the heat races for every class. The following Thursday’s race had TWO features per class, opening with the postponed 6/5 show, then the regular full night of racing.

Beautiful day for a race at Oswego Speedway’s backyard track!

The first feature on 6/12/2008, which was the make-up for the postponed 6/5/2008 show went to Dave Melfi (6.5hp #22) and Eric Raponi (6.5hp #83) and Joe Hayden (6.5hp #5) swept the top three positions in their 6.5hp OHV handicap motors, which has led many observers to believe that the handicap is now overdoing it a bit. The rest of the field was all 5hp flatheads. Matt Stevens (5hp #33) settled for fourth, Russ Hockey (5hp #00), and Oscar Berry (5hp #11). Chris Stevens again got a DNF when the chain again fell off the #4 kart, and he lost 2-3 laps in the infield before going back out.

Dave Melfi (6.5hp) wins – shot by Mike “Pinner” Johnson

6/12/2008 Oswego Gas Stockers Heat Start

The 6/12 heat went to Eric Raponi (OHV #83) and Joe Hayden (6.5hp OHV #5) defeated Matt Stevens (5hp FH #33). Dave Melfi (6.5hp OHV #22), Chris Stevens (5hp FH #8), Russ Hockey (5hp FH #00) and Oscar Berry (5hp FH #11) rounded out the field. Particularly noticeable in the last feature and this heat was the takeoff power of the 6.5hp karts.

6/12/2008 Oswego Gas Stockers Feature Start

The 2nd Feature went to Joe Hayden (6.5hp OHV #5), who was followed by Matt Stevens (5hp Flat-Head Galletta’s #33), and Chris Stevens (5hp Flat-Head Galletta’s #8), Dave Melfi (6.5hp OHV #22), Eric Raponi (OHV #83), who claimed to have motor problems and was now going to get some more work done. Russ Hockey was black-flagged due to 3 cautions in each the heat and the feature. Oscar Berry failed to start the Feature due to more unique-to-Oscar motor shenanigans – losing dogs in his recoil.

Matt Stevens #33 (5hp motor) vs. Joe Hayden #5 (6.5hp motor) by Mike Johnson

Dave Melfi (6.5hp) wins – shot by Mike Johnson

Concern about kart count at Oswego is growing. When Chris Stevens (racer, points man of all Oswego Gas Stockers, and webmaster of this site), asked fellow Galletta’s Kart Club members to join us at Oswego, there are complaints that range between 1 – “No, those *blankety-blanks* use 6.5hp OHVs (bigger motors).” 2 – A handful of complaints about such a high entrance price for so few green flag laps, 3 – some complaints about fastest guys always starting in the front when we run a draw for heats and at money races, 4 – one complaint for getting thrown out, and finally, a few said, 5 – Thursdays at 6pm is not good because of work, but maybe Fridays would be. Several just prefer racing at Galletta’s, (and one just prefers racing at Oswego) and we want them racing at both. Plus, rules must be clarified to avoid accusations of cheating. So for now we must deal with the low kart numbers until we can either talk a few more drivers into running or solve the problems with laps ran, make incentives for racing at both tracks, or separating the motors into two classes, which is what everybody in the Galletta’s Karting Club has requested of the Oswego track operator. More.

Chris Stevens in Galletta’s #4 by Mike Johnson

This week again began to raise concerns about the fairness of 6.5hp OHV karts racing with the Galletta’s 5hp flathead karts. So far in 2008, only Matt and Chris Stevens – the inventors and 18-year-veterans of Galletta’s Go-Kart racing – have been able to compete with them, but recently it has become even more apparent that the 6.5hp OHVs have been getting faster and faster, especially in terms of restarts and raw cornering/passing power. There is no way for a stock 5hp flathead to remain stock and continue to keep up. Continued requests have been made towards track operator Jim Losurdo to allow us to either split the motors into two divisions or enforce the stock-only rule with the 6.5hps and some racing enhancements for the 5hps to keep up. Every driver in the Galletta’s Karting Club has felt disrespected by both the track officials and the OHV kart group, which is why every week there has been less and less Galletta’s 5hp karts down there. The following week will be the final test.

NOTE: Additional pictures to all kart classes from this week in racing on Mike “Pinner” Johnson’s Photobucket… well, used to be until he took them down. Oh, well. This is why I save every picture with us in them. Sure, people can photograph and video record us, but then won’t let us use — either view purchase or free promotion on our website? Nice.

2008 Gas Stocker Kart Point Standings at Oswego Kartway  
After 5 events at Oswego Kartway from 5/8/2007 -thru- 6/12/2008:

Next race at the Galletta’s Kartway is Sunday, June 15th, 2008. 
Next race at the Oswego Kartway is Thursday, June 19th, 2008.