Galletta's Karting Club

Now for the two-track TOTAL of the… 
2008 5hp Gas Stocker Kart Point Standings of Oswego County, NY  
After 18 combined events at both Galletta’s and Oswego Kartway from 5/8/2007 -thru- 8/17/2008.

Rank	Name & Karts Piloted (*5hp flathead stock unless otherwise noted. This points total does not include several 6.5hp-exclusive races at Oswego. Handicap 6.5hp motors are also in italics.)	Total Points (Place)	Average Points Per Event	Events	Heat Wins	Feature Wins
1	“Mighty” Matt Stevens  (Galletta’s #33, 3, 1)	2206.50	122.58	18	4	7
2	Chris “Chrusher” Stevens (Galletta’s #8, 4, 5)	2099.50	116.64	18	3	4
3	Russ Hockey  (Hockey #00, Galletta’s #9, 5)	1661.00	97.71	17	2	0
4	Buddy Cottom  (Galletta’s #6, 1, 7, 0, Phillips #04)	1245.50	138.39	9	2	2
5	Gary Miller Sr. (Miller #24, Galletta’s #0, 9)	1028.00	102.80	10	2	0
6	Dick Dann  (Dann #86)	1012.00	101.20	10	0	0
7	Melissa “Low-Groove ” Gabel(Galletta’s #3, 4, 33)	951.00	118.88	8	0	0
8	Wavin’ Nick Dann  (Dann #68, 86, Galletta’s #5, 1, Miller #24)	908.00	100.89	9	1	1
9	Flyin’ Ryan Coleman  (Galletta’s #9, 7, Miller #24)	743.50	148.70	5	2	2
10	Joe Hayden (Handicap 6.5hp+ OHV #5)	600.00	85.71	7	0	3
11	John “JP” Stepien (Galletta’s #0)	587.50	146.88	4	1	0
12	Mike “M F’n’ C” Howell  (Galletta’s #5, 6, 9)	584.00	116.80	5	1	0
13	Eric Raponi (Handicap 6.5hp+ OHV #83, 5hp Galletta’s #9)	557.00	79.57	7	5	0
14	Dave Melfi (Handicap 6.5hp+ OHV #22)	527.00	75.29	7	0	2
15	Oscar Berry (Handicrap 6.5hp #71, Berry 5hp #11)	471.00	67.29	7	0	0
16	Larry Phillips (Phillips #04, Galletta’s #9, 7)	443.00	110.75	4	0	0
17	Wes “Ogre” Stevens (Galletta’s #4)	351.00	87.75	4	0	0
18	Gary Miller Jr. (Miller #24)	147.50	147.50	1	0	0
19	AJ Russell (Galletta’s #6)	142.00	142.00	1	1	0
20	Jeff Tetro (Galletta’s #2)	124.00	124.00	1	0	0
21	Flippin’ Fred Collins  (Galletta’s #2)	119.50	119.50	1	0	0
22	Rob Clarke (Galletta’s #6)	113.00	113.00	1	0	0
23	Missy Berry (Handicap 6.5hp OHV #64)	88.00	88.00	1	0	0
24	Peggy Melfi (Handicap 6.5hp OHV #66)	84.00	84.00	1	0	0
25	Ken Lindsley Jr.  Galletta’s #6	75.00	75.00	1	0	0
26	Ken Lindsley III Galletta’s #1	69.00	69.00	1	0	0
27	Joe Miller Galletta’s #9	65.00	65.00	1	0	0

* = NOTE: This points total does not include 6.5hp-exclusive races at Oswego, nor the one race with all 6.5hps except Matt in a 5hp. The 6.5hp racers have a separate points race that we currently don’t have on record, and they also elect to not race at Galletta’s, nor race against Galletta’s 5hp gas stockers at all (probably because it is a lose/lose scenario to beat or lose to smaller motors). This will be the last list that includes 6.5hp motors, as further lists will be altered to give wins to the highest-finishing 5hp and remove the 6.5hp drivers, per their wishes.

Want to join us? We invite drivers (either people to rent our karts and/or with their own 5hp karts) to join us and race at Oswego and Galletta’s. We have our own motor class at Oswego now, but still need regular drivers to fill the karts.  If anybody is interested in filling a kart on Thursdays at Oswego ($5 to rent for 10 lap heats and at least a 25 lap feature plus Oswego track entrance fees) or Sundays at Galletta’s ($20 for a 10 lap heat and at least 45-lap feature), just contact us. At Galletta’s, it is free to bring your own kart (though we accept $3-5 clay donations). NEW SPECIAL DEAL: If you rent a Galletta’s racing kart for $20 at Galletta’s on a weekend race (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday), then you can also drive it at Oswego the same week (a Thursday or Friday) for free (just help us load up or truck the kart)! Why allow someone to race our karts for free at Oswego? Because we are seeking new drivers on BOTH tracks after a transitional period of some retiring veteran drivers, some drivers jumping to different (more expensive) divisions, and lack of new developing rookies, and Oswego already has a entrance fee to consider anyway. We want more drivers, and we’ll cover your gas if you race with us at Galletta’s on Sundays. You will not ever get the opportunity to sit in a racing vehicle of any type and be given a competitive car for a more affordable price than a Galletta’s 5hp race. Go ahead and try your own for anything less.  

Chris’s Post-race blog: 
2008 has been a strange season for the Galletta’s Karting Club, as we have lost regular drivers due to several reasons (one moved up to a higher-priced methanol division – he is extremely talented and deserves to; some went to the 6.5hp Oswego division because they had no hope of ever winning a race; a few can’t race regularly because of work schedules; the usual handful who then just wuss out and quit with no reason given. However, the kicker was that one even quit when he thought that we rented him a bum motor and didn’t even stick around to race it and see that was a fresher motor than he had been running, it now had brakes, AND he had already won three features in two different rental karts and three different motors in less than one season already (more features than even I had won in that same span), AND the guy who told him that we switched motors psyched him out because he didn’t want him racing here anymore, and bitched about him for two weeks straight! Whew! He shouldn’t give up and give into the couple of  guys who complained about him, and race with us like I want him to.).

But losing drivers has never been the question, as every year or two since 2000, we lose a few old drivers and gain a few new ones. One can see this by viewing our humorous History Section and looking at every year’s points standings since the website has been up (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and current 2008). However, 2008 marks the first time in the 2000s that we have not replaced retired drivers with new ones. Galletta’s karts are open to rent and race at Galletta’s and Oswego Kartway, and any of them can win features given some skillful driving. Don’t believe us? Well, it gets proven every time a renter wins a race (look at how many different winners we’ve had since 2002 in Galletta’s karts and their own) or when Chris and Matt drive karts that everybody else thinks are bums and either win or get top 3 positions. Yet people stop racing. Why? Come on out!

The first 30 lap feature tonight was an all-cam show; the first one in the history of Galletta’s. From 1990-2006, all cams were box stock Briggs 5hp cams. Then, Team Dann tried “hot stocker” or stock “cheater” cams. They were allowed for drivers over 200 lbs. only, and it helped Dick and Nick get a little more power and equalize speeds with lighter drivers. However, a few more were experimented with in order to comply with racing 6.5hp karts at Oswego. Now Matt is experimenting with cams in all or most of the karts because Dick and Nick can’t race weekly Sundays anymore, and Ryan Coleman quit racing weekly. We’ll also look into weights, which will be hard due to the wildly different weigh ratios between each driver and each kart, and it will need to be based on driver/kart combos. It will take some time, but we’ll figure out the fairest thing soon. Little does it matter for the rest of us, because even though light-weight Matt is light, his  fast #33 is one of the heaviest karts and that does offset when a heavier driver uses a much lighter kart, so most weights won’t have to be adjusted as much as some believe. (Some just say Matt wins so much because he is light. Yes, he’s light, but he’s also very experienced and very talented. Too many sore losers take those things away from him, and it pisses me off. It’s more than just weight for the reason he’s the winningest driver of any form of racing in the local area since the 1990s, and likely the country. Yes, we are just a little known karting association, but we are extremely affordable to race, anybody can join no matter their salary or social status, we have had hundreds of different drivers and hundreds of races since the 1990s, and keep meticulous statistics, so we can back that statement up.) The second feature was an all-stock cam race where Chris and Matt raced backups that are usually rented out (and got 1st & 2nd). One positive, however, is that with less drivers, there are often less wrecks and better drivers meaning less cautions.

We’re looking for a big 2008 Oswego Classic and 2008 Galletta’s Klassic. Old or new drivers, come on out. The racing has never been closer, the karts have never been faster, the karts have never broken down this little, and the tracks that we race on have never been smoother. RACE, YOU BUNCH OF SISSIES! 🙂

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