Galletta's Karting Club

8/13 – 8/23/2014 – A Birth, a Death, Then Not Enough Drivers & Camera-Operators = “Points? Or No Points?” / For Fun Race Night Twin 30s won by Kelly Miller & Adam Lytle (AKA GANG-UP ON NEW PARENTS CHRIS AND AOU NITE!!!!)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23rd, 2014, OSWEGO, NY –  Due to a lack of camera operators and with only five drivers able to make it on track at the drop of the first green flag, a non-summer points twin-30 night was held. But there was a LONG story before and during the week that led to a little bickering and one member even quitting.

GOOD RACE… BUT… THERE WAS A LONG STORY LEADING UP TO IT AND SOME CONTROVERSY DURING IT:
Now… there was some deal of controversy over this race event, and there needn’t be. It’s not hard to understand, yet some people hold things against me (or sometimes Matt… but mostly me, Chris) without understanding why? So… why was there controversy? Let me explain what that means:

Well, going into ANY of our races, as a general rule, everybody knows and agrees that with so few drivers, we either don’t race or make it a non-points “for fun” race. Sure, anyone can go out and “practice” or “have fun” or whatnot (if so, buy your own yard kart and race in your own yard, or your own racing kart or race car and race on your own track), but these karts, track, and website are maintained by Matt, Chris, and Wes Stevens for a purpose: To run a points series documented by our pictures and videos in our website coverage that requires maintained karts, a maintained track, a manned (or woman-ned?) video camera for both video coverage and retroactive points scoring. If any of those things don’t add up, it simply is NOT worth the time, money, work, and energy required to pull off these races. And occasionally, Matt is ready to race, but Chris isn’t. Or vice-versa and Matt is behind, Chris is waiting. BUT… these cases are rare compared to (and this is MORE often the case), Matt, Chris and maybe 1, 2, 3 or 4 other people are ready, but NOBODY ELSE SHOWS UP. Today, it was a mix of all of the above.

Why? Well, while this may be “fun” for some people to race for fun with no video or points, did they ask if it is fun for track operator and head kart mechanic Matt Stevens, who must work his butt off to prep karts and track for a meaningless race, or his bro and race organizer/promoter/webmaster/points/video producer Chris for that matter?). So, understanding this… let’s read on as to what exactly happened and who quit. First off:

8/13 – 8/21/2014 – Off-Week in Memoriam of Paul Galletta Jr. (…and the birth of Miss Faith Marie Stevens!)

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13th, 2014, OSWEGO, NY –  In an extremely odd series of circumstances, this week of the racing season was cancelled/postponed.

Firstly, the 8/10/2014 show exposed that the track was in dire need of repairs, and several karts also needed work due to the bumpy road. When we run a bad track, often we all pay with broken down karts and frustrations.

Secondly, co-founder/racer Chris Stevens welcomed the birth of he and his wife’s (camera woman Rungnapha Stevens) first child, Miss Faith Marie Stevens, and much like last September, with Matthew and Melissa’s first child, Miss Lilybeth Stevens, there’s just not enough time to get everything — karts, track, cameras, website — all prepped.

Paul B. Galletta Jr.

But thirdly, and in a most shocking, terrible, and completely unforeseen event, on the same day and hospital that Faith was born, Paul Galletta Jr. passed away unexpectedly of heart problems at 33 years of age. (fixed link 1) (fixed link 2). Paul Jr. was 1st cousin to current and former Galletta’s racers Matt Stevens, Chris Stevens, Brian, Kevin, Timmy, Bobby and Gary Galletta, cousin once removed to Justin Galletta, son of uncle and occasional watcher Paul Galletta Sr., and brother of long-ago “for fun/non-points” driver Anthony Galletta. Paul Jr. and Anthony raced a few times for fun in the early-1990s before we counted races for points and documented them on the website, and expressed the desire to try racing again, just never found the time to do so.

The collective 1-2-3 circumstances led to us calling for a bye week and paying our respects, thoughts and prayers to Paul Jr. and his immediate family, his father Paul Sr. (our uncle), his mother Dale, brother Anthony and sister Brianne.

Now, here’s where things started getting weirder…

8/23/2014 – Not Enough Drivers & Camera-Operators = No Points / For Fun Race Night Twin 30s won by Kelly Miller & Adam Lytle

Kelly Miller & Adam Lytle win!

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23rd, 2014, OSWEGO, NY –  As stated above already, due to a lack of camera operators and with only five drivers able to make it on track at the drop of the first green flag, we ran a non-summer points twin-30 night.

Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7) passed early leader Keith Raymond early on and won the 1st feature race, holding off Matt Stevens at the stripe, and Adam Lytle (Galletta’s Greenhouse #9) won the 2nd feature, leading every lap of it from the pole position due to an inverted finish of the 1st. Let’s read on!

30-LAP FEATURE #1

Start of the 1st 35-lapper. Chris was unable to start because the usual camera woman — his wife Rungnapha Stevens — was recovering from a c-section surgery and babysitting their 10-day-old daughter, Faith, because his mom was babysitting his almost 1-year-old niece, Lilybeth, so his sister-in-law (Lilybeth’s mom)–the ever infinitely selfless Melissa Stevens–could race (in last place). This means he sacrificed his ride to video the race. Due to this, he informed starter Wes Stevens that the race, with only 5 drivers, could not be scored as a regular season points race because our usual cutoff for a points race is 8 drivers, although we occasionally allow 6 or 7. [Start or the race. Inset: Matt Stevens almost gets Kelly Miller at the stripe.]

START:
1. Keith Raymond (Raymond #88)
2. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
3. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)
4. DNS – Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #8)
5. Adam Lytle (Lytle #33c)
6. Matt Stevens  (Galletta’s Greenhouse #3)

Another angle of the final lap. Kelly had a huge lead before Matt slowly reeled him in and a caution did the rest. On said last lap, Matt pulled close with his patented 4th turn slingshot to the finish line, but Kelly had just enough horsepower to get the Galletta’s #7’s bumper to the stripe first.

Kelly in his victory lap. Congrats to Kelly, his 1st feature win since the 2013 Klassic 200, and only his 3rd Galletta’s feature win overall. And, according to Kelly, it would be his last win ever at Galletta’s. Huh?

FINISH:
1. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
2. Matt Stevens  (Galletta’s Greenhouse #3)
3. Keith Raymond (Raymond #88)
4. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)
5. DNF – Adam Lytle (Lytle #33c)
6. DNS – Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #8)

Kelly Miller wins 1st 30-lapper in the Galletta’s Greenhouse #7.

Chris was retroactively counted as last place when the group decided to race the 2nd feature. This enabled Chris’ wife Rungnapha to be free of babysitting the newborn and recording the race, so Chris could enter it. He was still in a bit of a surly mood due to (1) not getting enough sleep due to 364 days-per-year work schedule (some may not know that Chris and Rung own a Sushi Business that makes daily fresh sushi for the Oswego Price Chopper and SUNY Oswego, and that job requires fresh sushi made 364 days per year, ONLY Christmas Day off! For four years now… 4 days off out of 1,460) AND having a newborn baby (2) not being able to race in the 1st feature, (3) not having a lot of drivers show up on race day, and (4) … you are about to find out below.

30-LAP FEATURE #2

Drama-rama… in a “just for fun” race? Wha?!

However, this “for fun” race wound up not being fun for everybody. Some controversy brewed when at the start of the 2nd feature, a sixth driver (Chris Stevens, who had to man the camera for the 1st) was able to join due to the availability of a camerawoman and new mom – his wife Rungnapha Stevens, just 10 days removed from c-section surgery – was able to record due to their daughter finally getting to sleep. He sacrificed his own racing time (and points) for the benefit of the club, but now could join in and be counted in both of the evening’s features (per our pre-existing club rules).

Originally, the drivers of the 1st race apparently banded together and elected to invert the finish of the 1st race (which is against the rules since 2009 to prevent people purposefully coming in last to start 1st and to prevent repeat winners from starting on the pole). Until Chris started his kart and went to the pole position, as he was scored last in the 1st feature. And THIS is when the shit started to fly!

Oft-incompetent starter Wesley Stevens (who doesn’t know the established track rules that we’ve had for around a decade and usually just flags and counts laps since retiring from racing) decided to make up a new rule on the spot, disregarded the established handicap start rules and directed Chris to start in the rear (instead of 2nd under our 2nd-of-a-twin-feature night inverted finish rules that we established in 2009). Chris felt disrespected by the group AND his own dad and pulled himself from the competition and threatened to cancel the rest of the season’s points, schedule, website, and videos indefinitely until further notice (he does do ALL of the above… and never gets thanked, either).

So… I may have lost a few people there. What’s the problem?

The problem came particularly from the start of the 2nd feature. There were three optional starts to a 2nd of a twin-30 race. One, would be the old-fashioned way, invert via points just like the 1st feature. The other, would be to invert the direct finish of the 1st feature. However, we used to have people intentionally get last in the 1st feature to start first in the 2nd feature, so, since 2011, we have an invert EXCEPT for non-feature winners starting up front for fairness and to alleviate sandbagging at the finish of the 1st feature. So…

TRADITIONAL 2nd OF A TWIN-30 GALLETTA’S RACE START:
[1st group are those who have never won & inverted by the finish of 1st feature; 2nd group is prior winners who have not won yet this season, inverted by the finish of 1st feature; 3rd group is prior winners, inverted by the finish of 1st feature.]

1. Keith Raymond (Raymond #88) – 0 wins [and none to date all-time!]
2. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19) – 0 wins
3. Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #4) – 0 wins
4. Adam Lytle (Galletta’s Greenhouse #9) – 1 win
5. Matt Stevens  (Galletta’s Greenhouse #3) – 3 wins
6. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7) – 1 win (today)

This start is meant to handicap via wins and points. But… Scratch that. This start was DISREGARDED. Okaayy… so…

COMPLETE INVERSE OF 1st FEATURE START:
[Complete inverted order of 1st feature]

1. Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #4) – 0 wins
2. Adam Lytle (Galletta’s Greenhouse #9) – 1 wins
3. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19) – 0 wins
4. Keith Raymond (Raymond #88) – 0 wins
5. Matt Stevens  (Galletta’s Greenhouse/Chrusher.com #74) – 3 wins
6. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7) – 1 win

This is going off the logic of inverting the finish of the 1st finish. Buuut… Scratch that. This start was DISREGARDED, too. Okay? What?! So….

ACTUAL START:
[Complete inverted order of 1st feature… except CHRIS GETS DISQUALIFIED TO LAST PLACE!]

1. Adam Lytle (Galletta’s Greenhouse #9) – 1 win
2. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19) – 0 wins
3. Keith Raymond (Raymond #88) – 0 wins
4. Matt Stevens  (Galletta’s Greenhouse #3) – 3 wins
5. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7) – 1 win
6. Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #4) – 0 wins

Wes Stevens and the rest of the drivers voted for a complete inverted order of the 1st feature… EXCEPT CHRIS is to still start last! So, 2nd-in-points, webmaster, scorer, and video producer Chris — who sacrificed being in the 1st race to record it for the guys — HAD to start from scratch, despite it being completely nonsensical to our usual starts.

Chris was LIVID, as COUNTLESS TIMES BEFORE he started last or close to it, sacrificed racing the 1st feature to record it, and THIS is how the group repaid him?!?! To circumvent the existing 2nd feature start rules just because it was Chris benefiting for a change instead of them? Chris left the track extremely angry, vowing to not do points or the website if this is how people were going to disrespect him and his wife’s time and efforts in selflessly helping the entire club all of the time. His wife, who usually could care less about the races was quite peeved too (as she sees how many times her husband starts in the rear, not to mention the fact that nobody EVER thanks her for recording races, which she deems mostly boring AND with a 10-day-old c-section wound, it wasn’t entirely the ideal time to ask her on TOP of the fact that the 10-day-old breastfeeding infant called anyway), so the 2nd half of the feature was only recorded by Melissa’s stationary front stretch camera from the garden… to which SHE REFUSED TO SHOW ME DESPITE REPEATED REQUESTS — her brother-in-law and webmaster Chris — FOR 2 MONTHS!!! Then people wonder why she has no friends and alienates herself from all she know, and why sometimes arguments spill into our karting discussions. Huh. Anyways, the race went on but was un-scored for a couple of months.

Early on, Kelly Miller tried reeling in Adam Lytle, both in the potent Galletta’s Greenhouse #9 and #7 karts respectively.

…but Adam looked strong going for his 2nd feature win in 2 weeks! Matt was up there in the Galletta’s Greenhouse/Chrusher.com #74, but almost got plowed off the track by rookie Keith Raymond.

WAIT… STOP THE TAPE!!!

The rest of the tower angle was stopped by camerawoman Rung Stevens when she saw what the group rudely did to her husband and he stormed off! Chris was pretty mad, and originally stated, “The winner of the 2nd feature should not have been placed on the pole under Galletta’s handicapping rules – he was erroneously placed on the pole despite winning a week before – a cardinal sin in our points/wins handicapping system that Wesley Stevens brought on!], but with the handicap order disregarded, the website coverage has now concluded for the foreseeable future until (1) more drivers start to show and (2) the rules stop getting discarded depending on who is supposed to start up front and who gets sent to the back depending on who wrecks whom. We’re terribly sorry for any inconvenience this has caused, and maybe we can get the problems corrected, or else that’s it for the website, points and coverage.

So, due to this being only 5 drivers on track, and a lack of enough camera people, this race initially was agreed to be a NON-POINTS EVENT. Due to a lack of time (webmaster Chris Stevens just had a baby and works 364 days per year), and I did not have the complete races until the secondary cameras were able to be reviewed — Melissa Stevens has the entire start/finish line camera angle, but I have not yet seen it (because she oddly angrily, stubbornly, and obstinately REFUSES to allow me to see it), the race order is not yet complete. Due to this being a NON-POINTS EVENT, and the fact that I only have race video part of the 2nd feature (because Melissa didn’t give me her camera’s video footage of the complete event) maybe later on, after the regular season races conclude, I can get it done. And I was, quite frankly, too peeved to stay out and watch the end of the race nor get a victory picture.”

9/2/2014 UPDATE:
Apparently, the two winners had a deep and resounding problem with the fact that although this was a non-points show, they should’ve had all kinds of pictures and congratulations and points for their victories, despite the fact that before the show, we agreed that not enough drivers makes it a non-points race (not to mention that the birth of webmaster/videomaster/pointmaster Chris’ daughter + work has left him so sleep deprived with no time to properly update pages let alone race).

9/3/2014 UPDATE:
Kelly Miller has claimed to quit the Galletta’s Karting Club FOREVER. He claims that because Matt Stevens postponed the 8/31/2014 show (Adam and Kelly were the only drivers willing to run) to September 1st (where a full field of 8 drivers could run), he will never again race with us. He claims it’s because he passed up a big track ride at Oswego Speedway (he didn’t say what? A Small Block Supermodified? A Supermodified? He didn’t say). But, Kelly knows. Matt and Chris ALWAYS take all veteran visiting drivers schedules into account in our race scheduling. This means we would’ve let Kelly race on the big track and just raced another day (which we did, two days later). We have NO idea what made Kelly snap, but we believe it is highly irrational of an otherwise smart and nice guy, and if he chooses to never race again with us, so be it. Sad, as he’s a good driver that we love racing with, but, oh well. Join the club of another 300+ ex-club drivers who become quitters with butt-hurt. Wow. Just. Wow.

So.. let me repeat that….

Kelly angrily quit, and Adam did call me an “@$$hole” for my “d!ck move” website coverage.

Huh? Well… back up.

First off, I told everyone before the race about our rule (for years) that if we had less than 8, it wouldn’t score for points, we’d run it just for fun, maybe count it as an All-Time bonus/Fall race after the season. And that’s what happened.

So, because I posted that I didn’t score it for points (not enough drivers) and COULDN’T score it for points (not enough camera people to review for scoring), Adam and Kelly got mad at me.

Huh?

You guys said that you didn’t care about not getting counted for points, just race for fun! You guys agreed to run in a race that did not count… THEN GOT MAD WHEN IT DIDN’T?! For all the people over the years who have told me that nobody cares about my website, certainly, people do, as I get HATED if I don’t scribe up everything perfectly that please everybody.

AND… Kelly Miller SWORE OFF THE CLUB the following weekend! What the?! Really people? Really???? WOW…… I can’t win, can I? Damned if I do and damned if I don’t. My wife wonders why I even bother… and I ask myself the same question MANY times over the years. Well, because I’m a nice guy, I came back and edited the website: Adam and Kelly were given credit for their wins. OK? Happy? Probably not, but oh well… not the 1st nor last time that people get butthurt over what was or what was not posted on the website that I have earned $0.00 for, spend much of my free time editing, and PAY well over $100 a year for. Sigh.)

OK… 2 MONTHS LATER… RESTART THE TAPE!!!:

10/19/2014 UPDATE:
So… let’s skip ahead… 2 months later… and AFTER the horrifically-attended last few races, including the embarrassingly poor turnout for the 2014 Klassic…

HOORAY!!!!! TWO MONTHS LATER, webmaster Chris Stevens was able to FINALLY get Melissa Stevens’ 2nd camera angle that had the finish of the 2nd feature. Without it, the points could not be scored, as we didn’t know the finish officially. As the above picture shows, the 1st lap, and the inset shows the last – Matt Stevens recovered from his wreck with rookie Keith Raymond, and is again witnessed doing his patented 4th turn slingshot at the finish line and ALMOST nipping Adam Lytle at the stripe. You know what? Adam Lytle seems to be a good luck charm for Chris and Matt! Both of their 1st daughters were born after Adam Lytle won a feature, last year and this year! Then backs it up with this one. Good job Adam!

FINISH:
1. Adam Lytle (Galletta’s Greenhouse #9)
2. Matt Stevens  (Galletta’s Greenhouse/Chrusher.com #74)
3. Keith Raymond (Raymond #88)
4. Kelly Miller (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
5. Melissa Stevens (Scissors n’ Fur #19)
6. DNF – Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse #4)

Adam Lytle wins 2nd 30-lapper in the Galletta’s Greenhouse #9. Pic pulled off Adam’s Facebook page.

Nice win Kelly and Adam! Even though you guys berated me. :/

10/19/2014 UPDATE PT.2: We are retroactively counting it for points now & updated victory pictures! Happy?

Due FINALLY being able to view the race footage from Melissa’s angle nearly TWO MONTHS after the race, the videos have been reviewed and the points can be tallied. Due to the season collapsing due to fewer and fewer drivers showing up (seriously people? You can’t race like this cheaper anywhere!), this race with retroactively be counted for regular season points. After all, it was either this or just don’t have a Klassic at all, and in that we decided that we ran with less, so why not? However, due to only being 6 drivers, top-3 bonus laps will not be counted (not possible anyways due to incomplete and subpar video). Thanks Melissa Stevens for the 2nd camera, and Adam Lytle for his Facebook pic… otherwise this couldn’t have been retroactively possible).

2014 Gas Flathead National Championship / 2014 Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Speedway Point Standings

– After of 8/23/2014’s Event – 

Position	Name (Go-Karts Piloted) [Hyperlinked Borders have Driver Profile] ®=Rookie *=Makeup T =Timeout (*$ makeup not cashed)	Total Points (Place)	Average Points Per Feature	Features	Feature Wins	Win %	Heats Won/Entered	Years Pro at Galletta’s	All-Time Feature Wins
1st	Matt Stevens (Galletta’s #3, 74, 33, 6, 5, 2)	1,412.50	117.71	12	3	25%	0/6	19th	122
2nd	Chris Stevens (Galletta’s #8, 4, 0, 5)	1,294.50	107.88	12	0	0%	1/6	19th	70
3rd	Melissa Stevens (Scissors ‘n Fur #19, 80)	1,251.00	104.25	12	0	0%	3/6	8th	7
4th	Kelly Miller (Galletta’s #7, 9)	1,198.50	108.95	11	1	0%	0/5	7th	3
5th	Adam Lytle (Lytle #33c, Galletta’s #9)	1,139.50	94.96	12	2	17%	1/6	3rd	3
6th	Keith Raymond (Galletta’s #1, 6, Raymond #88) ® **	1,072.00	89.33	12	0	0%	1/5	®	0
7th	Kevin Galletta (Plattnum-Galletta #28) *	784.00	98.00	8	1	13%	1/4	2nd	2
8th	Brian Galletta (Plattnum-Galletta #42, 28)	726.50	90.81	8	1	13%	0/5	8th	7
9th	Eric Woolworth (The Raven #88, 78/02)	680.50	113.42	6	2	33%	0/3	3rd	4
10th	David Turner (Plattnum-Turner #43, Galletta’s #9) ® *	478.50	95.70	5	0	0%	1/2	®	0
11th	Kyle Reuter (Galletta’s #5)	170.50	170.50	1	1	100%	0/0	6th	5
12th	Alex Bennett (Galletta’s #9, 2) ® (*$)	159.00	79.50	2	0	0%	0/0	®	0
13th	Randy Platt (Galletta’s #5)	152.50	152.50	1	1	100%	0/0	5th	7
14th	Clifford Crowe (Galletta’s #1) ® (*$)	143.00	71.50	2	0	0%	0/0	®	0
15th	Chris Larkin (Galletta’s #9) ®	121.00	121.00	1	0	0%	0/1	®	0
16th	Grover Sixberry Jr. (Galletta’s #2) ® *	120.00	60.00	2	0	0%	0/1	®	0
17th	Chad Combs (Galletta’s #9, 2) ® (*$)	112.00	112.00	1	0	0%	0/1	®	0
18th	Mike Harrington (Galletta’s #1) ®	112.00	112.00	1	0	0%	0/1	®	0
19th	Eddie Bristol (Galletta’s #42) ®	108.00	108.00	1	0	0%	1/1	®	0
20th	Tumor Matott (Galletta’s #1)	101.00	101.00	1	0	0%	0/0	2nd	1
21st	Matthew Daniels (Galletta’s #1) ® (*$)	91.00	91.00	1	0	0%	0/1	®	0
22nd	Jon Raymond (Galletta’s #6, 1, 0) ®	72.00	72.00	1	0	0%	0/1	®	0
23rd	Rookie N00b from 8/10/2014 (Galletta’s #1) ®	61.00	61.00	1	0	0%	0/1	®	0

8/31/2014 UPDATE:
Due to a severe lack of drivers (3), and camera operators (0), our Saturday, August 30th 2014 race was postponed a few days for Monday, September 1st, 2014. Race will be scheduled for 5:00pm for rookies, with veterans to follow (if no rookies, veterans will instead start at 5pm). If we have less than 8 drivers, it may not be a points show, but we plan to race with at least 6, even if it is a non-points race. So come on time, race will start without you, and should finish before dark barring anything unforeseen (also, in an attempt to speed the show along, we will have repair timeouts after dark in a trial run to see if it helps us with earlier finish times). In an alleged racer city like Oswego, with Labor Day/Classic weekend done, one would think we’d have more drivers show up? Dis your nutsacks shrink? Come on up! We are THE most affordable motorsport racing class in the area (fast, competitive, feature-winning karts usually cost around $200 used, and arrive-and-drive karts for $20 if you don’t have your own or just want to try it out). The most affordable kart division and there are no fees – just pay your kart’s gas and parts as you go. Hope to see you there.

Go to the next race that happened on 9/1/2014!->