2019/9/29 – 24th Annual Galletta’s Greenhouse Go-Karting 200-Lap Klassic [+YouTube]

2019-09-29-klssic-200-start

Sunday, September 29th, 2019 – The 24th Annual Galletta’s Go-Kart Klassic 200 Lap 1-WD Championship of the Galaxy!

Schedule of events:

2019/9/28 – Time Trial Session #1 & 2019/9/29 – Time Trial Session #2

Our 24th Annual Galletta’s Klassic Time Trial session was held over two days. Saturday the 28th was our original ideal date for the 200, but afternoon showers forced us to reschedule to Sunday the 29th. But we got the 1st round of Time Trials out of the way on Saturday when the weather was good. We almost thought we made the wrong choice until heavy showers rolled through shortly after the conclusion of the1st round. Before the 200 on Sunday, three additional drivers timed into the field to total 12 karts and make for our biggest field in a handful of seasons!

Kart – Driver Lap 1 Lap 2
#74 – Matt Stevens 00:16.29 00:16.34
#4 – Chris Stevens 00:16.30 00:16.14
#33c – Greg Blanchard 00:18.12 00:21.62
#28 – Zach Blanchard 00:17.00 00:16.73
#7 – Steve Sixberry 00:16.88 00:16.18
#6 – Tony Hemingway 00:17.32 00:17.00
#78 – Andy Hook 00:17.69 00:17.21
#80 – Melissa Stevens 00:17.09 00:17.00
#43 – Kevin Galletta 00:16.59 00:16.80
#1 – Nicolas Olivares 00:16.47 00:16.63
#5 – Travis Bartlett 00:16.95 00:17.20
#9 – Kelly Miller 00:16.68 00:16.58

 

STARTING GRID FOR THE 2019 200-LAP KLASSIC!

At Galletta’s, outside line is the quicker line.

Outside Row Inside Row
20190929_161818_Chris_Stevens_4
1st. Chris Stevens – Galletta’s #4
00:16.30 | 00:16.14
20190929_161831_Steve_Sixberry_7
2nd. Steve Sixberry – Galletta’s #7
00:16.88 | 00:16.18
20190929_161845_Matt_Stevens_74
3rd. Matt Stevens – Galletta’s #74
00:16.29 | 00:16.34
20190929_161853_Nic_Olivares_1
4th. Nicolas Olivares ® – Galletta’s #1
00:16.47 | 00:16.63
20190929_161902_Kelly_Miller_9
5th. Kelly Miller – Galletta’s #9
00:16.68 | 00:16.58
20190929_161915_Kevin_Galletta_43
6th. Kevin Galletta – Galletta’s #43
00:16.59 | 00:16.80
20190929_161923_Zac_Blanchard_28
7th. Zach Blanchard ® – Gallettas #28
00:17.00 | 00:16.73
20190929_161934_Travis_Bartlett_5
8th. Travis Bartlett ®® – Galletta’s #5
00:16.95 | 00:17.20
20190929_161942_Tony_Hemingway_6
9th. Tony Hemingway ® – Galletta’s #6
00:17.32 | 00:17.00
20190929_161946_Melissa_Stevens_19
10th. Melissa Stevens – Galletta’s #19
00:17.09 |  00:17.00
20190929_161954_Andy_Hook_78
11th. Andrew Hook ® – Galletta’s #78
00:17.69 | 00:17.21
20190929_162000_Greg_Blanchard_33c
12th. Greg Blanchard ® – Galletta’s #33c
00:18.12 | 00:21.62

® = Rookie at Galletta’s Greenhouse Speedway.
®® = Rookie at Galletta’s Greenhouse Speedway AND 1st time on track!
NOTES & Klassic-special rules found in the comment section.

Chris Stevens GoPro Helmet Cam of the Klassic 200

Chris Stevens completed his 1st season with the R&C Sushi Bar LLC at SUNY Oswego helmet cam. Here is the complete unedited footage from the entire race (except for two spots, including the end, when the battery twice died and needed replacement during the race).

RACE DESCRIPTION

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The 2019 Galletta’s Karting Klassic 200’s Starting Lineup!

The early stages of the race were led by former Klassic-winner, and this year’s points-leader and pole-sitter Chris Stevens, who was setting a very slow pace in the Galletta’s #4 until Steve Sixberry drove a little too close in turn two, the #4’s rear and Galletta’s 7’s front bumpers hooked and they collected each other on lap 21.

Hot shoe rookie Nicolas Olivares then led in the Galletta’s #1 until a lap 69 stoppage, when the #1’s pull-cord rope snapped on the restart. He was fairly upset and Chris let him know that very same thing cost him a couple Klassic leads in the past as well, and while it certainly sucks, but not the end of the world — it happened early enough in the 200 that it is something  that one can recover from.

After that, former Klassic winner Kelly Miller stormed off in the Galletta’s #9 and led a large portion of the race, with guest SBS driver Travis Bartlett (in his 1st race at Galletta’s) staying with him the entire time driving the Galletta’s #5. However, during this period, cautions became an issue, as Kelly was employing unusual crawl-speed caution laps before flooring it in turn 3 on the restarts. Technically, leader does set the pace, just as long as it’s not too fast nor too slow. Usually the leader speeds up between 3 and 4 and be at full speed coming out of 4. Nobody can pass until the leader crosses the pylons in turn 4, so there is no need to worry about getting jumped, but flooring it too early leaves the drivers in the back behind in a serious deficit, sometimes a half-track or more. And starting too slow creates a problem of stalling for karts with lower idles (a problem the #4 and #1 were having, and on one restart, the #4 indeed did stall, AND at some point in the race, Chris strained his right forearm, making restarting his kart extremely difficult). However, we HAVE changed our restart rules in the past and are willing to take suggestions. But any restart that leaves everyone but the leader in the dust is not good for competition.

Chris Stevens slowly made it up to 2nd, and to avoid stalling the #4 during the snail-paced restarts, he decided to try and pressure Kelly and see if he could take the lead. However, while Chris was in 2nd, the motor in the #4 broke down forcing him to jump into his backup, the #8. Shortly before that, Steve Sixberry also had to hop into the #2 due to the #7 breaking down as well, so both drivers lost a lap and needed to have the same amount of fuel in the backup as the did in the starter kart.

Chris and Steve then both elected NOT to refuel at the optional refuel stoppage, which then enabled them to pass the entire field. This enabled them to regain their lost lap, but still restart in the rear with low fuel. Kelly did not appreciate this lucky-dog loophole, but it used to be the said driver would not lose a lap at all after a kart change, and we enacted the rule to make someone work for it if they needed a fresher kart. After the next caution, the two were able to take on gas, which was Miller’s concern. We may have to refine this rule a bit if people have an issue with it, but this is the very 1st year that anyone has been able to use this loophole and regain a lap (and two people did it), and to date only a single driver won a Klassic after switching karts (Kyle Reuter, who did so before we had the lost-lap rule).

Kelly held command of the Klassic until lap 159, when his faster pace caught up with him and the drive-wheel system gave way. This is a significant danger for every kart, especially during the 200 lapper, when the main groove gets destroyed in the turns. While this was sad for Kelly, it made for the most interesting and competitive part of the event, as it set up the best battle of the race: Nic Olivares regained the lead and had none other than Matt Stevens (who had been seemingly coasting near the rear for most of the race in the Galletta’s #74), Chris Stevens (in the #8) and Steve Sixberry (in the #2) in hot pursuit.

Nic held strong despite the track being a mess for several laps, as Chris and Matt both turned up the gas and passed each other behind him, with Steve behind them looking for a crease to get through. Chris nearly got him in the front stretch on one lap, but when he didn’t, Matt (as usual) capitalized and passed both, barely eeking by Nic in the back stretch. As soon as Matt got the pass, the #1’s drive-wheel system also succumbed to the damaged track as well. This set up 12-time Klassic winner Matt Stevens in the lead with a relatively fresh kart and only roughly a regular feature race to go, and Nic hopped into the #78 (that fellow rookie Andrew Hook had to abandon early on due to work), but going a lap down this late in the race is not a good scenario for a third comeback into the lead.

And so it was — Matt Stevens showed his ability to drive a razor’s edge in turn 1, putting his drive-wheel on a thin line that was relatively undamaged by the action. Others tried to follow, but to no avail, and Chris even had the #8’s tie-rod snap loose trying to find a line in the turn late (a timeout repair to resume but had to settle for 4th). Only Matt found it, and he completely dominated the final act of the race, not only winning, but doing to running away. Another driver who was very quiet during the race yet took care of his kart and wound up in 2nd — rookie Zachary Blanchard!

LAP-BY-LAP SCORECARD

At Galletta’s, during regular season races (Summer features consisting of at least a few veterans and regular drivers) and the Klassic 200 have bonus points.

Leader gets 1 bonus point per lap, 2nd and 3rd get a half-point per lap.
(Heats, Makeup features, and Fall Bonus Point races do not get scored for bonus points.)

FINAL ORDER OF FINISH for the 2019 KLASSIC

1st. Matt Stevens – Galletta’s #74 (Laps 1-203)
2nd. Zach Blanchard ® – Galletta’s #28 (Laps 1-203)
3rd. Steve Sixberry – Galletta’s #7 (Laps 1-123), #2 (Laps 124-203)
4th. Chris Stevens – Galletta’s #4 (Laps 1-149), #8 (Laps 141-203)
5th. Nicolas Olivares ® – Galletta’s #1 (Laps 1-150), #78 (Laps 150-203; -2L)
6th. Tony Hemingway ® – Galletta’s #6 (Laps 1-195; -1L)
7th. Travis Bartlett ®® – Galletta’s #5 (Laps 1-173)
8th. Kelly Miller – Galletta’s #9 (Laps 1-173)
9th. Greg Blanchard ® – Galletta’s #33c (Laps 1-106)
10th. Kevin Galletta – Galletta’s #43 (Laps 1-92)
11th. Andrew Hook ® – Galletta’s #78 (Laps 1-22)
12th. Melissa Stevens – Galletta’s #19 (Lap 1)

NOTES:

  • Counting cautions and green flags, we went 203 total laps (179 green, 23 yellow) based on my count.
    [The laps are difficult for Starter Wesley Stevens to count, as we count cautions (but at least the last 5 must be green), and keeping an eye on the action looking for the leader and possibly accidents is daunting, especially since he is slowed by Parkinson’s. It’s even hard counting them on video replay with the option to re-watch it at will! Try it, and if I’m wrong, please send me a note and I’ll correct it if possible! Since we’re a minimal cost backyard karting league, we don’t have transponders, all by eye and hand.]
  • Only two drivers made it all 203 laps in a single kart (Matt Stevens & Zach Blanchard). Not surprisingly, they also took it easy for large chunks of the race and wound up taking 1st and 2nd. (Now while Matt is the winningest Oswego Karter and he’s run possibly hundreds of thousands of laps on this track, but Zach is a 1st season rookie and did it! Extremely impressive run!)
  • Two drivers lost a lap changing karts (after OTFN breakdowns), but then got it back after a skipping the optional refuel stop for a Galletta’s Klassic-style lucky dog scenario (Steve Sixberry & Chris Stevens, although much to Kelly Miller’s chagrin for some reason!). Unfortunately, Nic missed that chance, as he broke and changed karts after everyone else already refilled.[More on this rule:
    – At Galletta’s, a regular season mid-race race kart change is a -5 pt. penalty, go to the rear of the field, and no loss of lap.
    – In Klassic, a mid-race kart change is a -25 pt. penalty, go to the rear of the field, a loss of 1 lap AND the same amount of fuel transferred from the broken kart into the fresher one.This is to assure that nobody will have a fresher kart and more gas at the end and steal a win from people who were in the same kart from start to finish. To date, only one driver has won a Klassic after a kart change — which was entirely legal at the time, and the rule was added after that to make sure that if you have a fresher kart, you truly earn it by passing the entire field — not once, but twice. It’s not impossible, but it is an obstacle that you Refuel sessions allow for an opportunity to get your lap back in a Galletta’s-style lucky dog scenario, by not refueling and then inheriting the lead when everyone else refuels (since 1 lap down, they then go into the rear of the lead lap instead of the lead) and Steve and Chris took advantage of that rule this Klassic.

    Note: The two that did this did not win, but still managed 3rd and 4th respectively and were competing up front instead of not on the track or one lap down. We think this rule works GREAT considering our karting class and track is different than mostly every other racing class in the world. See, Kelly! The rule worked well and it was NOT unfair to anyone. :)]

THE 2019 KLASSIC 200 CHAMPION – MATT STEVENS!

20190929_225107-matt-wins-Klassic-200

Matt Stevens was the survivor of a magnificent late-race battle between Nic, Chris, Steve and himself to eek out the top spot and lead the last 32 laps of the race relatively unchallenged. Now while Matt may have won many Galletta’s Klassic 200’s in his karting career, but this is the 1st time anyone has piloted the GallettasGreenhouse.com / Chrusher.com / OswegoSushi.com #74 in a Klassic 200, let alone win in it! In fact, the kart (co-owned by Chris and Matt) sat idle for a DECADE and was never entered in a single Klassic before this one — despite it sitting there available for rent in around a decade of past Klassics. Matt is usually the man to beat, but it doesn’t always mean he has the best kart. He’s capable of winning in any kart. Although the #74, being a rebuilt formerly live-axle racing chassis rebuilt into a single-wheel kart, which does make it a little different than all the other Galletta’s-type chassis.

THE 2019 KLASSIC TOP-4!

20190929_222420-Klassic-200-Top-5

However, despite Matt securing another Galletta’s Klassic win (his 14th!) and his 5th Feature win in the 2019 Season at Galletta’s, he did not accomplish a clean sweep of the accolades. His brother Chris secured his 10th Galletta’s Track Championship despite only winning a single feature in ’19! He did so by racking up the most bonus laps and pedestal finishes during the entire season. Chris feels that if he didn’t get spun out while leading early on and then have the #4’s engine bow out on him while challenging for the lead later on in the race, he would have swept the two titles, as he claimed, “That felt like it was the most pure motor power I ever had in all the years racing these karts. Problem was, that old saying of an engine fastest before it blows rang true again today. I’m convinced I likely win that if it didn’t give out.”

In addition, mid-season newcomer Nic Olivares took full advantage of utilizing our makeup race option at Galletta’s to not only secure rookie-of-the-year (over an impressive group of rookies), but also take the Visitor’s Points Title as well! Nic was up front in most races he entered this year and was competing for the Klassic win before the #1 broke, which is quite rare for 1st year drivers. Watch out for Nic next year!

As usual, Klassic ends our Annual Summer Points Series, but we’re always open to Fall Races for bonus points if track conditions and driver attendance warrants so. And we did get one in…


10/20/2019 – Fall Twin-25 Makeup Features for Fall Bonus Points

Kelly Miller was unable to race all summer, but brought a few friends up to race a rare post-Klassic Fall race event. Due to Chris and Aou being at work, there was nobody available to volunteer to video-record the event (despite someone being right there and demanding points scored for a single lap every race, who has a near-identical camera to mine AND I bought new SD cards for), so the only evidence of its existence was documented by Matt and the attending drivers’ eyewitness reports.

NEW EXPERIMENT: TIRES BLOCKING THE MAIN GROOVE:

Sorry, no video or pictures from this event.

Due to the condition of the track’s main line in the 1st turn (which was, per usual, decimated during the Klassic 200), Kelly Miller requested Supermodified tires be placed in the beat up groove so nobody could take that line, and they tried it. This led to an interesting race with nobody able to venture into it, thus every driver had to learn a different, lower line through the 1st turn (Chris wished it was like that in the last 20-50 laps of the Klassic, he may have been able to compete for the win instead of settling for 4th, as HE DID stay in the lower groove through the end of the event while all ahead of him braved the potholes (see video).

We had previously done this in practice/warm ups in the mid 2000’s to save the track for the actual race, and Matt thinks we may bring this idea into regular season AND potentially Klassic 200 play, with the possibility of removing the tires later on in the race. The reasoning is that the track gets BEAT in the 200, and most drivers drop out because their kart drive chain systems bend and break because of the nasty bumps. This may be a solution to solve our Klassics losing most entrants AND getting out too late. It’s either that, or pave the track, lol.

1st 25-LAPPER START:
1st. Travis Bartlett (#5)
2nd. Andrew Hook (#78)
3rd. Kelly Miller (#9)
4th. Matt Stevens (#3)
5th. Dennis Richmond (#33c)
1st 25-LAPPER FINISH:
1st. Travis Bartlett (#5) +68
2nd. Kelly Miller (#9) +65
3rd. Matt Stevens (#3) +0
4th. Andrew Hook (#78) +59
5th. Dennis Richmond (#33c) +53
2nd 25-LAPPER START:
1st. Andrew Hook (#78)
2nd. Kelly Miller (#9)
3rd. Matt Stevens (#3)
4th. Travis Bartlett (#5)
5th. Dennis Richmond (#33c)
2nd 25-LAPPER FINISH:
1st. Kelly Miller (#9) +68
2nd. Matt Stevens (#3) +0
3rd. Dennis Richmond (#33c) +62
4th. Travis Bartlett (#5) +59
5th. Andrew Hook (#2) +53

Since none of the drivers (except Matt) raced every race in the regular season, we will count this as makeup point Fall Series races. Judging by weather and driver availability, it indeed was the only post-Klassic Fall Bonus points race. It will be scored as a regular Twin-25 lap features and no leader lap bonus points (due to no video AND post-Klassic), with Matt’s points not counting due to the regular points title wrapped up at Klassic, and Chris Stevens was not available to race or video-record the event. Matt was just a wild-card points-stealer in this exhibition.

Due to work, watching our kids, and seasonal activities, I had been unable to count the laps, add up the points and post the finalized point standings or narrated Klassic video for this year yet. Until a month after the last race! And here it is!

Galletta’s Greenhouse Speedway 2019 Point Standings [Final]

All races from 6/23/2019 – 10/20/2019 – Final for the year.


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