Galletta's Karting Club

8/16/2020 – A Sudsy 45-Lap Feature Event – The Revenge of the #4! [+YouTube]

Sunday, August 16th, 2020 – After a 2 week hiatus with no racing (one that we took off in order to repair a few karts and fix the track, the 2nd because nobody showed up!) we finally got a race accomplished, this week with 11 karts filled! And it was another good one, with the track and karts holding up well (minus the #2’s motor lost a rod… RIP). But the story was the #4 kart must’ve wanted revenge for a blown rod robbing it for a win in the 2019 Klassic 200, as in it’s 1st race back from the engine just being rebuilt, it punished all! So fast it was, that it’s driver Chris Stevens himself pondered how unfair it was! :O! (But then, he knows what Matt feels like dominating the rest of the field, so he didn’t feel quite so bad… but still….)

A secondary story was this was the 1st race where we tried some soapy track treatment to retain more moisture and hold together better, as every race this season (and into most of last season, including the 2019 Klassic), the track has been dry, rocky, and would develop nasty pot holes every week right in the main line of the track. The treatment worked well, as it held together MUCH better than it has been in a long time! Good news for our karts AND our bodies!

MAKEUP POINT & ROOKIE HEAT RACE

Unfortunately, our camera woman was not in the Tower when the rookie / makeup point race started, so we missed the very start of it. But what we did get is here:

Sunday, August 16th, 2020 – MAKEUP POINTS / ROOKIES & REFRESHER HEAT FINISH:
1. Nicolas Olivares (Galletta’s Greenhouse #1) = 9th in both 7/12/2020’s Twin 25s
2. Steve Sixberry (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7) = 10th in both 7/12/2020’s Twin 25s
3. Josh Arnold (Galletta’s Greenhouse #93) = 11th in both 7/12/2020’s Twin 25s
4. Jason Murdock (Galletta’s Greenhouse #0) = 12th in both 7/12/2020’s Twin 25s
5. Justin Thurston (Galletta’s Greenhouse #6) = 13th in both 7/12/2020’s Twin 25s
6. David Hartpence (Galletta’s Greenhouse #2) = 14th in both 7/12/2020’s Twin 25s
7. Nathan Newton (Galletta’s Greenhouse #9) = 15th in both 7/12/2020’s Twin 25s

FEATURE EVENT

Sunday, August 16th, 2020 – 45-LAP START:
1. Nicolas Olivares (Galletta’s Greenhouse #1)
2. Travis Bartlett (Galletta’s Greenhouse #5)
3. Steve Sixberry (Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
4. Chris Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse/OswegoSushi.com/Chrusher.com #4)
5. Matt Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse/OswegoSushi.com/Chrusher.com #74)
6. Josh Arnold (Galletta’s Greenhouse #93)
7. Jason Murdock (Galletta’s Greenhouse #0)
8. Justin Thurston (Galletta’s Greenhouse #6)
9. David Hartpence (Galletta’s Greenhouse #2)
10. Nathan Newton (Galletta’s Greenhouse #9)
11. Melissa Stevens (Galletta’s Greenhouse/SNF #19)

Chris Stevens started 4th in the #4, piloted it into the lead on lap 6, and led the rest of the face going away, with Chris saying, “That was the fastest I have ever been around this track. I basically coasted around the turns most laps, it just had so much power that nobody could touch it in the straights — not even my brother in the #74 —  and all I had to do is keep it away from any bumps that could break something or being careful not to crash with lapped traffic. It was certainly fun, but I was thinking how unfair it was for the rest of the guys! Matt made a monster with that engine rebuild… was he trying to make people hate me with such a freakishly fast motor? Wow! It was fun, but I felt guilty!”

BONUS – Rear-Turn Motion-detector Camera Footage:

Sunday, August 16th, 2020 – FINISH:

Chris posing with his daughters Faith (6) and Celeste (2). Don’t touch that motor girls… it’s straight FIAH!

Sunday, August 16th, 2020 – 45-LAP FINISH:

Galletta’s Greenhouse Speedway 2020 Point Standings

All races from 6/14/2020 – 8/16/2020:
(NOTES: Scroll down within the frame to see the scoring for this week’s race AND the handicap for next race!)

POST-RACE COMMENTARY- Handicap Starts NEED More Drivers to work!

Of late, the handicap start system only works when we have a lot of returning drivers. Because of our (1) 1st full season of using double-file starts, and (2) a lot of regulars wind up missing on race day, Matt and Chris keep starting too close to the front every week and have now won 6 out of the 8 features this season?! That’s FAR too much (and I’m Chris, winner of 3, including this one). The wins SHOULD be more evenly divided up. For example, if more people showed up to race, look at how far back Matt and Chris would have started:

Let’s fix that and have some highly competitive racing, folks! The best way? More drivers show up on race day! Problem solved! COME BACK UP, FOLKS!!!!

Next race is Scheduled for: TBA — Possibly Saturday 8/29, or Sunday 8/30/2020! (Took the weekend of 8/22-8/23 off for track and kart work.)