2024/08/04 – 28th Season Opener Winners: AJ Larkin & Matt Stevens [+YouTube]
Sunday, August 4th, 2024, Oswego N.Y. – FINALLY! The 2024 Season is upon us! Later than ever, but better than never! And there was great racing for sure, and Anthony ‘AJ’ Larkin looked like he was shot out of a cannon in both races, but overdrove in turn 4 just a tad in the 1st feature while leading and crashed, leading to a Matt Stevens inheriting and once again padding his career win stats. However, AJ regrouped as he again stormed off with the lead in the 2nd Feature after passing Andrew Hook early on, but this time stayed there for good, securing the win, his 2nd at Galletta’s. Everyone hopes some of that rubs off when he races SBS at Oswego Speedway and he gets a win sooner or later there as well! More info on the race page, here.
After many delays… THE 2024 SEASON IS FINALLY HERE!
The 2024 Season Opener was originally scheduled for the first available Sunday in June 2024 (traditionally when we start) but the track needed some TLC, as last year’s Klassic was rough due to the lack of a track work vehicle at our disposal. Thusly, the 1st race of the season was delayed almost two months because of a lack of a track vehicle! Our last two broke due to rust and other age issues. So… TRACK WORK AND/OR A LOT VEHICLE FOR TRACK WORK IS NEEDED!!!!
June 2024: Head track & Kart maintainer Matt always asks if anyone would like to chip in and help work on the track, or knows of someone who can either sell or donate a cheap “lot truck” to drag and pack the track, so we can get the 1st race underway. Or just offer to collectively pitch in with your own. Any help and/or donations will be counted towards racing and track time!! Matt was hopeful we could have begun one of June-July weekends, but admitted it has been harder due to greenhouse work on top of raising his two daughters… but one month down and zero races.
July 2024: ALMOST THERE! We originally planned on Sunday, July 28th, 2024, but it wound up becoming a practice session for just Matt and Chris Stevens and Andrew Hook instead. Matt did a lot of work to the turns and they feel better than they did all 2023. Special thanks to AJ Larkin, who greatly assisted with the track’s repair with his 4-Wheeler and welding for our much-abused track drag!
Unedited Tower Camera by Rung ‘Aou’ Stevens
20-Lap Feature #1 Start:
1. AJ Larkin (#7)
2. Andrew Hook (#0)
3. Matt Stevens (#3)
4. Chris Stevens (#4)
5. Melissa Stevens (#19)
6. DNS – Greg Blanchard (#43)
Unedited GoPro Helmet Camera with Chris Stevens
AJ Larkin looked shot out of a cannon in the Galletta’s #9 right off of the restart and was holding a strong lead on the rest of the pack until he slipped slightly too high in turn 4 and crashed into a Supermodified Tire coming into the front stretch. Matt and Chris barely evaded his kart and finished 1-2.
20-Lap Feature #1 Finish:
1. Matt Stevens (#3)
2. Chris Stevens (#4)
3. AJ Larkin (#9)
4. Andrew Hook (#0)
5. DNF – Melissa Stevens (#19)
6. DNS – Greg Blanchard (#43)
Unedited Rear Turn Live Webcam
20-Lap Feature #2 Start:
1. Andrew Hook (#78)
2. AJ Larkin (#7)
3. Chris Stevens (#8)
4. Matt Stevens (#74)
5. DNS – Melissa Stevens (#19)
6. DNS – Greg Blanchard (#43)
Complete Race via 3-Cameras (Video used for Scoring)
2nd Feature only had one pass (Andrew Hook slipped a little high in Turn 3 and AJ Larkin capitalized to take the lead), and 0 cautions.
20-Lap Feature #2 Finish:
1. AJ Larkin (#7)
2. Andrew Hook (#78)
3. Chris Stevens (#8)
4. Matt Stevens (#74)
5. DNS – Melissa Stevens (#19)
6. DNS – Greg Blanchard (#43)
Notes:
– Starter Wes Stevens counted 20 in each, but the video replay shows that we raced 21 laps in the 1st and 19 laps in the 2nd Feature. Well, at least we got 40 in! But Matt got an extra lead lap scored while AJ Larkin was robbed of one. ***Reminder: If anyone can help Wes count laps, please do! Last Klassic he counted 70 and we ran 103!
– Greg Blanchard tested the #43 but elected to flag instead of race due to a bad back. His testing qualified him for a starting position and was counted as such. We have so few drivers, if ANYONE wants to take a lap or two for points, we’ve been counting that for decades! Come on up!
2024 Galletta’s Greenhouse Backyard Karting Point Standings
| Pos. | Name (Karts Driven) / * = Makeups | Total Points | Average Points Per | Features Entered |
Feature Wins | Feature Win % | Won / Heat & Makeup | 17 Race Seasons | All-Time Wins | Last Race Entered | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AJ Larkin (Galletta’s #9; 7 | 132.5 | 66.25 | 2 | 1 | 50% | 0/0 | (R) | 2 | 2024-08-04 | 3 |
| 2 | Chris Stevens (Galletta’s #4, 8) | 119.0 | 59.50 | 2 | 0 | 0% | 0/0 | 28th | 91 | 2024-08-04 | 1 |
| 3 | Matt Stevens (Galletta’s #3, 74) | 116.0 | 58.00 | 2 | 1 | 50% | 0/0 | 28th | 158 | 2024-08-04 | 2 |
| 4 | Andrew Hook (Galletta’s #0, 78) | 99.0 | 49.50 | 2 | 0 | 0% | 0/0 | 2nd | 2 | 2024-08-04 | 7 |
| 5 | Melissa Stevens (SNFr #19) | 86.0 | 43.00 | 2 | 0 | 0% | 0/0 | 11th | 8 | 2024-08-04 | 6 |
| 6 | Greg Blanchard (Galletta’s #43) | 82.0 | 41.00 | 2 | 0 | 0% | 0/0 | (R) | 1 | 2024-08-04 | 0 |
Weekly Point Scoring
| Point Scoring | |||||||||||
| Driver | Karts | 20-L | 20-L | 1st pts. | 2/3 plc. | <Split | Pen. | Week Total | Makeup Heat | 2 Week Total | |
| 1 | Matt Stevens | 3; 74 | 54 | 45 | 13 | 8 | -4 | 0 | 116.0 | 0 | – |
| 2 | Chris Stevens | 8; 4 | 51 | 48 | 0 | 40 | -20 | 0 | 119.0 | 0 | – |
| 3 | AJ Larkin | 9; 7 | 48 | 54 | 25 | 11 | -5.5 | 0 | 132.5 | 0 | – |
| 4 | Andy Hook | 0; 78 | 43 | 45 | 3 | 16 | -8 | 0 | 99.0 | 0 | – |
| 5 | Mel S | 19 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86.0 | 0 | – |
| 6 | Greg Blanchard | 5 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82.0 | 0 | – |
Weekly Point Scorecard
| SCORE SHEET |
||||||||||
| LAP | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | Notes | |
| 0 | 0 c | 9 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 3:19v |
| 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 3:36v |
| 2 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 3:52v |
| 3 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 4:09v |
| 4 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 4:26v |
| 5 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 4:43v |
| 6 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 5:00v |
| 7 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 5:17v |
| 8 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 5:38v |
| 9 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 5:17v |
| 10 | 1 c | 3 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 6:52v |
| 11 | 2 c | 3 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 7:26v |
| 12 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 7:43v |
| 13 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 7:59v |
| 14 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 8:18v |
| 15 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 8:34v |
| 16 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 8:51v |
| 17 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 9:08v |
| 18 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 9:25v |
| 19 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 9:41v |
| 20 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 9:59v |
| 21 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 10:16v |
| 22 | 20 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 10:33v |
| 23 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 10:50v |
| 24 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 17:00v |
| 25 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 17:17v |
| 26 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 17:34v |
| 27 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 17:52v |
| 28 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 18:10v |
| 29 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 18:27v |
| 30 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 18:44v |
| 31 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 19:02v |
| 32 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 19:18v |
| 33 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 19:37v |
| 34 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 19:53v |
| 35 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 20:03v |
| 36 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 20:29v |
| 37 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 20:46v |
| 38 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 21:05v |
| 39 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 21:22v |
| 40 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 21:39v |
| 41 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 21:57v |
| 42 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 22:14v |
| 43 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 22:32v |
| 44 | F1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 10:50v |
| 45 | F2 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 74 | 19 | 43 | – | – | 22:32v |
| 20-laps | 54 | 51 | 48 | 45 | 43 | 41 | 39 | 36 | ||
| 20-laps | 54 | 51 | 48 | 45 | 43 | 41 | 39 | 36 |
