7/14/2019 – 3rd Set of Twin-25s Go To Josh Arnold & Matt Stevens [+YouTube]
7/14/2019 – 3rd Set of Twin-25s Go To… [+YouTube]
Sunday, July 21st, 2019 – After a week off for the fireworks of Independence day, the racing resumed at Galletta’s. And twin-25s made for another two winners: In the 1st feature, Josh Annold led all 25 laps from pole position in his #93 in a race that saw almost no passing. In the 2nd, Chris Stevens led almost the entire race until the Galletta’s #78 slipped off the track into some grass which enabled his brother Matt Stevens to capitalize and scoot by his brother in the Galletta’s/Chrusher.com/OswegoSushi.com #74 for the win.
Twin 25-Lap Feature #1
1st feature is handicapped by inverting wins and points-per-race for the season.
START:
1. Josh Arnold (Arnie Racing #93)
2. Chris Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #78)
3. Matt Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #33)
4. Steve Sixberry (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
5. Tony Hemingway (Team Galletta Boys #28) [Rookie]
6. Melissa Stevens (SNF #19)
Unedited Race Footage from both features from the Galletta’s Greenhouse Race Scoring Tower
Josh Arnold started on the pole and held off every competitor for all 25 laps en route to the win. Matt Stevens challenged his brother Chris for 2nd but had the door slammed shut on him and got passed by Steve Sixberry. That was basically the story of the entire race.
FINISH:
1. Josh Arnold (Arnie Racing #93)
2. Chris Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #78)
3. Steve Sixberry (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
4. Matt Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #33)
5. Tony Hemingway (Team Galletta Boys #28) [Rookie]
6. DNF – Melissa Stevens (SNF #19)
RETCON BONUS MAKEUP POINTS:
7. 6/30/2019: Andrew Hook (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #5) [R]
8. 8/25/2019: Nicolas Olivares (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #1) [R]
9. 8/25/2019: Randy Baldwin (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7) [R]
10. 8/25/2019: Greg Blanchard (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #5) [R]
11. 8/25/2019: Zachary Blanchard (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #28) [R]
12. 8/25/2019: Adam Lytle (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #33c)
Twin 25-Lap Feature #2
2nd feature inverts the finish of the 1st except current season’s non-winners get priority.
START:
1. Chris Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #78)
2. Matt Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse/Chrusher.com/Oswegosushi.com #74)
3. Steve Sixberry (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7)
4. Josh Arnold (Arnie Racing #93)
5. Tony Hemingway (Team Galletta Boys #28) [Rookie]
6. DNS – Melissa Stevens (SNF #19)
Unedited Race Footage of both features from R&C Sushi’s Helmet-mounted GoPro driven by Chris Stevens
2nd feature always inverts the finish of the 1st minus the caveat of non-winners up front. Chris Stevens, who hasn’t won since the 2017 Klassic 200, started on the pole in the Galletta’s #78 kart (formerly owned by 7 or 8 drivers) and looked to end his now 21-month winless streak — the longest drought of his 24+ year karting career!
But as his helmet cam video showed, the #78 was very fast but was also very loose, and Matt pressured him nearly every lap in their co-owned #74 kart until with 5-to-go, when the kart momentarily slipped into the grass coming out of turn 4. That was all Matt needed to shoot by like a rocket, hold off Chris on the last restart and pick up his 2nd win of the season, his 144th win at Galletta’s since 2000! The #78 badly needs a fresher drive wheel tire.
FINISH:
1. Matt Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse/Chrusher.com/Oswegosushi.com #74)
2. Chris Stevens (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #78)
3. Josh Arnold (Arnie Racing #93)
4. Steve Sixberry (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7, 6)
5. Tony Hemingway (Team Galletta Boys #28) [R]
6. DNS – Melissa Stevens (SNF #19)
RETCON BONUS MAKEUP POINTS:
7. 6/30/2019: Andrew Hook (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #5) [R]
8. 8/25/2019: Nicolas Olivares (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #1) [R]
9. 8/25/2019: Randy Baldwin (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #7) [R]
10. 8/25/2019: Greg Blanchard (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #5) [R]
11. 8/25/2019: Zachary Blanchard (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #28) [R]
12. 8/25/2019: Adam Lytle (Team Galletta’s Greenhouse #33c)
[R] = Rookie
2019 Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Speedway Point Standings
After 6/23/2019 through 7/14/2019 events:
KEY:
m = Makeup points race run
® = Rookie/1st Season Driver
Notes on the points:
- Adam “AJ” Lytle was the point leader going into the event, but getting called into work on Sunday badly hurt him in the point standings, going from 1st to 8th! I am unsure I have ever seen a drop THAT bad in a single week of racing, ever. Both Adam and Josh need a makeup race to put them back into the thick of things, and if they both come next week, we can rectify that. Gary Miller Jr. as well… if we can contact him.
- Andrew Hook also missed this week’s race as he was out of town, but he was helped by the fact that he had a banked makeup race in the form of last week’s 6/30/2019 Makeup Points/Rookie/Refresher Heat Race.
- Chris Stevens was the benefactor of the handicap system that puts non-winners up front ast 1st priority, as he scored every lap in either 2nd or 1st this week. People have a problem with Chris starting up front? Blame Matt! Matt stole what would have been Chris’ 1st feature win since 10/13/2017 when he passed his elder bro with a handful of laps to go in the 2nd feature — a drought of now 21 months, his longest dry streak of his career! This will also ensure him starting up front next race as well — at least until he wins one!
Handicap for next race:
Handicap start via inverting via tiebreakers in this order of importance: (1st) Seasonal Wins, (2nd) Seasonal Points-per-race, (3rd) All-Time Wins, (4th) All-Time Points, then (5th) weight.
Driver | Average | Features | Wins | |
Tony Hemingway | 51.00 | 6 | 0 | |
Gary Miller Jr. | 54.63 | 4 | 0 | |
Andrew Hook | 56.67 | 6 | 0 | |
Chris Stevens | 73.67 | 6 | 0 | |
Adam Lytle | 74.13 | 4 | 1 | |
Josh Arnold | 74.88 | 4 | 1 | |
Steve Sixberry | 68.17 | 6 | 2 | |
Matt Stevens | 69.50 | 6 | 2 | |
Returning Vets | 00.00 | 0 | 0 | |
New Rookies | 00.00 | 0 | 0 | |
Melissa Stevens | 50.00 | 6 | 0 |
More Points on… Points?
- Why do we put a priority of inverting by wins before points-per-race? It wasn’t always that way. We had to adapt the rules to favor non-winners over just points-per-race because of the Gary Miller Sr. rule (Gary would quit many of the races that he didn’t win, meaning he had a low points-per-race average despite the fact that he was able to pick up many wins because kept starting up front, which many felt was an abuse of the handicap system). However, a weakness in this is drivers who don’t win get a lot of bonus points starting up front every week. Until someone thinks of something better, we’ll stick with it. Perhaps alternate between PPR and wins? If anybody has any ideas, let us know.
Next race is scheduled for Sunday, July 21st, 2019 at 6:30 pm, oops no 7:30 pm, argh no, finally 8:30 pm!
A side-note on Chris’ 21-month winless drought is that Chris’ wife (Camera Girl Rung Stevens), who rarely to never publicly comments on the races, finally spoke up this week on what she has seen from the tower. She theorizes that Matt — the main mechanic on every Galletta’s Team Kart (and often all others) — puts more time into his
AND
everyone else’s kart before Chris’, and judging by the last few years of few wins and everyone commenting on how much faster they are than Chris is, she may have a point. In fact, Chris has said the same thing before.However, Matt counters his sister-in-law’s comment by saying it’s just because [1] Chris has been gaining weight
(although he's been around 195 lbs. for 4-5 years now.. so... not really)
, BUT… even more the reason is that [2] he doesn’t usually like to brag but says it’s just simply because he is the best kart racer around (and... well, until people grow a set of testicles and show up to beat him instead of being happy with prefabricated cookie-cutter karts on take-your-money-herd-on-herd-off kiddie kartways, he can maintain that point... listening Oswego-and-beyond drivers? Oops, nevermind, I don't want to hurt your feelings and be accused of bullying you all and getting people all butthurt and hating me because golly gee, they spend a LOT of money on a kart and race in 5 minute races in countless divisions here today, forgotten tomorrow!).
Chris then counters that it isn’t just Matt, but EVERYBODY who has raced more than a few times seems faster and has more wins than him in the past 21 months, not just Matt, and he’s been around 195 lbs. for a good 4-5 years or more, nothing to do with weight, as drivers who weigh much more are pulling away from him in the back stretch (the main area on the track that shows flat out motor power).