Galletta's Karting Club

The Origins of our Racing Club – The Boring Facts-Only Version:

The 1980s w/Pedal Karts!

The origins of our club were simple ones. It all started when (yours truly) Chris and (my brother) Matt Stevens were youngsters in the early 1980s and big fans of the local racing at Oswego Speedway (back then, it was mainly just Supermodifieds and Modifieds). Back then, we just had peddle-karts, and we raced them. Good exercise, but not very fast!

Later on, when the brothers were teenagers, Matt decided he wanted a go-kart and bought a used yard kart with his summer work savings (which later because the #3). Chris followed suit shortly thereafter (a Thunder Island kart which later became the original #1).

During this time, our maternal grandfather — WWII Navy Veteran, retired Oswego Policeman, Oswego Speedway Head of Security, and Galletta’s Greenhouse founder John J. Galletta — enjoyed seeing what we had made, and reminded us that he himself made a karting track in the late 1970s. The original track was a small one (a fraction of the size and off the fourth turn of where the existing track is located, past the fourth turn where some newer greenhouses now reside). Originally, only one of his sons and other grandsons drove a kart around it, but it was abandoned due to a general lack of interest. He passed away in 1996, before the backyard track *really* started taking off to what it is today.

In the mid-1990s, our 1st organized point races!

After this is when it started growing even more when we purchased another yard kart (which became the #4), which their dad, a few cousins, and friends would all take turns racing all Summer. The track stretched beyond the existing track, as it went from there and offshoot like a Grand Prix trail all around the greenhouse, home, and other buildings on the property. It was shortened to its current form in the mid-1990s when we started scoring points and we changed from racing counter-clockwise (turning left, as most tracks do) to racing CLOCKWISE due to the karts being single-wheel drive and handled MUCH better that way. As the years went by, we would custom-build karts and race just box-stock 5hp engines with just family and friends. We only have scarce and blurry pictures and VHS videos documenting this era, but upload them as we find them (we didn’t document every single race until 2005 via videos and pictures on our website).

Then in 2005, Chris’ wife Rung (who just moved to the US from Thailand, where she worked for her local University in a Computer Science Lab), gave him a website editing program. And whoa boy, and did Chris go to town, as that started everything you see on this website today!

A ‘Tongue-in-Cheek’ Retelling of our History (with more pictures):

But… this story is rather cut-and-dried and fairly boring, so below is a humorous and highly embellished origin that we crafted in 2005.

Why? Well… basically, it was somewhat of a prank on some of the people who were reading every word we wrote on our site, and for some reason, we even caught them gossiping and mocking us for absolutely no reason, even trying to one-up it (hysterically, even the Greenhouse’s local competition must’ve read it and tried putting up a historical one-up of it dating it’s founder back to the Civil War, like… what? For real? Haha!). I don’t think these people were particularly smart, as for reasons that only they can explain, it made them very angry, even to the point of printing them out and showing them to people like we’re evil or something. Why this site did this? I have no idea… I wish I did. I write them off as low-IQ mixed with a little pride and overly sensitive personalities. Years later, they may call them snowflakes. Back then, we just shrugged and carried on. Oh well… Enjoy!

The formative years… The mid-1900s and Founder – The Late John J. Galletta:

The late John J. Galletta – Galletta’s Greenhouse founder. Looking down upon from above on those who sully either his namesake or his descendants who race in our club!

Our karting club is named not just because it is hosted and sponsored by Galletta’s Greenhouse, but because founder John Galletta wanted to make a karting track in the late 1970s/early 1980s and never got around to finishing it.

The original track was a small one (a fraction of the size and off the fourth turn of where the existing track is located past the fourth turn where some newer greenhouses are now located). Originally, only one of his sons and grandsons drove a kart around it and it never really took off.

However, his first-born daughter Mary mysteriously married a weasley troll of a Fultonian named Wesley James TrOgre Stevens (some have said — Beauty and the lil’ Beast), and established their home at Galletta’s with the newborns Christopher and Matthew. Wesley is the descendant of British Knights and an English Ship Captain who defeated many a pirate on the seven seas (unknown if they were of the butt variety) and some dude that fought to free the slaves or something like that.

Wesley always tried to impress Mr. Galletta, and his limited mental and physical abilities should have prevented him from ever succeeding. But Ogre’s work ethic in the greenhouse did impress Mr. Galletta enough to dub Wes, “Captain Marvel” – to which we added “-less.”

One day, Ogre heard his father-in-law tell the tale of his plans of building a kart track on the property, and was inspired so much that he tried to see if he could indeed win a race. However, while racing against thin air, Ogre crashed and died in a horrible one-man Western Flyer tricycle accident.

His alleged children, Christopher and Matthew, summoned the power of the racing ghosts and the magic of Galletta’s flowers, and revived Ogre from his slumber and near-final-resting-place under the Galletta’s Greenhouse sign. This temporarily halted the racing for a short time.

The early 1980s:

“Galletta’s Boys” Matt and Chris got their starts rather early. Almost at the embryonic stage here! Peddle-power! Back before they destroyed them… (Notice Matt’s doll went for a ride with him! Bwhahaha! What a girly-boy!)

Behold! The early 1980s! Often pretending to be Steve Gioia, Doug Heveron, Eddie Bellinger, Jim Shampine, and Bentley Warren, whom they cheered for at Oswego Speedway back then!

“Galletta’s Rules” Matt and Chris got their experiences in racing strategies in the early 1980s by PUSHING their karts to victory! Who needs motors? Only lazy wimps!

They learned early how to race clean. Here, Chris takes out Matt, and then realized the error of his ways. However, now he plans to bring this technique back against all who oppose him!

 
Here, Chris and Matt practice posing with their karts. This is how they look so handsome and dignified compared to all other drivers when they pose next to their karts. See Chris emulating the Jimmy Shampine/Clyde Booth creation with experimentation with a sideways bucket wing seat and THREE wheels? And then look at the pic on the right of Matt with a Flintstone Flyer pedal cart? Well that was the future location of the dreaded 1st turn at Galletta’s Greenhouse Backyard Karting Speedway! Maybe that’s why Matt navigates it so well decades in the future!

 
Again, the racing here started with fast feet – and they learned very well. They learned so well, that they were expert drivers before some disgruntled felon drivers and their gossip-happy wives learned how to spell! In these early years, Chris won a majority of the time. But holy cow would little bro Matt have his revenge!

The mid-1980s

As the boys grew, so did their racing skills. They outgrew the plastic pedal carts and went on to BMX Bicycle racing. The brothers would race bikes with school buddies such as Jeremy Ketchum, Nader Majlaton, David Scruton, John Gibson, Rob Reagan, Billy Wadsworth, Jim and John Kibbe and many more. Unfortunately, none of these fine lads ever raced our karts! For shame!!!

The bros and their group of friends did not let Oswego’s snowy winters stop their learning, as they would then further groom their abilities at sledding the treacherous Galletta’s Sledding Hill.

Here they are, teaching the revived corpse of Ogre how to sled. As we see, Ogre did not learn very well, and his terrible sledding caused an accident that put Matt on his head! Maybe in the future Ogre would learn?

The late-80s… onto INDY!

Chris and Matt were so good, they went straight to Indy in 1986 at 12 and 10 years of age! Ogre, with his 80s beard, was allowed close to the prodigies, but only for a short time… just long enough for pictures. Here they drew powers from the legendary cars and track.

The early 1990s

Oh, how the years went by. Matt got his #3 Go-Kart in 1990 (a used Manco yard kart off of a friend which they rebuilt several times), followed by Chris getting his original #1 in 1992 (a tank of a Thunder Island Kart which was too heavy to compete with the smaller #3, so they stripped it and used the parts to build the #2; something some visiting drivers should also do). This then resumed the racing rivalry, and young Chris and Matt further honed their racing prowess in their furious battles. The track was formed around the old “Chrusher Coliseum Football Field” and the Fort Crusher treehouse, (which later became the race tower in 2005). The track was later slightly shortened to stop in front of the tower house, and slowly, but surely, a track was born through hundreds of races and years of Matt’s hard work. Then, after just a few years of Matt and Chris battling 1-on-1 (occasionally with Jesse “The Liar” Jesse Vivlemore driving one) we got a third kart, the #4 – a brand new Manco out of the box – and dragged Ogre into our early conflicts, schooling him in the ways of the racing arts as well.

Meanwhile, countless locals discovered the track (mostly via word of mouth before this website even existed). Some of these locals were genuinely good drivers, which the boys want to race against. But a great many of them felt that they learned enough alleged skillz being armchair quarterback racers (while drinking beer, going to the local track to cheer for the top guys to lose, getting arrested, and) watching NASCAR, “Well, I can press gas pedal and turn left and win like my idols – BURP!” Could they sober up from their drunken stupors enough to challenge the boys? How could we ever find out?! Naturally, we threw them into our battles in addition to our friends and relatives just long enough to properly school them. Later on, others–believing that they’re good (but deep in their hearts knowing they aren’t)–just raced cookie-cutter karts at local pay tracks that popped up years later, because we race “yard karts” and do so “backwards!” Gasp! So rebellious and insulting to the sport, huh? Well, to some apparently! Rather be herded on and off a kiddie track like cattle for top dollar and name forgotten with 150 other participation pictures instead of a single true winner. It’s a LONG story… and one this website covers in shocking detail! We now resume our picture gallery after we further dragged friends, relatives, and acquaintances into our epic battles that raged on in the mid-1990s… Next season->

And thus, all ribbing and sarcasm aside, the actual kart racing began…

Enjoy each of over two decades worth of our competitive point-racing seasons with hundreds of race pages (and complete race videos) by clicking on the picture to each season. Each season will have its own list of pictured race descriptions, point standings, driver profiles and complete races on embedded YouTube videos to each race (as early as the 2002 Klassic and complete season videos dating back to mid-2005).

Whippersnapper named Matt Stevens dominated 1996-98.

Seasons 1, 2 & 3 – 1996-98: The early years had no videos, but some grainy pictures and fuzzy memories listed here. Two brothers in their early 20s Matt and Chris started racing two yard karts (a converted Manco kart numbered #3, and a converted Thunder Island kart numbered #1), which later became three (a converted Manco yard kart numbered #4) leading to their dad Wes Stevens, the occasional friend (Jesse Vivlemore, Ray Castaldo, Dan Boyce) and/or some of their cousins (Brian and Kevin Galletta) occasionally joining in. Matt and his trusty #3 kart swept the 1st THREE Points Titles and 80-Lap Galletta’s Go-Kart Klassics in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

4th Season –  1999: Chris Stevens finally broke his little brother Matt’s three-year unbeaten streak in 1999 with the Galletta’s #2 kart when he was able to win both the Track Points Title and the Galletta’s Go-Kart Klassic, although he battled all year with his bro Matt and dad Wes, who also acquired wins. Kart count improved to 4 karts (when the Galletta’s #1 became the 1st “built 100% from scratch” kart). Jesse Vivlemore, Ray Castaldo, and Brian Galletta joined us for a few races as well. Not a lot of pictures, but we do have videos (although most are yet to be uploaded). More info here…

5th Season – 2000: After 33 feature races, Chris Stevens again emerged from the 2000 season as the track champ and Klassic champ with 15.5 feature wins (including 7 straight), this time in the newly built Galletta’s Greenhouse Racing #5 kart. Matt Stevens tried a new kart in the Klassic, the Galletta’s Greenhouse #6, and while winning 9.5 features, he was unable to repeat the success of the #3 for beat Chris in the new #5. Wes “Ogre” Stevens also garnered wins, but to date, no “visiting” driver has won a feature at Galletta’s yet, as Chris. Matt and Wes all live and work on the same property. More info here…

6th Season – 2001: In 2001, we raced 22 regular season point events and amongst the 15 drivers trying out the racing were big track guest-stars! We raced with brother Oswego Speedway Limited Supermodified drivers Fran Rowe, Cameron Rowe and Gordon Smallidge, Supermodified driver Randy Ritskes, Super Stock driver Joe Miller, in addition to Syrell Supermodified team members Eric Syrell, Sean Stevens, and Brian Galletta. Cam helped Matt create stagger on the karts, which in past seasons, we had absolutely none. This increased the speeds about one second on our box stock 5hp karts. Cam also won a feature (becoming the 1st visitor to ever do so in our 1990-2001 history). More driver points and info here…

7th Season – 2002: Had 14 drivers racing in 18 feature events, with a batch of rookies giving us some good competition. Rookies Tom Culeton, DJ Barnes, Dan Lupa, Dan Allnut, and Bryan Hayes were a few of the drivers that joined during the ’02 Galletta’s Season and Klassic! Tom Culeton proved to be the best visiting driver at Galletta’s SuperYard Karting Speedway to that date, as he won two events and led the Klassic early in 2002. In fact, he was the 1st visiting driver to outright win a feature at Galletta’s Go-Kart event in years! But it was Matt Stevens who took the 20012 Track Championship and Klassic 80, holding off his brother in both points and the Klassic. Season review, driver points and full Klassic YouTube video available here.

8th Season –  2003: Only 14 events were held in our disappointingly sparsely populated 2003 season, because even though we had 28 different drivers, most of them only races in a few races each after last year’s crop of very promising rookies just flat out quit early in the season, wrecking karts before they did. In the end we only had three different winners (Matt, Chris and Wes). Brian Galletta helped us out by bringing several friends to join in as late-season rookies, including Antione “Choch” Thomas, Randy Platt, Matt Frey, and Mike Donoghue. Without them, we may not even have had a Klassic! In the 8 kart/100 lapper, Matt was able to get a late-race pass on his brother when Chris’ foot fell off the gas pedal, which secured Matt a sweep the Klassic and Track Championship Points Title yet again. Klassic video, full driver points and pics are available here!

9th Season – 2004: Another excellent season, one of our biggest with a STAGGERING 47 drivers entering an impressive 33 events, with FINALLY a breakthrough in multiple fashions with 9 different competitors (Ed Maynes, Dan Murdock, Jason Mills, Mark Miller, Brian Galletta and Matt Frey joining Matt, Chris and Wes Stevens) in Victory Lane! Another step into the future of our division was realized when a handful of drivers (such as Ed Maynes and Mark Miller) started building and bringing their own karts  (although Mark Miller used a 5.5hp OHV motor, which everyone else in a stock 5hp flathead had an issue with when the power was apparent as soon as it hit the track, and he quit before the Klassic 125 over the controversy). While Ed Maynes far and away become the very closest to ever usurp Matt or Chris from Klassic dominance (he almost lapped the field before suffering multiple mechanical problems), it was Matt Stevens who again emerged winner of both the Klassic and Seasonal Points Titles. Once again, the entire Klassic video is available (along with all driver and points info) on this page…

10th Season –  2005: With a staggering 50 drivers running in 28 feature events won by 10 different drivers (Matt, Chris and Wes Stevens, Gary Miller Sr., Mark Miller, Mike Billion, Ed Maynes, Jason Mills, Neil Gosch, and Barrelin’ Brian Bortel). This year became the very 1st one where we covered every single race on this website, and around mid-season we video recorded every single race and made DVD-R copies available to anybody who asks (years later, we also uploaded EVERY SINGLE RACE to YouTube for anybody around the world with internet to view). Impressive ’04 rookies such as Ed Maynes and Mark Miller returned, although Miller brought a group of drivers with stock 6.5hp OHV motors into weekly races, and while we loved racing them, the very clear motor power discrepancy led to hard feelings between them and every driver that used smaller, stock 5.0hp flathead motors. Unfortunately, the 6.5hp OHV vs. 5.0hp Flathead engine controversy took away from what was an extremely competitive and intense racing season. Matt Stevens, however, beat everybody no matter what motor they had, and won 12 feature events and the Klassic 125 en route to yet another clean sweep of the track points title and Klassic Championships. Plus… a driver who tried out our club (and friends with the 6.5hp OVHs), began creating a little dirt track behind Oswego Speedway, with rumors of allowing us our own division next season. Sounds like fun… right? Full Race Index Page & YouTube Race Videos here…

1st Season at Oswego Speedway’s Dirt Track: 2006: In our 1st season at Oswego Speedway’s Dirt Track (before it was renamed Oswego Kartway the following year), we went with the understanding that our class would not be forced to race methanol karts and turn clockwise (as most race divisions turn counter-clockwise. While we got that, oddly enough, the track operators would not let us have our own Galletta’s-style division with 1-WD gas flatheads and forced us to run with the 1-WD gas OHVs (remaining themselves “Outlaws”), and we somewhat had a repeat of the same problem that we had last season at Galletta’s: “You have too much power!” vs. “You are too light!”– and sadly, a fight nearly broke out over it as well. We ran 7 events, and with 2 wins, Matt Stevens won the 1st Track Championship at the Oswego Kartway, as the other divisions didn’t keep track of wins or points. Other winners were Wes Stevens, Chris Stevens, Brian Bortel, Mike Billion (OHV), and Mark Miller (OHV), with Wes Stevens winning a 40-Lap “Bumpy Track Classic” where every methanol division refused to run due to the track being less than ideal. “Yard Karts” – 1, “Methanol Karts” – 0.

11th Season at Galletta’s: 2006: 35 different drivers raced in 18 feature events in ’06 and while 9 drivers won (including Chris Stevens, Wes Stevens, Rob Jimenez, Ed Maynes, Gary Miller Sr., Billy Kuykendell, Kyle Reuter and Brian Bortel and a tie between Chris and Bill), it was Matt Stevens took 8 of those himself en route to another Track Championship and Galletta’s Klassic Victory! More here, including points, driver profiles, and FULL race videos to the whole season!

2nd Season at Oswego Speedway Kartway: 2007 & 12th Season at Galletta’s: 2007: Was by far one of our busiest, most competitive and talent-stacked. Between the Oswego Kartway (back then simply known as the Oswego Speedway Dirt Track) and our Galletta’s track, 57 different drivers ran a combined 28 features, but the dominant factor all season on both tracks was Matt Stevens, as he won 14 of the 28 Mixed Motor gas stocker features on the two tracks while 8 other drivers (Chris Stevens, Kyle Reuter, Dick Dann, Melissa Gabel, Ryan Coleman, Eric Raponi, Gary Miller Sr., and Joe Hayden) divided up the rest of the HARD fought victories. Again there was controversy between OHV and FH motors racing in the same class, and while Matt was the man to beat in a flathead, the OHVs were proving to be too powerful for anyone else to touch. That was until the Kartway’s 1st Classic, a 15-kart/50-Lap event for the mixed-motor 1-WD ‘Gas Stocker’ class, where a few drivers battled it out in an exciting race, but Chris Stevens emerged on top on lap 50 to avenge himself for getting wiped out several times earlier in the season by one of the OHV Outlaw karts in the race. It also contained one of the scariest wrecks in our history (and one that has garnered by FAR the most hits on YouTube of our hundreds of videos; albeit bloodthirsty YouTubers wanted more violence apparently). However, Matt Stevens defeated a VERY talented cast of characters (including his brother Chris, Kyle Reuter, Ryan Coleman, Buddy Cottom and Mike “MC” Howell amongst others) to win both track Championships and the 12th Annual showing of the Galletta’s Klassic 200, sweeping both track titles in the division (the other classes at the pay track weren’t even keeping points then)! The only true downer to the season was Wes ‘Ogre’ Stevens’ bone-busting crash in the ’07 Klassic, which forced him out of weekly competition. More (including detailed race descriptions and hundreds of race videos) can be found here.

13th Season at Galletta’s – 2008: Between Galletta’s and Oswego Kartway, we race a combined 27 drivers racing in a combined 27 events won by 10 different drivers (Matt Stevens, Chris Stevens, Russ Hockey, Melissa Gabel, Buddy Cottom, Dick Dann, Nick Dann, and Gary Miller Jr.), but it again was Matt Stevens winning the Track Championships on both, and technically, he won both Oswego Classic 50 and Galletta’s Klassic 200 (although he needed to beat a very game Buddy Cottom tod do so), but there was a mystifying controversy to the Oswego one at least.

3rd Season at Oswego Kartway – 2008:  For the 3rd straight full season, the Galletta’s Greenhouse 1-WD Gas Flathead Racing Club raced two tracks. We started in May at Kartway where Matt Stevens again proved he is capable of taking a kart with less horsepower and beat larger karts that used stock Animal engines (forced in our group by decree of the track operator), and he won the Mixed Motor Gas Stocker Point standings at Kartway (which they erased from their website, so you’ll only see it and full race videos to every division here).

While we had 14 feature events won by 7 drivers (Matt Stevens, Chris Stevens, Wes Stevens, Dick Dann, Joe Hayden, Dave Melfi, and Nick Dann), after many arguments, late in the season we split the two gas kart motors into separate divisions, which ended the conflict for the drivers but yet seemed to increased it for the track operator. Matt Stevens dominated the ’08 Kartway Classic (Gas Flathead 1-WDs), but last lap controversy had Wes Stevens take it (under a presumed yellow) and Chris Stevens take 3rd to sweep the pedestal spots for the 2nd year in a row. The track operator then saw that it to be the karting class’ last race at the track that we were a part of since (even before) it started. Season rundown, final points TONS of FULL race videos from ALL karting divisions at the Kartway AND Galletta’s, and the confusing ending to the ’08 Classic video found here…

14th Season – 2009: Our ’09 season was the 1st in 3 years without Oswego Speedway’s dirt track as our second “away” track escape, as our karting class were barred from the Oswego Kartway in the off-season due to differences with the track operator, further punctuated by members from the track mocking our family, family business, names, careers, and even threatening us with physical violence. But that does not mean that we didn’t have a fun and action-packed season at our “home” track (as we did for 10 years before Kartway existed anyway). These numbers speak for themselves: A startling 48 drivers raced in 22 feature events, with 12 of them winning features (Chris Stevens, Matt Stevens, Russ Hockey, Melissa Stevens, Buddy Cottom, Gary Miller Sr., Larry Phillips, Fred Collins, Jason Mills, Nick Dann, Brian Galletta, and Dick Dann). This is a single class, not a dozen classes of 3-10 drivers with only a one or two people dominating it. This large number in different winners shows how equal our racing division is, which some naysayers complained that the brothers rigged it for themselves (patently false… if you are a good driver, you can win and compete for championships in our class, period. Chris Stevens finally broke his brother Matt’s Points Title domination, winning his 1st Track Championship in nearly a decade, but Matt Stevens again showed that he is the toughest man to beat in a go-kart in Oswego, NY, as he took the Galletta’s 200-Lap Klassic once again. Full race videos (via YouTube), race results, points and driver profiles are all available here…

15th Season: 2010: So it finally happened! Actually, TWO things! First, while we had a usual great season consisting of 29 drivers in 21 feature races, they were won won by a SHOCKING 15 different drivers (Chris Stevens, Matt Stevens, Melissa Stevens, Tim Galletta, George Russell, Shadoe Russell, Randy Platt, Arnold “AJ” Nason, Jeff Tetro, Mike “MC” Howell, Russ Bartlett, Gary Miller Sr., Kyle Reuter, Kelly Miller and Jared Halstead), with Chris Stevens surviving it all to achieve his 2nd track championship in a row. That shows parity amongst the karts! But the Klassic was the story of the season, as secondly, a visiting driver won a Galletta’s 200-Lap Klassic! Kyle Reuter became both the 1st non-founding/visiting driver to win a Galletta’s Klassic, and the 1st to win a one after climbing into a backup kart (The Galletta’s #0) after his starter kart the (Galletta’s #1) broke down around mid-race. While Kyle has countless Quarter-Midget and methanol flat-kart wins and championships under his belt, he said that this was, “the most fun I’ve ever had in a go-kart. WIth other classes, there’s a stress of the kart’s performance and sponsors… here, it’s just the pure fun of the race.” We agree, which is why we do this instead of dropping a few grand for stressful, expensive pay track racing. Kyle and the 14 other winners this season also proved an important point — Matt does not rig the karts for his (or his brother’s) advantage. In fact, if anything, he gives anybody the chance to race in a kart with equal or better power than his own. You just have to be a good enough driver to win it. This season, Kyle and the many other winners proved it can be done, and shut the critics up in more ways than one. Yet, why do so few show up still? More, including points, profiles, and complete race videos via YouTube here…

16th Season – 2011: 25 competitors entered 21 feature events that were won by 8 different drivers (Matt Stevens, Chris Stevens, Tim Galletta, Melissa Stevens, Justin Galletta, Joe Sereno, Randy Platt and Jeff Tetro). Now while Matt Stevens won the track title and garnered the most wins (6), it was his big brother Chris Stevens that broke a decade-long dry spell to win his 1st Galletta’s Klassic since 2001 (and the 1st since it became 200 laps). And what more, he proved what many thought was impossible! Chris managed to run all 200 laps on one tank of gas while holding off his brother Matt (who had to refuel late after leading a fast-paced race battling with 2010 winner Kyle Reuter early on). It was one of the most strategic gambles in Klassic history to date, as if there were a few more laps, Chris would’ve been down to fumes with Matt ready to pounce on the lead. This is one of many reasons why the racers at Galletta’s feel you get more PURE RACING experience in our karts than any pay track’s 5-10 minute/20-50 lap races. 200 laps on a single 5hp Briggs stock gas tank… and WIN. Try that in any other karting division and get back to us, son. Complete YouTube Race Videos, results, driver profiles, points and pictures of every race found here…

2012 Season Index

17th Season – 2012: Had 39 drivers racing in 27 feature events that were won by 9 different savvy competitors (Matt Stevens, Chris Stevens, David Spanfelner, Brian Galletta, Melissa Stevens, Joe Sereno, Randy Platt, Tim Galletta and Justin Galletta). Matt Stevens was the performer of the year as he took the 2013 Points Title, but the Klassic would have a controversial finale. The founding brothers of Matt and Chris Stevens battled back and forth in the late stages of the Klassic, neither having an edge and only passing each other via lapped traffic. The controversy came when Chris got passed by Matt when a lapped kart got in his way, Chris backed off rather than hit the traffic and Matt passed them both. Chris dogged his bro down until the same lapped traffic came up, and Matt bumped the lapped kart out of the way, knocking him into Chris’ way which then brought out the caution and prevented Chris from getting his brother back. Chris was furious, and Matt, exhausted, put himself in the back, leaving Chris was able to pull away for the uncontested win. Several people protested that Chris won, and Chris himself vacated the win, which their “uncle” (and Galletta’s Mascot) Ogie Stevens took credit for it all. The complete race videos, race results and points info are found here.

---

2013 Season Index

18th Season – 2013: The 2013 season was eventful, as 38 competitors raced in 24 features won by a staggering 12 different drivers (Chris Stevens, Matt Stevens, Eric Woolworth, Brian Galletta, Adam Lytle, Brandon “Tumor” Matott, Dave Spanfelner, Kevin Galletta, Joe Sereno, Ryan Palmer and Justin Galletta!)! And the most shocking surprise was the Klassic 200, where Kelly Miller became only the 2nd visiting driver (Kyle Reuter being the 1st) and 5th overall (counting Matt, Chris and Wes Stevens) to win a Galletta’s Klassic 200, having a duel for the ages with the ’13 track champion Chris Stevens and Oswego’s All-time winner/points earner Matt Stevens, where lapped traffic and kart wear took it’s toll and changed the outcome and made the finale an extremely exciting one. In fact, possibly the best 3-kart Klassic duel to date. The complete season is on YouTube video playlist and race pages, so go here for more.

---

2014 Season Index

19th Season – 2014:  Our 19th Season had 26 drivers compete in 15 feature events won by a staggering 8 different competitors (Matt Stevens, Chris Stevens, Adam Lytle, Kevin Galletta, Brian Galletta, Kelly Miller, Eric Woolworth, Kyle Reuter), but it did not end well. The season was tragically cut shorter than others due to low driver attendance by midsummer, a problem that caused self-inflicted wounds by making even gung-ho veteran drivers quit. Matt Stevens swept the driver-starved Klassic 200 (where he and Chris battled for over 80 straight green flag laps) and sadly short Season Points Championship, but it was perhaps our least-fulfilling season in well over a decade due to inconsistent and sparsely populated driver competition, despite the empirical fact that we had 20 karts on site all with near identical time trial speeds. The fact that it was the least-populated Klassic in THIRTEEN years, founders Matt and Chris Stevens worried all winter that without a new crop of drivers in 2015, we were left seriously doubting the future of the Galletta’s Greenhouse Backyard Karting Club . More on the complete YouTube Videos & Race Index.

---

2015 Season Index

20th Season – 2015: Our 20th Season was a relief from 2014’s barren finish. Due to a few groups of rookies joining, we had 42 different drivers racing in 20 feature events won by 8 different feature winners (Chris Stevens, Matt Stevens, Adam Lytle, Keith Raymond, Melissa Stevens, Kyle Reuter, Eric Woolworth and Tony Cimilluca). The season was extremely competitive from start to finish, and it came down to a tremendous battle in the Klassic 200 between Chris Stevens, Matt Stevens and Kyle Reuter — arguably the best three lifetime karters in Oswego (anybody who has a beef with this? Show us what you got. Show up, put up, or shut up, thanks! We know why some never come, we know.). Chris and Kyle were the only two leaders in this year’s event, with them trading the lead due to lapped traffic and empty fuel tanks. But late in the race, when Reuter passed the fuel-starved Chris Stevens, and Matt Stevens broke in a crash, Chris refueled and shocked all with a slingshot pass past Reuter on the final green-white-checker for the the most climatic win in the Galletta’s Klassic history, and clinched his clean sweep of both the 2015 200-Lap Klassic and the 2015 Points Championship! One of our most exciting seasons in our history, capped by a fantastic Klassic finish, and probably the most exciting in our history! All of our complete race videos are available for viewing on our complete season index found here.

---

2016 Season Index

21st Season – 2016: From from Sunday, June 12th, 2016 through Saturday, September 24th, 2016, 30 drivers racing in 14 feature events won by 7 competitors (Chris Stevens, Matt Stevens, Kelly Miller, Josh Arnold, Keith Raymond, Kevin Galletta and Adam Lytle) for our 21st Points Season at Galletta’s Greenhouse Backyard Karting Speedway. And for the 1st time in history, a driver challenged Chris and Matt Stevens’ vice-grip stranglehold on 1st and 2nd the point standings! Kelly Miller was lap for lap, pass for pass, point for point, win for win dead even with the brothers all season long, and the three leap-frogged each other every week leading up to our 21st Klassic to decide it all. Would Kelly become the 1st visiting driver to ever sweep the Points and Klassic titles? Or would the class-founding brothers retain 1st and 2nd for the 21st straight year? Well, why not see what went with our 200-Lap Klassic! Here are all the season pages, complete with all of our uploaded YouTube videos!

---

2017 Season Index

22nd Season – 2017: Lasted from June 17th through October 13th, 2017, and was one of ups and downs. It started slowly due in part to weather and inability to get the track ready for our usual opener. After that, we had great difficulty keeping enough drivers on the track on a weekly basis. Half of the season was cancelled due to nothing other than not enough butts in kart seats. In the end, we did have 34 drivers racing in 17 features, but this number was inflated by both double-feature nights and many one-race-and-done racers. Only 4 of 34 drivers raced in every event, 21 of 34 drivers were rookies (most raced only once let alone even half the season), all 14 year record lows. And our 22nd Annual Galletta’s Go-Karts 200-Lap Klassic Championship was postponed after nearly a month of poor driver attendance & lousy weather. But the racing itself–when it happened– was exceptional. The story of the competition was the top 3 in points AND the Klassic as well: Chris Stevens, Matt Stevens, and Josh Arnold 1-2-3 DOMINATED the season, and because several regular veterans quit halfway into the season, 4th place wasn’t even close in either. Of the three who traded wins all year, Chris Stevens–despite not being the fastest kart at any point all season–benefitted by not wrecking a single time and staying in the top-3 all year, holding on to sweep both the Points Title and the Klassic by outlasting every other racer on a single tank of gas during the 200, a feat that he has somewhat made his specialty of late. Every race, with rundowns, points, and complete race ideos found here!]

---

23rd Annual Galletta’s Go-Kart Season culminated with our 200-Lap Klassic of 2018!

23rd Season – 2018: Was a shortened season due to a lack of active weekly drivers. While we had 39 different drivers, due to most of them not racing weekly, we were forced to reduced to the usual 12-17 feature races to only 8. But after a long season of poor driver attendance, the drivers *finally* came through for the 23rd Annual Galletta’s Go-Kart 200-Lap Klassic Points Championship was held, 10-drivers strong! And, only FIVE cautions!

!

Matt Stevens dominated the season with 5 feature wins, but was almost swept in both the Points AND Klassic titles when his brother — and only constant rival — Chris Stevens led most of the race stealing a large amount of leader bonus points. However, Matt caught his fuel-conscious brother Chris off-guard in the latter stages to barely block the steal and held on to win his 13th Galletta’s Greenhouse Karting Speedway Klassic (His brother Chris has 7, while Wes Stevens, Kyle Reuter, and Kelly Miller each won 1).

---

2019 Season Index

24th Season – 2019: …started as poorly attended as 2018, with the same three drivers — the founding brothers Matt and Chris Stevens along with impressive 2nd year racer Steve Sixberry — in control of the point standings. But fortunately, as the season went on, we were joined by two spirited batches of rookies not only started racing but also collecting wins (Nicolas Olivares, Greg Blanchard, Zach Blanchard and Randy Baldwin). And the return of former 200-lap winner Kelly Miller (who brought SBS driver Travis Bartlett with him) for the 24th Running of the Galletta’s Greenhouse Klassic led to a very competitive marathon event to decide the oldest and longest-running karting championship in the area!

---

The 25th Running of the Galletta’s Go-Karts Klassic.

25th Season – 2020: A collective 40 different drivers duked it out in 12 Features in ‘The Weirdest Year EVAH!’ And little did we know that in our 25 season, we’d have around 20 karts on hand, hundreds of people would have raced with us over the years, we’d have 12 (sometimes more) drivers on track, and we’d actually run an entire season and 200-Lap Klassic when our model — Oswego Speedway — couldn’t run theirs due to the COVID-19 restrictions passed down by the State leadership hundreds of miles away. And nor could we have predicted running one without Brian Galletta — one of the original racers of our club, and 1st cousin of co-founder Chris and Matt and brother to racer Kevin Galletta — whose untimely passing on Christmas 2019 shocked and saddened all who knew and loved him. But we had an action-packed season in his memory! MORE HERE!

---

And the history continues! Navigate the site!