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| eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings - March 21 |
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March Madness kicked off yesterday, the snow is melting outside the eKartingNews.com-Michigan office, and the Florida Winter Tour is in the books, thus the official start to the 2008 season is approaching. Regional programs in the warmer states of the country, as well as the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series, are already underway with many more preparing for their opening weekend.
The EKN Winter Rotax Driver Rankings will be completed following the last Gatorz Challenge of the Americas, which is set for next weekend. And in two weeks, the country's national program - the Snap-on Stars of Karting Presented by IndyCar - will kickoff its six-race schedule at the Ocala Gran Prix in Florida. In preparation for that debut, EKN is happy to release the first edition of the 2008 Driver Rankings for the ICC and TaG divisions.
 | Driver of the Year - Gary Carlton
(Photo: EKN) |
ICC
For ICC Rankings, Click Here
Setting the bar for the upcoming season is two-time defending Stars of Karting ICC National Champion Gary Carlton. Carlton went on a six race Stars winning streak to open up the 2007 season before adding three more wins for a total of nine wins on the year. Completing the year was a runner-up finish at the SKUSA SuperNationals XI to World Champion Marco Ardigo. The Californian will set out for a record third straight national crown while also putting more of an emphasis on his European competition with the CRG factory team. With a lot of air miles scheduled for Carlton, it will be interesting to see if he can continue his North American dominance.
Since December, three drivers have used the winter months to move up in the rankings and prepare for the upcoming national schedule. Making his return to karting after short ‘retirement’ with a victory at the Stars National Finals in late 2007, former two-time ICC national champion Alex Speed is back in saddle and an obvious favorite to battle the top shifter pilots throughout the year. Returning with MRP-Birel America in October, Speed contested the SuperNats and the Florida Winter Tour to boost himself to 22nd in the rankings. Recently, Speed announced him moving to Trackmagic for the upcoming year, leaving some questions to how quickly he and his father Mike Speed can get that program going toward a championship.
Two ICC rookies made the transition from ICA to the shifter kart - CRG pilots Cody Jolly and Jacob Neal. Jolly made a strong shifter kart debut at the Rock Island Grand Prix in September and had an impressive final FWT weekend posting two runner-up finishes. The Texan will also be traveling overseas to compete in the European Championship event at Angerville, France later in the year. Neal has been running the ProKart Challenge, SKUSA WinterNational program and a couple FWT weekends to prepare for the upcoming season, moving him up in the rankings. Both talented teenagers will be ones to watch on the year.
ICC #1 - Gary Carlton
Marysville, CA
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #1 | 10 | 1 | 1182 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #2 | 10 | 1 | 1182 | | Stars of Karting ’07 - East #3 - New Castle | 9 | 1 | 1067 | | Stars of Karting ’07 - East #4 - New Castle | 9 | 1 | 1068 | | Stars National Finals 2007 #1 | 10 | 3 | 1133 | | Stars National Finals 2007 #2 | 10 | 1 | 1156 | | SKUSA SuperNationals 2007 | 10 | 2 | 1139 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 1.42
Average Points: 1132.3
Total Points: 7926
 | New Stars Spec Racer National Champion Devon Sandeen
(Photo: EKN) |
TaG
For TaG Rankings, Click Here
EKN announced the change in the TaG Driver Rankings back in February (view HERE), where instead of the best five finishes counted for each driver, it will now include the best seven finishes. Though it shuffled up the rankings, the top remained unchanged with reigning Stars of Karting Spec Racer National Champion Devon Sandeen in the number one spot. The Canadian - who ran aboard an Intrepid through the Checkered Flag Racing outfit in the Vancouver area in 2007, was runner-up in 2006 and came back earn the crown. His plans for 2008 are uncertain at this moment so the number one spot could be in question following the Stars opener.
Two drivers had an impressive winter season, Chris Larson and Victor Cabrera Jr. Larson started in October, teaming with Tony Loniewski and FirstKart.com for the RoboPong 200 victory (a non-driver rankings event) at New Castle. Continuing the partnership, he currently leads the TaG division standings in the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series after two events and finished fifth in the Florida Winter Tour Spec Racer championship. Cabrera - who had a stellar ICA rookie season last year, came just 21 points short of the FWT title after earning four of the six main event victories. The Puerto Rican will driver for J3 Competition in the Stars TaG division for 2008.
TaG #1 - Devon Sandeen
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Point Breakdown
| Race | Rank | Finish | Points| Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #1 | 10 | 5 | 1076 | | Stars Race of the Americas 2007 #2 | 10 | 4 | 1087 | | Stars of Karting ’07 - West #3 - Miller | 9 | 3 | 1001 | | Stars of Karting ’07 - West #5 - Moran | 9 | 2 | 1028 | | Stars of Karting ’07 - West #6 - Moran | 9 | 1 | 1038 | | Stars National Finals 2007 #1 | 10 | 2 | 1130 | | Stars National Finals 2006 #2 | 10 | 1 | 1141 | |
Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 2.57
Average Points: 1071.57
Total Points: 7501
EKN Driver Rankings Calculation Process
The EKN Driver Rankings are calculated using a driver’s best finishes in major North American races. Assembled using events from the previous 12 months from the current date, we use a driver’s top seven finishes in ICC and TaG to determine their overall current point total. With each new release, results posted from more than one year ago are discarded. To deliver this current ranking list, we tabulated the results of all the Snap-on Stars of Karting national events, as well as other regional programs. We have also included the results for the major one-off events such as the Rock Island Grand Prix, SKUSA King of the Streets, the SKUSA SuperNationals, and the KartSport Grand Prix.
Each race was initially weighted based on the prestige and history of the event or series with a score of ten (10) being the highest attainable base ranking. For 2008, the Stars of Karting Race of the Americas and National Finals, the SKUSA SuperNationals and the Rock Island Grand Prix are the only events to receive a score of 10 in their initial weighting. The Stars of Karting national series events draw a base ranking of nine (9), while the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup, Florida Winter Tour, and other regional program races were given a base ranking of eight (8). The EKN staff reserves the right to adjust the rankings of each event throughout the year.
Added to these initial rankings are two variables that help confirm the true importance of an event to the ranking process – field size and field strength. A percentage of one weighting point is added for the size of the field, while the number of existing top 50 drivers entered offers another full point or fraction of a point. The sum of these numbers becomes the overall ranking for any race. Following a race, drivers receive points based on their finishing positions with 100 points earned for a win. Each subsequent position drops by one point with 99 points given to the second place driver and so on throughout the field. These points are then multiplied by the overall ranking to produce a driver’s final point total from each event. Using a driver’s best seven races, we calculate each driver’s overall score and subsequent ranking. |
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