The 2013 season has been unpredictable when reviewing the eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings for the TaG category. Looking at the top-10 in the current standings, anyone of the drivers could hold the top position, with some already a former EKN #1 driver in the category. The top spot however remains in the hands of Louie Pagano, as the gap increased for the Southern California driver following the events that have unfolded since June 10.

Pagano (Birel) increased his score, nearly 30 points more, and increased the advantage over the rest of the drivers to 111 points. The SKUSA Pro Tour TaG Senior championship leader now leads Florida driver Nick Neri in the standings. The 2011 US Rotax Grand Nationals champion jumped up to the second spot, coming off his third place finish at this year’s event aboard his Ocala Gran Prix entry. Moving up to third is California ProKart Challenge point leader Jake Craig. The ART GP driver has three straight wins, and finally scored the a top-five finish at the Pro Tour during Saturday’s main at the SummerNationals to improve his EKN Driver Rankings score.

Fourth spot belongs to recent EKN Driver of the Month receipient – Jonathan Kotyk. A double TaG winner at the WKA Manufacturers Cup Series Grand Nationals in South Bend, the OGP/Tony Kart driver backed it up with an 11th at the US Rotax Grand Nationals to help increase his point total and place him inside the top-five. Dropping two spots is Top Kart USA driver Mason Chelootz, losing some results from last year and earning a best finish in the last two months of third at WKA Grand Nationals. Losing the US Rotax Grand Nationals victory from last year, Daniel Formal (Tony Kart) drops from second to sixth in the standings. On the plus side, ‘Four-Time’ Formal earned his fourth Rotax title, competing in the DD2 category and will make another trip to the Rotax Grand Finals.

Making a big move up to seventh is double SpringNationals winner Andrew Zimmer (ART GP). A difficult start to the SummerNationals, the ART GP driver bounced back Sunday to place runner-up and keep himself in the chase for the SKUSA Pro Tour title, while adding points to his rankings total. A drivers seven best results are counted toward the EKN Driver Rankings, and the seventh event for Senior rookie Oliver Askew who moved up to the eight spot following his victory at the US Rotax Grand Nationals. More on him below in the ‘On the Move’ section.

Austin Elliott continues to show his talent, both in WKA Manufacturers Cup Series and the SKUSA Pro Tour. The Top Kart USA driver advanced 10 positions to sit ninth with veteran Matt Johnson (Buddy Rice Karting/Energy) putting himself back into the top-10. Dropping out of the top-10 is Sam Beasley (Ocala Gran Prix/Tony Kart), who drove to a fourth straight runner-up finish at the US Rotax Grand Nationals, Tommy Andersen who is going to be sitting out for some time as he concentrates on college, Phil DeLaO (KartSport North America) was absent at both SummerNationals and US Rotax Grand Nationals, and Andrew Palmer (Kosmic) losing the third place finish from Rotax.

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

TaG #1 – Louie Pagano
Camarillo, California

Holding strong is Pagano at the top spot, thanks to an increased in his point total and improving on his average finish slightly. The Southern California driver is into his third year as a Senior driver, and is considered among the top in the country regarding TaG competition. Pagano is running a limited schedule, as he is campaigning a stock car season as well. Should this be a final swan song for Louie, there is no doubt he’d like to go out on top – winning the SKUSA Pro Tour championship while ending 2013 as the EKN #1 driver.

Point Breakdown

Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 2.57
Average Points: 1053.1
Total Points: 7372

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(Photo: Ken Johnson – Studio52.us)

TaG ‘On the Move’ – #8
Oliver Askew
West Palm Beach, Florida

Making the transition from Junior ranks to the top level Senior category can be difficult for some. But for a select few, the advancement is just another step in the groundwork laid down already. Askew is a driver on the right path, working up through the ranks with the Ocala Gran Prix outfit, working with some of the top talent in the country. Askew is all business when he hits that track, and his results duplicate that. Coming off the top Junior result for Team USA at the Rotax Grand Finals, he earned his first major win at the Florida Winter Tour, and backed it up with the Rotax Grand Nationals just weeks ago. The sky is the limit for this young talent.

Point Breakdown

Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 5.0
Average Points: 1006.9
Total Points: 7048

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 best seven finishes in TaG and six in Stock Moto to determine their overall current point total. With each new release, results posted from more than one year ago are discarded. To deliver our ranking list, we tabulate the results of all the national programs and selected regional programs. We have included the results for the major one-off events such as the SKUSA SuperNationals, the US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals, the Rock Island Grand Prix and the Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix.

Each race is 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 2013, the SKUSA SuperNationals and US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals receive a score of 10 in their initial weighting in the TaG category while the SuperNationals is the lone event in the Stock Moto division. The SKUSA Pro Tour series events draw a base ranking of nine (9), while the WKA Manufacturers Cup, Florida Winter Tour, Rotax Challenge of the Americas, IKF 2-Cycle Sprint Grand Nationals, Rotax Pan American Challenge, United States Pro Kart Series and other regional program races were given a base ranking of either eight (8) or nine (9).

The EKN staff reserves the right to adjust the rankings of each event throughout the year. A minimum entry total for any events considered for the Driver Rankings program is five (5). If an event does not have at least five (5) drivers starting the race, those results will not be tabulated toward the Driver Rankings.

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 in TaG, six for Stock Moto, we calculate each driver’s overall score and subsequent ranking.

TaG Driver Rankings – as of August 16, 2013

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