Brandon Jarsocrak holds on to finish 2015 as the #1 driver in the TaG Driver Rankings (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)

The 2015 is closed after what was another season of tough and exciting racing across North America. Since its introduction to the United States, TaG (Touch and Go) has become the elite division in single-speed karting competition through a wide range of engine manufacturers all vying for a piece of the pie. Drivers, no matter the powerplant, continue to strive to be the best. There are a number of talented drivers that make up the upper half of the EKN TaG Driver Rankings, and you could plug them into any machine and it will be taken to the limit every time. Just like any race, the Driver Rankings must have a winner, and for the 2015 season, the top driver is Brandon Jarsocrak.

Jarsocrak started out the 2015 EKN Driver Rankings second to 2014 United States Pro Kart Series champion AJ Myers. With his absence for the summer months in the States, Jarsocrak used his first ever TaG victory at the USPKS opener at GoPro Motorplex to move up to the top of the standings. Brandon finished as vice-champion at the USPKS program by just a few points, and entered the SuperNationals leading the championship chase. The Pennsylvania driver came from 21st to ninth in his first main event on SuperSunday after missing the last two at the Rio. Consistency over the last 12 months gave the Tony Kart driver the top position in the Driver Rankings, exactly 200 points more then the top score in 2014.

The best driver over the past two seasons is Jake Craig. A SKUSA Pro Tour championship along with a Rotax Grand Nationals victory helped to put Craig at the top of the Driver Rankings in 2014. This year, Craig stayed in the top-five despite losing his top results from last year. Moving over to the Formula K for 2015, it was a solid debut that included a number of podiums in Rotax and SKUSA competition, capped off with a third-place performance at the SuperNationals XIX to jump him to second in the 2015 TaG Driver Rankings.

Former US Rotax national champion Oliver Askew added another title to his CV in 2015, becoming the inaugural US Open champion. Three victories gave him more than the top two drivers combined, however, the point total was unmatched as the BirelART driver finished 200 points back of Jarsocrak. Askew’s total however would have been good enough to beat Craig in 2014, showing just how strong Jarsocrak and Craig performed in 2015.

United States Pro Kart Series champion Elliot Finlayson (Koene USA/Tony Kart) dropped two positions down to fourth to close out 2015. The Illinois driver suffered a tough run at the SuperNationals and was unable to qualify for SuperSunday in Las Vegas. That kept his typically high score the same, but fell behind both Craig and Askew who improved their score from the October standings thanks to their SuperNationals results.

The top rookie in 2015 was without question Christian Brooks. The year began with the then 14-year-old nearing pulling out with the championship at the Challenge of the Americas program. The Nash Motorsportz driver recorded three wins at the California ProKart Challenge to earn the title against Pro Tour and veteran drivers. A season-ending fifth place podium performance solidified Brooks as a rising talent and destined for more victories and championships.

Andrick Zeen leads the second half of the top-10 in the sixth position. The Praga North America driver posted the most races in 2015 toward the EKN Driver Rankings with 28 main events. Zeen finished the USPKS season strong with double wins at the series finale at New Castle, helping to advance him up the standings and finish third in the program’s title chase. Last year’s USPKS champion AJ Myers ends the year seventh with a partial schedule in 2015. The Florida driver spent time with the PCR factory team in Europe this year, limiting the number of races he drove here in the United States. Now back full-time, he has joined iKart to help expand the brand for the American manufacturer. Five of the top-10 hail from California, including Mason Marotta and Brenden Baker. Marotta notched two wins at the Challenge of the Americas in 2015 and landed on the podium at the SpringNationals in Phoenix before moving over from Ryan Perry Motorsport to a BirelART with PSL Karting. Marotta placed sixth at the US Rotax Nationals, and did not return for the remainder of the season, stalling his progress up the standings. Baker, who now resides in Texas, was another race winner and championship contender at the Challenge of the Americas. Baker was absent until the SummerNationals where he nearly put his Nash Motorsportz Tony Kart on the podium. Baker closed out the season with a victory in his home event – Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix, and an eighth-place performance while fighting within the lead group at on SuperSunday.

Completing the top-10 is another rookie, Ryan Norberg. Bouncing back from the Ocala Gran Prix and Checkered Motorsports operation on a PCR kart, Norberg continues to develop as a driver. The Florida driver racked up some top-five results in the winter programs within his home state, and secured a first major victory at the USPKS in August at South Bend to help him finish fourth in the championship chase.

Notables include Florida Winter Tour and US Rotax Grand Nationals champion Kyle Kirkwood (Ocala Gran Prix/Tony Kart) in 11th, Superkarts! USA Fikse Wheels Pro Tour champion Louie Pagano (2Wild Karting/Tony Kart) in 12th. Luke Selliken finished runner-up at the 2015 Rotax Grand Finals in Portugal, ending up 16th in the Driver Rankings. The top driver with just seven races (the number of races counted toward the Driver Rankings total) was KartSport North America’s Jacob Donald. The season ended well for the Praga driver, earning the RoboPong 200 victory with team manager Brandon Jones. Double WKA champion Alexander Kardashian (Top Kart) was 45th in the standings.

TaG #1 – Brandon Jarsocrak
Shillington, Pennsylvania

What a difference a year makes. Last year, Jarsocrak was watching the SuperSunday action at the SuperNationals in Las Vegas from the sidelines. This year, he finishes the EKN TaG Driver Rankings on top. Brandon did not slump in his sophomore season as a Senior driver, coming off an improving rookie year that saw him finish 11th in the rankings. At the USPKS program, he went for five top-five finishes, including a 2-1 finish at the opener. ‘Money’ started out with iKart at the SpringNationals before moving over back to the Tony Kart for the remainder of the year, which included top-10 in all five SKUSA Fikse Wheels Pro Tour finals. His best weekend was two podium finishes at the SummerNationals, boasting him to the top of the championship chase. A rough start to the SuperNats put him behind, but his never give up attitude put him up to ninth after starting 21st. A solid 2015 season for the father/son duo pitting out the side of their trailer every weekend.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #2 – Jake Craig
Mission Viejo, California

It was a busy schedule and a new adventure for SoCal’s Jake Craig. The Formula K driver raced Rotax, IAME, shifter in North America and traveled overseas to compete at the Rotax Euro Challenge. It came with some strong podium performances across the board – Challenge of the Americas, Superkarts! USA, US Rotax Grand Nationals. You put Craig in any configuration, and the kid is just fast. The one thing that was missing, a victory. Craig pulled off two gigantic moments last year, winning the US Rotax Grand Nationals and SKUSA Pro Tour championship. While those type of moments were absent, it doesn’t take away from the tremendous season Craig recorded in 2015.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #3 – Oliver Askew
Jupiter, Florida

Could Oliver Askew be the next GFC? Askew graduated to the Senior ranks in 2013, and sent a blistering trail across the United States to rack up victories and titles, including a third-place performance at the Rotax Grand Finals in New Orleans. A move over to shifterkart racing in 2014 put him up against the best in the world – Jordon Lennox and Davide Fore. Askew did not bow but rather faced them head on, and nearly ended up on the championship podium in S1 on the SKUSA Pro Tour. Leaving his long home at Ocala Gran Prix, Askew jumped over to BirelART and back behind the wheel of TaG machines in 2015. The Florida kid did not disappoint, nearly claiming the Florida Winter Tour title, winning on the Fikse Wheels Pro Tour, and earning the inaugural US Open championship.

Point Breakdown

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 2015, 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), as does the United States Pro Kart Series, Florida Winter Tour Rotax Max Challenge, Rotax Challenge of the Americas. Other national and regional program races were given a base ranking of either 8.5 or 8.

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 – Final Standings

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