Brandon Jarsocrak (Photo: EKN)

It went down to the wire for who would finish the 2015 season at the top of the EKN TaG Driver Rankings. In the end, it was Pennsylvania’s Brandon Jarsocrak that came out as the top driver with a host of drivers gunning for the #1 position. The same is projected with a long list of events and talented pilots set to battle throughout the 2016 season, all aiming for victories, championships and the coveted #1 spot on the EKN Driver Rankings.

Jarsocrak finished his second season in the Senior ranks fighting for championships across the country. ‘Money’ came up just short at the United States Pro Kart Series along with the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour, but consistency got him the #1 spot in the EKN standings. Now with KartSport North America aboard the Praga chassis, Brandon is gunning for the top spot in the championship chases.

Losing valuable points but still in second is 2014 #1 driver Jake Craig. 2015 was the opposite for him, nearly winning everything the year prior before moving over to the Formula K operation. Craig had his high points but did not have the consistency like Jarsocrak over the full 12 months of 2015. The loss of points over the winter and no new races in 2016 leave the gap even more than where it was in December. Now, the two are under the Praga North America banner together, giving the brand three of the top drivers in the United States, including Stock Moto #1 Billy Musgrave.

Up one spot is defending United States Pro Kart Series champion Elliott Finlayson. Consistency gave the Koene USA / Tony Kart driver the title in the competitive eight-round series. Finlayson added to his point total with a big win at the WKA Daytona KartWeek event in December. Improving to fourth without recording a result is Andrick Zeen. In 2015, Zeen was the lead driver for Praga North America, logging in over 20 races throughout the season and two big wins at the USPKS finale at New Castle. 2016 is more focused on staying in the SoCal area and finishing up school, so this may be the high point of his 2016 season.

Staying in the fifth position is newly crowned Challenge of the Americas champion Christian Brooks. After two years of missing out on the Junior Max and Senior Max championships by a combined seven points, the Nash Motorsportz / CRG driver scored four victories this winter to clinch his first series championship since 2012 in Mini Max. Brooks is progressing up the motorsports ladder, landing a ride in the Red Bull Global RallyCross Lites division, but also included is a bid at the SKUSA Pro Tour championship in X30 Senior.

2014 USPKS champion AJ Myers is up to sixth, coming off a limited 2015 schedule that put in solid results. The iKart driver has been earning strong results in Florida competition this winter, with plans to compete for another USPKS title and other selected events. A driver on the rise during the winter month is Orlando Kart Center pilot Ryan Norberg. The Florida driver finished vice-champion to Kyle Kirkwood at the Florida Winter Tour Rok Cup program and just won both races at the latest WKA Manufacturers Cup Series event at GoPro Motorplex. Norberg could be one to watch at next weekend’s SKUSA SpringNationals.

Oliver Askew dropped to eighth after losing results from the Florida Winter Tour last year, now only utilizing three main events over the three-month series. Askew was vice-champion at the FWT Rotax program in 2015, landed the championship at the inaugural US Open in Senior Max, and finished third in the SKUSA Pro Tour behind Louie Pagano and Craig. The Florida driver for PSL Karting / Birel ART drove to the DD2 championship and another Rotax Grand Finals ticket bid, but now his focused is on the Stock Moto division at the SKUSA Pro Tour.

Breaking into the top-10 is Phillippe Denes and Roger Ralston Jr. Denes was all over the United States in 2015 with Rotax, SKUSA and USPKS. The Ryan Perry Motorsport / Tony Kart driver has two third-place results in the last two rounds California ProKart Challenge, and sits tied for second in the championship chase at the halfway point. Ralston (KartSport North America / Arrow) had a good string of results in 2015 and remains among the top drivers in the rankings going into the summer season. Ralston was a podium finisher at the SpringNationals in Phoenix, looking for more of the same next weekend.

Mason Marotta has dropped out of the top-10 with only one event contested in 2016, dropping last year’s Challenge of the Americas results. Also don’t forget SKUSA Pro Tour champion and SuperNationals winner Louie Pagano down in the 72nd position. Only those five events from the Pro Tour (EKN Driver Rankings counts best seven for each driver in TaG) is all that remains on the 12-month sheet for the 2 Wild Karting / Tony Kart driver, set to defend his crown in 2016. Defending US Rotax Grand Nationals champion and double Florida Winter Tour champion Kyle Kirkwood will be on the rise. With the limited number of main events at the FWT, his score has suffered but will begin to rise, moving over to the PSL Karting / Birel ART tent and among those competing at the SKUSA Pro Tour this season.

Upcoming EKN TaG Driver Rankings Events

Brandon Jarsocrak (Photo: EKN)

TaG #1 – Brandon Jarsocrak
Shillington, Pennsylvania

The target is set for the 2016 season, and at the bulls-eye is Brandon Jarsocrak. While the 2015 season did not produce a championship, it did put the Pennsylvania pilot to the top of the EKN Driver Rankings. Jarsocrak is entering his third season in Senior competition, moving away from the ranks of a privateer and running under the KartSport North America / Praga banner. His debut with the team produced a victory at WKA Daytona KartWeek, and currently sits third in the Manufacturers Cup Series standings after two events. ‘Money’ is among the many contenders heading to the SKUSA SpringNationals next weekend, looking to cash in on an early bid toward the series championship.

Point Breakdown

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Jake Craig

TaG #2 – Jake Craig
Mission Viejo, California

Coming back as the defending champion and top-ranked driver in the country can be a difficult task to repeat, especially changing teams and chassis. Craig has proven himself to be among the top drivers over the past two seasons, finishing runner-up last year moving from Tony Kart to Formula K. Now comes a third different brand and team in as many years, racing for Praga North America. Craig used two races in WKA country to begin his tenure with the program, and has logged in many laps of testing in SoCal. The true test comes next weekend when the SpringNationals begins and the journey to become the first ever two-time X30 Senior series champion starts.

Point Breakdown

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Elliot Finlayson (Photo: Focal Perspective Media)

TaG #3 – Elliot Finlayson
Yorkville, Illinois

The 2015 was a remarkable one for Koene USA / Tony Kart driver Elliot Finlayson, coming away with the United States Pro Kart Series. Anytime you can produce five straight podium finishes against 30+ drivers, you are doing something right. Finlayson started the year with his first SKUSA podium at the SpringNationals, and closed 2015 with another first, a Daytona KartWeek victory. He will have another busy season with US Open, SKUSA Pro Tour, USPKS all on his schedule for 2016.

Point Breakdown

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Brandon Lemke (Photo: EKN)

TaG ‘On the Move’ – #22
Brandon Lemke
Eagle, Wisconsin

The 2016 season is another strong year for the rookie class. Already making his way up the Driver Rankings is last year’s top Junior driver Brandon Lemke. The Franklin Motorsports / Merlin pilot drove to the championship at the United States Pro Kart Series in two categories, along with the title in Superkarts! USA Pro Tour. Thanks to the WKA Winter Cup Series and two events of the WKA Manufacturers Cup Series, Lemke is into the top-50 of the TaG standings already, heading into the bulk of the 2016 season that will include USPKS, SKUSA and WKA competition.

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 2016, the SKUSA Pro Tour 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. A base ranking of nine (9) goes to the United States Pro Kart Series, Florida Winter Tour Rotax Max Challenge, Challenge of the Americas, Rock Island Grand Prix and California ProKart Challenge. 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.

EKN TaG Driver Rankings – as of April 22, 2016

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