Billy Musgrave returns to the top spot in the EKN Stock Honda Driver Rankings (Photo: EKN)

The 2018 season is upon us, and it has been a busy first quarter of the racing year. Karting was looked at as a summer sport, however, thanks to the expansion and support of winter programs, racing is going on 12 months out of the year. 2018 has seen a busy first four months of racing as the weather finally begins to show signs of Spring across the country and April signals the first release of the 2018 eKartingNews.com Stock Honda Driver Rankings powered by Bell Racing USA.

Making a return to the #1 spot is 2017 SKUSA SuperNationals winner Billy Musgrave (MRC / Aluminos). The current SKUSA #2 plateholder landed on the podium both days at the WinterNationals, helping to move him back into the top spot in the standings. His promotion demoted former #1 Jake French. For the first time since the 2016 SummerNationals, French (DKC / SodiKart) finished off the podium at a SKUSA Pro Tour event. It was a great run for the 2017 SKUSA Pro Tour champion, who was just off his game in NOLA and currently sits fifth in the SKUSA standings. Rounding out the Driver Rankings podium to begin the 2018 season is Nic LeDuc (SodiKart). The NorCal native is among the four drivers who won on the SKUSA Pro Tour last season, opening up 2018 with a podium in NOLA.

Fourth is 2017 SKUSA Pro Tour S2 champion Riley Dickinson (DKC / SodiKart). The S1 rookie showed speed in NOLA for his S1 Pro Tour debut, placing sixth on Saturday for his best result. Dickinson is the top S1 rookie thus far, with Kyle Wick the next driver on that list at #5. Wick (RPG / CRG) was the top S1 rookie at the WinterNationals overall with a fourth place finish Saturday, sitting fourth in the Pro Tour standings heading into the SpringNationals.

Hunter Pickett (Aluminos) was the fourth different S1 winner in 2017 on the SKUSA Pro Tour with his big win at the WinterNationals. Pickett had a rough WinterNationals this time around, yet finds himself improving to the sixth spot in the Driver Ranking with the drop of Austin Wilkins (DKC / SodiKart) and Mathias Ramirez out of the top-10. Veteran Brian Keck (CRG) also moved up the order, sitting seventh with former SKUSA Pro Tour TaG Cadet champion Hunter Kelly (Italcorse) up to eighth. S1 rookies Collin Daley (DRT / DR Kart) and Rory van der Steur (FA Kart) round out the top-10, and sit seventh and eighth in the SKUSA Pro Tour standings thatnks to best finishes of sixth and fifth respectively.

There are two drivers ‘On the Move’ to begin the 2018 eKartingNews.com Stock Honda Driver Rankings powered by Bell Racing USA – Matt Paesch and Pedro Lopes. Each are starting their careers in the S2 division. Both had a run of podiums in their debuts at the SKUSA Winter Series. Paesch (Orsolon / CompKart) – from Aruba – got his start at the SKUSA SuperNationals in November with a 16th position. Brazilian Lopes (RPG / Kosmic) however kicked off the 2018 SKUSA Pro Tour with two victories at the WinterNationals. Paesch sits 20th with Lopes in 36th, needing one more event to hit the minimum of seven races.

Upcoming EKN Stock Honda Driver Rankings Schedule

NEW Stock Moto #1 – Billy Musgrave
Norco, California

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

Over the last five years, Billy Musgrave has worked to become one of the top shifterkart drivers in North America. Musgrave cemented that statement with victory at the SKUSA SuperNationals this past November aboard his MRC / Aluminos machine. The four-time California ProKart Challenge champion is now looking for that next accomplishment to fill his CV, a SKUSA Pro Tour championship. 2018 began solid with two podium finishes to put him second in the standings, and again move back to the #1 spot for the EKN Driver Rankings.

Point Breakdown
Race,Rank,Finish,Points
SKUSA SpringNationals ’17 #1 – S1,9.5,5,1041
SKUSA SpringNationals ’17 #2 – S1,9.5,1,1084
SKUSA SummerNationals ’17 #1 – S1,9.5,5,1026
SKUSA SummerNationals ’17 #2 – S1,9.5,2,1058
SKUSA SuperNationals 2017 – S1,10,1,1177
SKUSA WinterNationals ’18 #1 – S1,9.5,3,998
SKUSA WinterNationals ’18 #2 – S1,9.5,2,1008

Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 2.71
Average Points: 1056
Total Points: 7392

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Stock Moto #2 – Jake French
Sachse, Texas

(Photo: EKN)

The great shall fall, and for Jake French, it was Bourbon Street. The 2017 SKUSA Pro Tour S1 champion finally saw his streak of podium finishes come to an end at this year’s WinterNationals. It began at the SKUSA SummerNats in 2016, lasting through two SuperNationals and all of 2017 Pro Tour schedule. The DKC / SodiKart driver was just not at the same level as he was at NOLA a year ago. You can believe he will be striving to return back to the podium at the SKUSA SpringNationals next week after making his F4 US Championship debut at VIR this weekend.

Point Breakdown
Race,Rank,Finish,Points
SKUSA SpringNationals ’17 #1 – S1,9.5,3,1063
SKUSA SpringNationals ’17 #2 – S1,9.5,2,1073
SKUSA SummerNationals ’17 #1 – S1,9.5,1,1069
SKUSA SummerNationals ’17 #2 – S1,9.5,1,1069
Texas ProKart Challenge ’17 #5 – S2,8.5,1,932
SKUSA SuperNationals 2017 – S1,10,2,1165
SKUSA WinterNationals ’18 #2 – S1,9.5,5,978

Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 2.14
Average Points: 1049.9
Total Points: 7349

**************************************

Stock Moto #3 – Nic LeDuc
Novato, California

(Photo: EKN)

2017 was a stand-out year for veteran racer Nic LeDuc, claiming his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory at his home track during the SpringNationals. It was an emotional victory that saw the paddock showing praises throughout the evening. He capped off the year with victory at Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix under the lights for the California ProKart Challenge finale. Now competing under his own team banner, LeDuc (SodiKart) pulled off another podium finish to begin 2018 at the SKUSA WinterNationals. The effort over the last 12 months has put him to third in the EKN Driver Rankings.

Point Breakdown
Race,Rank,Finish,Points
SKUSA SpringNationals ’17 #1 – S1,9.5,1,1084
SKUSA SpringNationals ’17 #2 – S1,9.5,4,1052
SKUSA SummerNationals ’17 #1 – S1,9.5,4,1037
SKUSA SummerNationals ’17 #2 – S1,9.5,4,1037
California ProKart Challenge ’17 #6 – S1,8.5,1,973
SKUSA SuperNationals 2017 – S1,9.5,7,1106
SKUSA WinterNationals ’18 #2 – S1,9.5,3,998

Inside the Stats
Average Finish: 3.43
Average Points: 1041
Total Points: 7287

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 Stock Honda 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 2018, the SKUSA SuperNationals will receive a score of 10 in its initial weighting in the TaG and Stock Honda categories. A base ranking of 9.5 is set for the SKUSA Pro Tour, while a base ranking of 9 goes to the SKUSA Winter Series, United States Pro Kart Series, Florida Winter Tour, Challenge of the Americas, Rok the Rio, Rock Island Grand Prix, US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals, and California ProKart Challenge. Other national and regional program races were given a base ranking of either 8.5 or 8.0.

The EKN staff reserves the right to adjust the rankings of each event throughout the year. A minimum entry total for any event to be 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, we calculate each driver’s overall score and subsequent ranking.

2018 eKartingNews.com Stock Honda Driver Rankings powered by Bell Racing USA – as of April 23, 2018

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