The 2019 season marks a new era for the eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings. The shift in the industry in regards to six-speed engine packages has forced an evolution in the events and series that we include in our Driver Rankings program. Dating back to the early years of the rankings that were found in the pages of Shifter Kart Illustrated, change is really nothing new.  At the launch of the program in 1998, shifterkart racing’s platform was the fully-built 125cc engines like the Honda CR125, Yamaha YZ125, and the Kawasaki KX125. In 2005, the ICC package became the focal point for the category before things shifted over to Stock Moto in 2009.  Heading into 2019, this particular ranking category will now be known as ‘Shifterkart’, which encompasses the grouping that contains the new IAME SSE 175cc engine, the growing Rok Shifter package, KZ, Stock Moto and the mixed divisions. This evolution has expanded the number of events included for the 2019 program, going from 94 to 143. A number of new drivers have been added to the standings already, increasing the driver total from 146 at end of 2018 to 205 drivers after just four months.

The driver at the top of the standings has not changed, as AJ Myers finished 2018 at the top and he remains in the #1 spot through the first four months of the 2019 season. Myers has had a busy season thus far, winning the SKUSA Winter Series and Florida Winter Tour championships while scoring the victory in Round Two of the SKUSA Pro Tour at the WinterNationals. The month of May brings new colors for the 2018 SKUSA Pro Tour champion, as he moves from Croc Promotion USA to CRG Nordam, making his debut at the upcoming SKUSA SpringNationals in Utah.

Four of the top-final from the final ranking of 2018 remain within the lead quintet, with Kyle Wick jumping ahead of SKUSA SuperNationals winner Billy Musgrave for the second spot. With Myers move to black and yellow, Wick makes it a CRG Nordam 1-2 thus far in the rankings, as the Auburn, WA resident improved his score by three points while  Musgrave (MRC / Aluminos) lost points after a difficult 2019 WinterNationals at his home track (CalSpeed). Hunter Pickett remains in the fourth spot, despite improving his score by 113 points. 2019 is a new adventure for Pickett, as he joins the new GFC program led by former EKN Driver Rankings #1 Gary Carlton. Joining the top-five is 2018 Rock Island Grand Prix King of the Streets winner Rory van der Steur (MRC / Tony Kart). While the east coast driver’s victory at the Rock did not count in 2018, the race is part of the EKN Driver Rankings program again in 2019.

Making the most of the expansion of the EKN Driver Rankings is veteran driver Ron White. The NorCal native piloted his Ron White Racing / CRG to the Challenge of the Americas title in Shifter Senior Rok category. Those six results have been added to his total, advancing him 79 positions to sixth overall. Following him is Florida driver Mathias Ramirez. Rejoining PSL Karting / Birel ART, his efforts in SKUSA Winter Series, Florida Winter Tour and SKUSA Pro Tour have him up to seventh.

CRG Nordam has four drivers in the top-10, as Max Hewitt is the top Pro Shifter 2 driver in the EKN Driver Rankings, sitting eighth. His second career Pro Tour victory came at the SKUSA WinterNationals and increased his score, although he remained in the same position. Prescott Campbell (MRC / Aluminos) took advantage of the Challenge of the Americas joining the rankings, as his results in that series allowed him to advance to ninth from 16th. Completing the top-10 is Jamaican Collin Daley (DRT / DR Kart), who drops from fifth to 10th, having lost last year’s WinterNats results. Cameron Egger (RPG / Kosmic), Pedro Lopes (RPG / Kosmic) and Blair Hosie (MRC / Aluminos) fell out of the top-10, losing the 2018 WinterNats results from their totals.

Upcoming EKN TaG Driver Rankings Schedule

Shifterkart #1 – AJ Myers
Tampa, Florida

(Photo: CRG Nordam)

It has been a whirlwind four months for reigning SKUSA Pro Tour champion AJ Myers. Joining the Croc Promotion USA squad at the end of 2018, Myers attacked the new season strongly, coming out of the gate to win three of the four races at the SKUSA Winter Series with the new IAME SSE 175cc engine. AJ complimented those performances with two wins over the three rounds at the Florida Winter Tour to claim the Rok Cup International Final ticket. Add in victory at the SKUSA WinterNationals in California, and Myers improved his value in the EKN Driver Rankings. Now, the season turns a page after Myers was released from his position with the west coast-based Mad Old Nut Racing operation, and he now focuses on his debut with CRG Nordam at the upcoming SKUSA SpringNationals, carrying the #1 plate.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #2 – Kyle Wick
Auburn, Washington

(Photo: EKN)

One of the rising stars in shifterkart racing here in North America is Washington native Kyle Wick. The CRG Nordam driver has moved into the same position as his SKUSA number plate, following a strong vice-champion performance last year on the SKUSA Pro Tour. Wick is off to another strong start, landing in the top-five in both Finals at the WinterNationals in California and heads to the SpringNationals looking to repeat as a race winner, as he did in Phoenix last year. This is not the first time that Wick has raced in Utah, having placed in top-10 in the TaG Junior standings back when the series visited in 2012 for the SummerNationals that season.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #3 – Billy Musgrave
Norco, California

(Photo: EKN)

It is very odd to see Musgrave out of the top two positions in the EKN Driver Rankings. The now three-time SuperNationals winner remains one of the top drivers in the country, however, he started out the 2019 season with mixed results. Musgrave did score a win at the SKUSA Winter Series program, placing second to Myers in the title chase. With the WinterNationals going to his home track of CalSpeed, there were certainly visions of him dominating the weekend. Rain and strong fields kept Musgrave from shining, coming out with a P4 on Saturday and a DNF on Sunday. It was not the start the his SKUSA Pro Tour championship bid that Musgrave had hoped for, as he is focused on vying for that elusive title.

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 the TaG and Shifterkart categories 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 also included the results for the major one-off events such as the SKUSA SuperNationals, 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 2019, the SKUSA SuperNationals will receive a score of 10 in its initial weighting in the TaG and Shifterkart 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, All Star Finals, Stars and Stripes Trophy and Open, Rock Island Grand Prix, and California ProKart Challenge. Other national and regional program races were given a base ranking of either 8.5 or 8.0.

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.

eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings Powered by Bell Racing USA – Shifterkart – as of April 24, 2019

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