(Photo: EKN)

The last three months have seen a lot of karting since the COVID-19 pandemic put racing on pause. Club programs began the return to racing, with regional and national events following. With racing back, so is the EKN TaG Driver Rankings as we release the first standings since February. A number of events across the country were completed, but it was the United States Pro Kart Series opener and SKUSA Pro Tour rounds at New Castle Motorsports Park that have shaped the current standings, featuring a new number one driver.

Two years ago, Arias Deukmedjian was celebrating a X30 Junior championship at the SKUSA Pro Tour. Now, the sophomore Senior driver with victories at USPKS and SKUSA, has moved to the #1 spot in the EKN Driver Rankings. Deukmedjian (KSNA / Will Power Kart) is the first to overtake the top position from four-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg since October 2017. The leading candidate for top Senior rookie in 2020 is Luca Mars, who also jumped above Norberg. Mars (SCR / Redspeed) had a consistent six races at the SKUSA Pro Tour, finishing top-six in each round. That earned him the SKUSA #2 plate for the 2021 season. Norberg (RPG / Kosmic) saw his ‘Drive for Five’ come up short, unable to reach the top of the podium in the six rounds of racing at New Castle Motorsports Park, ending up fifth in the SKUSA standings. Now, he sits third in the Driver Rankings after holding the top spot for 33 months. The battle for the #1 spot is not over, with only four points separating the top three.

The driver to end Norberg’s championship streak is Senior rookie Bryson Morris (RPG / Kosmic) – sitting fourth in the Driver Rankings. The driver from Tennessee garnered the home track advantage and stomped the SKUSA field both weekends for three victories in five rounds of racing. A rib injury forced him to sit out the final round in New Castle after clinching the championship in the penultimate round. Keeping himself in the top-five is Brandon Jarsocrak (MDR / Kosmic) after a challenging SKUSA double weekend, ending up sixth in the final SKUSA title chase. Next to Norberg, Jarsocrak has been among the top TaG drivers over the last five years with three straight USPKS titles. Jarsocrak leads the 2020 USPKS standings heading into the second event this weekend at Road America.

Dropping out of the top-five to sixth is Hannah Greenemeier (RPG / Kosmic). The top female driver in the TaG Driver Rankings was close to becoming the first female driver to win a SKUSA Pro Tour race. She improved her score slightly from February, but fell two positions. Two drivers used the USPKS weekend and six rounds of racing for the SKUSA Pro Tour to put themselves back into the top-10. Braden Eves and Phil Arscott both found the top step of the podium. Eves (KSNA / Will Power Kart) had a provisional victory taken away on the opening SKUSA weekend but ended the event with victory in the final round. The 2019 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship title winner finished fourth in the SKUSA championship standings. Arscott, the 2009 US Rotax Grand Nationals winner, put himself back into the top-10 for the first time since his run as two-time Challenge of the Americas champion in 2013-2014. Arscott scored victory at the USPKS weekend and was among the quick drivers throughout the SKUSA event, finishing seventh in the title chase.

Holding strong in ninth is Canadian Thomas Nepveu (PSL / Birel ART), improving his score by over 200 points. Coming off a win at the ROK Fest East, Nepveu was among the quickest drivers throughout the SKUSA Pro Tour event with two pole positions, just unable to translate it into strong finishes in the Finals. Breaking into the top-10 is Pauly Massimino (MDR / Kosmic). The 2019 KA100 Senior SuperNationals winner sits second in the USPKS standings and earned his first SKUSA Pro Tour podium finish in the final round at New Castle. That elevated him up 14 positions to the tenth spot.

2020 could be the year of the rookies with six in the top-20 as of August. Mars and Morris are joined by Jonathan Portz (RPG / Kosmic), Santiago Trisini (Nash / Tony Kart), Branyon Tiner (RPG / Kosmic) and Cole Morgan (Tony Kart).

Upcoming EKN TaG Driver Rankings Schedule

(Photo: EKN)

NEW TaG #1 – Arias Deukmedjian
Merritt Island, Florida

Over the course of five weeks, Arias Deukmedjian has made his case to be the top TaG driver in North America. Deukmedjian won at the UPSKS opener on the Will Power Kart, and gave Kart Republic victory at the SKUSA Pro Tour event. Deukmedjian gained the SKUSA #3 plate for 2021 with four podium finishes in six rounds. Two DNFs hurt his chances for a better position in the final title standings. Arias has room to improve his score with USPKS this weekend at Road America, where he is fifth in the championship standings.

Point Breakdown

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(Photo: EKN)

TaG #2 – Luca Mars
Sewickley, Pennsylvania

The two weekends that made up the 2020 SKUSA Pro Tour was a consistent effort put in by Mars. 2020 is the rookie Senior season for the 14-year-old, stepping up early and quickly. A podium at the Florida Winter Tour built the confidence, and the SKUSA Pro Tour event was the big show. Mars drove to the ‘Cycle’, placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th in the six rounds of racing. The six top-six finishes helped Mars earn the SKUSA #2 plate for the 2021 season. The young driver was showing a lot of maturity against the veteran big guns at New Castle.

Point Breakdown

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(Photo: EKN)

TaG #3 – Ryan Norberg
Orlando, Florida

The ‘Drive for Five’ did not pan out as Ryan Norberg had hoped. The four-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion had the bullseye on him from the moment karts hit the track on the opening weekend, and remained there until the final lap of the six-round marathon. What began in 2016, ended with a valiant effort put in by the three-time EKN Driver of the Year. Do not count Norberg out just yet for a fourth straight honor here in the Driver Rankings, with the top three separated by just four points and much more racing to go on in the final four months of the year.

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 2020, 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, Rotax Grand Nationals, 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 TaG Driver Rankings – as August 28, 2020

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