(Photo: EKN)

The tie has been broken in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings. The 2020 edition ended in a tie for the number one spot following the most unique and emotional season for the sport due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry and the community pushed on, with numbers soaring with the need and want to be trackside once again. As we completed the year, the TaG standings wrapped up with two drivers matching their score for the best in 2020 – Arias Deukmedjian and Luca Mars. Three months into the 2021 season, we have a new number one with Ryan Norberg jumping over both to start the year on top.

Through the opening three months of the season, Norberg (RPG / Kosmic) has improved his score by over 100 points to take control of the EKN TaG Driver Rankings. The combination of last year’s SKUSA Pro Tour Summer Festival and the WinterNats in March have the four-time champion in the #1 position. That has dropped both Luca Mars and Arias Deukmedjian off the top spot. Mars (TKG / Tony Kart) was able to break up the tie he shared with Deukmedjian (AKT / Kart Republic) thanks to his WinterNats performance. Deukmedjian was not present in NOLA as he contested the opening weekend of the F4 United States Championship at Road Atlanta.

Reigning SKUSA Pro Tour X30 Senior and KA100 Senior champion Bryson Morris (RPG / Kosmic) was able to improve his score slightly, however, falls to the fourth position to begin the 2021. A fifth at the SKUSA Winter Series opener and 12th at the WinterNationals were his best results of the two weekends in 2021. Remaining fifth is four-time United States Pro Kart Series champion Brandon Jarsocrak (MDR / Kosmic). His total from the end of 2020 remains unchanged after top-7 finishes at the USPKS opener.

The start to the 2021 season has been all about Connor Zilisch (Nitro / Tony Kart). The 2020 FIA Karting Academy Trophy champion has won at all the programs he has raced to begin the 2021 season. Wins at WKA, SKUSA Winter Series, Florida Winter Tour, USPKS and the SKUSA Pro Tour have boosted him up to the sixth position in his EKN Driver Rankings debut. He and Alex Stanfield (Crosslink / Exprit) have had great winters to begin the year, with Stanfield holding the 19th spot in his debut.

Zilisch debut dropped Braden Eves (MPG / Will Power Kart) down to the sixth spot, even after improving his score with a strong run at the USPKS opener. Branyon Tiner (RPG / Kosmic) has himself into the top-10 for the first time, jumping up six spots to the eighth position. The Texan got his first SKUSA Pro Tour podium at the WinterNationals. Down to ninth is teammate Hannah Greenemeier, putting four Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic drivers in the top-10. Greenemeier provisionally became the first female winner on the SKUSA Pro Tour, until a pushback bumper penalty took away the victory on Saturday at the WinterNats. Rounding out the top-10 is Phillip Arscott (KSNA / Will Power Kart), who had a strong enough summer in 2020 to remain in the top-10, dropping three positions from his final result of last year.

Out of the top-10 include Pauly Massimino (MDR / Kosmic) to 11th, and Thomas Nepveu (PSL / Birel ART) to 12th.

TaG #1 – Ryan Norberg
Orlando, Florida

(Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

One of the toughest tasks Ryan Norberg faced over the last five years was the SKUSA Summer Festival. NCMP had not been one of Norberg’s best tracks, and to have to race there six rounds in two weekends to claim a fifth straight SKUSA Pro Tour championship. Well…lets just say the odds were not in his favor. Norberg fought valiantly, and came up short in the end to have his streak end at four. Now, with a new championship plate on the horizon, Norberg is all in on claiming his fifth title. Starting out with a strong winter, including the SKUSA Winter Series championship may do the trick but moving into the #1 spot goes to show that his results are that good.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #2 – Luca Mars
Sewickley, Pennsylvania

(Photo: EKN)

The SKUSA Pro Tour Summer Festival in August 2020 was a cycle for Luca Mars. A string of results, including a win, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth was very similar to that of baseball. It could have given him the championship, if not for three wins by Bryson Morris. Those results made him the first co-#1 of the EKN Driver Rankings to end the year, setting his name in history. Now, with a busy schedule of karting and cars, we will see if Mars can keep his name at the top of the standings moving through the 2021 season.

Point Breakdown

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TaG #3 – Arias Deukmedjian
Merritt Island, Florida

(Photo: EKN)

Also on the path for karts and cars is co-#1 Arias Deukmedjian. The other half of the co-#1 result of the 2020 EKN Driver Rankings could have very well earned the position for himself, if it was not for a schedule conflict with his F4 program. The season opener was on the same weekend of the SKUSA Pro Tour WinterNationals, where Arias would have been among the top contenders all weekend long. While he began the year with his first podium of the season, it has hurt him in the standings, despite wins at the SKUSA Winter Series and USPKS opener. There will still be room for improvement moving forward, if the schedule allows it.

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 other special races.

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 202, 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.

EKN TaG Driver Rankings – as of April 2, 2021

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