eKartingNews.com is happy to announce the addition of Skip Barber Racing School as the presenting sponsor for the EKN Driver Rankings. The second release of the eKartingNews.com Shifterkart Driver Rankings for 2022 features no changes in the order among the top-11. The point totals have been adjusted with the removal of last year’s SKUSA Pro Tour SpringNationals as part of the one-year sliding schedule, and we await this year’s event that is coming up this weekend as it will likely result in some position changes.

The lead in the rankings points has shrunk for SKUSA Pro Tour defending champion AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA) with the loss of results from last year’s SpringNationals. Myer’s advantage went from 95 points to just 35 points ahead of Jake French (PSL / Birel ART). Daniel Formal (LEM / Formula K) position in third remains unchanged as the Costa Rican was not at the 2021 SpringNationals in Utah, so dropping the points from that event did not change his total.

Hunter Pickett – now racing with PSL Karting / Birel ART – is set to be at the SpringNationals this year and he is holding onto the fourth spot in the EKN Driver Rankings with no change in his score. Pickett was a top-five contender at the WinterNationals in his final race with GFC. Now the lead driver at GFC – Kyle Wick (Trackmagic) – remains in the fifth position. The 2021 Challenge of the Americas champion stood on the podium at the opening round of the SKUSA Pro Tour and despite a DNF on Sunday, sits fourth in the championship chase.

Four-time SKUSA SuperNationals winner Billy Musgrave (Factory Kart) lost points as well, but still remains in the sixth position of the standings. It was not the WinterNationals the California driver hoped for, with a best finish of sixth. Jacob Gulick (GFC) has the most races in the top-10 with 22 main events over the last 12 months of shifterkart racing. After dropping the SpringNats, it was only a loss of 11 points to hold on to the seventh spot in the standings. Gulick missed the podium by one spot both days at the WinterNationals, and sits third in the championship chase heading to Utah this weekend.

Capping off the top-10 are the same three drivers with Ron White, Andrew Bujdoso, and Michael Stevens. White (RWR / CRG) holds eighth with the same total, finishing third at the Challenge this season. Defending Rock Island Grand Prix King of the Streets winner Bujdoso (Magik Kart USA) has not hit the track thus far in 2022. Stevens (PSL / Birel ART) lost points, but remains 10th in the standings. The driver ‘On The Move’ inside the top-50 this month is Conner Wick (GFC), up 36 spots to 27th.

Upcoming EKN TaG Driver Rankings Schedule

Shifterkart #1 – AJ Myers
Tampa, Florida

(Photo: EKN)

Holding at the top of the hill for shifterkart drivers here in the USA is AJ Myers. The past 12 months, no driver has score more points across the EKN Driver Rankings schedule than the Magik Kart USA pilot. While 2021 was full of victories, Myers has only visited to the top of the podium twice thus far in 2022 with two wins at the SKUSA Winter Series. His two runner-up finishes at the WinterNationals to Marijn Kremers has Myers on the chase heading to the SpringNationals this weekend in Utah.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #2 – Jake French
Rockwell, Texas

(Photo: Adrenaline Motorsports Media)

The gap is less to the top of the EKN Driver Rankings for Jake French, who last finished in the P1 position of our standings back in 2017, the same season he claimed the SKUSA Pro Tour championship. At the opening to the 2022 SKUSA Pro Tour, he posted a best finish of fifth over the two rounds, charging from the back to end up seventh in Round One – which puts him behind in the chase for the championship. However, two solid results in Utah would help put him at the top of the EKN Driver Rankings by the mid-way point of the 2022 season.

Point Breakdown

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Shifterkart #3 – Danny Formal
San Jose, Costa Rica

(Photo: ROK Cup USA)

Formal’s point total begins with the 2021 SKUSA SummerNationals, and thus, the Costa Rican has time to return to karting. After missing the WinterNationals in NOLA due to a positive COVID test, Formal has not been in the seat of a kart since the winter months. His focus is now on the Lamborghini Super Trofeo program, has he was selected as one of the drivers to compete at the shootout in Portugal this November. The SummerNationals in late July could be the next time we see Formal aboard the Leading Edge Motorsports Formula K machine. What is certain is a return to the SuperNationals 25 for the three-time winner.

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 2022, 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 Shifterkart Driver Rankings – as of June 3, 2022

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